The criticism that I have sometime heard about blogs is that they give an unrealistic view of life. The house is shiny clean, the food looks perfect and the kids have their ponytails just so. I agree. Often blogs do show what we might see as an ideal lifestyle. The main thing to realize is that photography is about capturing a split second in time. The photographer makes the decision to include and exclude certain elements. It might actually be that outside of the frame of the photo there is drawing paper spread all over the table and little pieces of cut up “confetti” when one of the little ones had spent a morning practicing their fine motor skills.
This post is the sequel to the post “Who Killed the Cow“. When we were growing up we would often say “Who killed the cow?” when the last cup of milk was taken from the carton. For the complete story click on the link. 🙂
I have from time to time taken photos capturing “real life.” Here are a few snap shots from those times and a recipe that works perfect for the days full of little surprises.
One morning when I came downstairs I found clementines all over the place. One of our kids had just learned to peel clementines and was practicing. My first thought was, “Oh, NO! What a mess and there went the entire kilo of clementines that I had bought the day before!” I really couldn’t get too mad, it was innocent exploration and finding the floor full of orange crescents isn’t the worst that could happen.
We would occasionally have this whipped lingonberry porridge as an after school snack when I was a kid. Since lingonberries were not readily available in the US, my Mom would use cranberries and they work just as well. The recipe is for a fairly large amount so feel free to halve it if preferred. When I make it, I will often serve it first warm to the little ones at home for lunch and when it has cooled I will whip it as a snack for the school kids.
Whipped lingonberry porridge
2 l/ 8.5 c water
8 dl/3.4 c lingonberries or cranberries
2 dl/ 0.8 c sugar
Bring the water, lingonberries and sugar to a boil. Allow to boil for about 10 minutes. Strain the berries and return juice to the pot. Whisk in 4 dl/1.7 c of Cream of wheat warm cereal to the juice. Allow to cook for about 7-10 minutes, whisking the cereal so that it does not stick to the bottom. Remove from heat and cover with a lid. Allow to rest for a few minutes. Serve warm with milk if desired.
For the whipped porridge, allow it to cool completely. When cool, whip it until it has become light and fluffy. Serve with milk or a dollop of cream.
Afterall there is a beauty in everyday life!
tableofcolors 
It is obviously that someone with little kids can not have the house as clean as single people! And it is in most people nature to keep only nice memories, nice things – no bad memories, no dirt! So don’t worry 😉
The porridge also looks like a nice breakfast to me 😀
Very true Irena! 🙂 When I’m a Grandma, I probably won’t remember the messes either!
I love this post! I often feel like I must be doing something wrong as I have a hard time keeping the house in order with just one toddler around. It’s makes me feel better when I hear about other mums in the same boat 🙂
The clementine story is too funny, as is the shot of your son covered in paint (or is that ink?). I found my little guy sitting under the kitchen table the other day, happily chewing on Crayons. They came out the other end the next day!!!
My Mother-in-law has a magnet on her fridge that says, “Cleaning when the kids are small is like shoveling snow in a blizzard.” I think it sums it up quite well 🙂
I can just imagine your little guy chewing on the crayons. Kids have a fascination to taste everything–the other day I found one eating little bits of styrofoam! She claimed that it was perfectly edible 😛
I need that magnet – it certainly sums things up nicely!
Styrofoam! Oh my. It’s amazing what their developing digestive tracts can tolerate!
Great post! My toddler is totally keeping me on my toes right now when i have my hands full with my newborn. I relate!
Yummy porridge too!
I can imagine…the time with a newborn and a busy toddler does not allow for much spare time! Good luck with your new little one and the older one!
I love the joy in that texta painted face. Wonderful.
He was just pleased with himself! His older sister had used a new package of washable markers on him. The “art project” involved a lot of squeals of delight and laughter 🙂 Even if the markers were washable he was quite “camoflouged” for a couple days!
Isn’t life grand!! I love your adorable photo’s and your little ones are just too cute. Life is a series of messes, we clean them up and start over. You are so right, I look at the photo’s on many blogs and become depressed, life seems picture perfect and that’s not mine. I don’t fool myself, perfection is not in my DNA nor my life. The porridge is gorgeous, I love lingonberries but have a very hard time finding them in the US, glad to hear cranberries are a good sub. Cream of wheat has been one of my all time favorite hot cereals.
Yes, Life is grand and not boring! Perfection is not me either…even though I prefer a neat house it rarely is neat from every corner. I have come to accept that since I enjoy doing other things as well (such as blogging and spending time outdoors) the house and I will have to put up with a little mess. I have also found that having a weekly cleaning day that involves the whole family keeps the worst mess at bay! 🙂
Very cute, a mischievous face indeed. Reality is good , although my posts are best described as gritty. I daren’t show too much of our house as it awaits renovation, it is crumbling! Appealing porridge, nice treat, good to try with cranberries too. Thanks.
A crumbling wall with your food in the foreground could look quite nice. With the right light, there is an appeal in the imperfection! Maybe you should grab a few shots before you renovate! 🙂
Love it…remember cheerios spread on the floor one day while there:) So easy to clean up, maybe the clementines not so much…Nothing like perfecting those small motor skills. Would love to sneak in for a cuppa and see the “mess”…:)
The cheerios on the floor is a common occurence 🙂 Not quite daily, but weekly at least! They all go through certain stages, the confetti making stage, the puzzle stage, the gardening stage (some have it worse than others), learning-to-eat by yourself stage, the organizing the tupperware drawer stage…the list could go on! Would Love to have you over!
Love the mess and the porridge looks delicious.
Thank you 🙂
Thank you for sharing real life shots. You are so correct in what gets portrayed in blog images verses what is going on outside of them! When I take a picture of the recipe I just made, no one gets to see the pile of dishes stacked up in the sink that I have to get back to after the picture is taken. 🙂
And the porridge sounds lovely!
Kenley
Same here! Sometimes my kitchen is quite the sight…but since the food is hot and the light is right the photo needs to be taken immediately…clean up can be done afterwards! 🙂
Exactly! 🙂
Lovely – all of it! I haven’t forgotten about those days yet…And, when you have two dogs, you can’t be a fussy person either.
I can imagine that dogs bring their own spice to everyday life! There is more to life than a perfectly clean house 🙂
That’s what I try to tell my perfectionist of a mother…
Beautiful and true 🙂 Thanks for putting us in the picture.
🙂
The porridge is such a pretty colour. I don’t think we can get those berries here and cranberries are also hard to source. Sometimes you can buy frozen cranberries but not often. Ah yes, toddlers! They’re very good at making a mess xx
I remember my Mom buying them frozen, but I do not know if they are available year round in your area. I usually use frozen berries for the porridge…it’s a good way to use up the berries that we picked in the fall and often we notice in the spring that we still have quite a few containers left!
what a happy and joyful mess, great mischievous smile as well as delicious and lovely porridge.
Thank you! We seem to have an abundance of joyful messes 🙂
See your kids were just trying to help they know you want a fun and colorful house they were just doing their own interior decorating designs… Very pretty porridge.
You are great! I hadn’t thought of that before…of course they want have a little input in the interior decorating designs! 🙂
Neat or untidy, with the right vision and the right camera, it will be a beautiful picture. Like yours. 🙂
Thank you, you are so nice! Sometimes it is important to see the beauty that surrounds us, it even might be in the muddy pile of colorful rubber boots in the entry way.
Exactly. Totally agree with you. 🙂
Beautiful photos. You really didn’t stage the orange peels? Perfect 🙂
Thanks you for following my blog and for leading me here to a page of smiles.
They were the real deal, with the wooden barbie car and all. 🙂 I had to be quick with my camera before the car took off and we did a little clean up.
Such great photos. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a home with little children where there weren’t Cheerios some place. Your little Art Project looks so proud of himself. That smile speaks volumes. This was a wonderful, smile-inducing post. Thank you for sharing
Cheerios are a staple at our house! Our Art Project was quite pleased…I just had to chuckle at their enthusiasm! Glad it brightened your day!
I love the photos and the lingonberry porridge looks great!
Thank you so much!
Love the trail of clementine peels and the pretty color of the porridge. Very interesting
I love this blog. Very delightful.
Thank you, you are so kind…and thank you for stopping by! It was nice stopping by your blog, your flourless chocolate cake looks wonderful!
Love the porridge and would use cranberries ’cause they’re my favorite and I always have them on hand. Such fun seeing your kids — perfectly normal kids doing perfectly normal things.
I love the photo of your kids. I often heard – a messy kid is a happy kid. 🙂 You are so right about the picture/view editing. My house is never orderly or very clean (we live in a state of manageable mess) but when I want to post pictures in the blog, I choose the one little spot that looks clean and neat enough. 🙂