'Time'ly Tomato Temptation

Photo credits: 123rf.com

Only busy people have time.

A few years back I would have laughed at this. 
Today, I strongly believe in it.

This post about "time" was actually triggered by the information evening for parents at the school of A-junior.

Yes, he has moved on to high school and I have stopped writing about him on my blog (ya ya, privacy, teenager, moustache etc etc ). So this post is not about him.

;-)

The information evening set up by the school started at 8:30 PM. We, parents, (still a bit flustered at the idea of our children moving on to high school) sat there with flushed faces and nervous nods trying to figure out our role in the meeting. We missed the familiar faces that we were used to for the last eight years of elementary school. Here, in Holland, a massive segregation happens when the child finishes elementary school. Each child, based on his/her scores, is assigned to different levels of education and hence different high schools. Everything was so new, it was like starting all over again....

After the generic welcome speeches, we were led to the individual classes for more 'in-depth' information.

Believe me....LOTS of information.

Out of the whole lot, the thing that really caught my attention was the emphasis put on the use of an "agenda".

Even though the school has all sorts of apps to capture homework, routine, holidays etc online, a lot of importance was put on how the child should start learning the use of an agenda. It is absolutely mandatory for the students to have a hard bound agenda in their school bag. 
There is nothing new in the concept because I also grew up with a 'school diary' where we were supposed to note down our homework and our class routine.
However, the emphasis put on its use was absolutely new (compared to my times).
In between almost every sentence, the mentor mentioned the agenda and how important it is for the child to use it ..all the time!
"This is their first step towards learning the real meaning of 'responsibility' - how to 'plan' their own life". 
I realized, even though I had looked at my agenda for daily class routine and homework, I was never taught to 'plan' my school life. My diary (or agenda) did not teach me the 'value' of time. My agenda did not make ME responsible for planning, it just carried the information from others which I needed to follow.

This innocent agenda in my son's school bag made me think a lot. 

Respecting time is a concept, a mindset , a way of life. I learnt it much later in life. 

Here children learn it much earlier. The agenda is much more than the few pages of scribbles it appears to be. The high importance given to an agenda teaches a kid from a very early age;

• The importance of planning
• The importance of "me" time
• The importance of other's time and respecting it

During my initial days in Japan, I had even joked about the "agenda-culture". I found it quite funny when every small appointment found a place in the agenda, whether it was a coffee or a visit to the museum. I almost boasted of my 'Indian spontaneity" where we go with the flow and are not controlled by a mere agenda.  Within a few days, I quickly learned that an individual (and the society) can develop only when it starts to respect time.

I immediately bought a beautiful leather-bound agenda! -- never missed a single appointment after that ..and all ON TIME. (Let me tell you ON TIME in Japan meant something at a different level, which, for this poor Indian, was a culture shock!)

I also learned that having an agenda does not necessarily mean losing the 'spontaneity' I am so proud of.
"Being on time" really means that you know the importance of planning, the importance of your own 'me' time and the importance of respecting other's time.

When a child of eleven puts down "15:30 - 16:00 practice guitar, 16:30 -17:30: Screen time 19:00-20:00 doing homework" in his agenda , he is actually forced to think about time. He is 'taught' to pay attention to his me-time (in this case the screen) as well as plan his homework time. I agree, some parts of the agenda can be 'forced' by the mother, but that is another topic altogether (which we will not elaborate here ;-)). 
The mother also 'allows' the child to shuffle the sequence of activities if required, and adds a dialogue like "now that you are grown up, you are responsible enough to know which to do when, I completely leave that part to YOU". This pleases the (growing) child with a feeling of "I can make my own decisions" but also puts him in a' responsible planning' mode.
...may sound preplanned and manipulative ...
[note: I have no problem with being a manipulative mother!]
;-)

O my God! look at the time! I need to cook now. 
De-stress from all the time related learnings......
Breathe in, breathe out and cook!
Need to "be on time".

Tomato temptation

This recipe is too simple yet too beautiful...and healthy on top of that!!

Ingredients:

1. Tomatoes (not too ripe) : 6 
2. Eggs
3. Onions chopped
4. Garlic chopped
5. Coriander (chopped)
6. Green chillis (chopped)
7. Parmesan cheese

Ready steady cook:

• Cut the tomatoes in half and place them in a greased oven plate (Tip: Cut a small piece out of the tomato in such a way that it gets a flat bottom to stand firmly on the plate)
• Saute the garlic, onion and chillis. Add salt and black pepper. Also mix the fresh coriander. Put a spoonfull of this mixture in each tomato [Optional: I also used some orange paprika in the mix]
• Pour an egg into each tomato. (Tip: if it is too much, put the egg yolk and a bit of the egg white)
• Sprinkle some parmesan cheese and some black pepper on top
• Bake in a preheated oven for 20 mins ( 180 degC)
• Serve as a side dish (we served it with Shepherd's pie)