Recipe For Success

Teaching boys how to cook isn't as hard as some might think.
Since these boys eat a lot of pork (at their mother's and grandmother's homes),
I decided to teach them how to cook a pork tenderloin roast.

Step 1; Dice and mix - two clumps of garlic, one onion, 2tsp crushed red pepper, 2tsp of black pepper. (NO salt - the pork is salty enough already.)
Step 2; Stab the heck out of the tenderloin so that it resembles the parents of Lizzie Bordon.
Step 3: Fill the cavities of the roast with your fresh mixed seasonings.
(Step 3 1/2; Cook three strips of bacon in a medium to large pot until the strips are crisp. Set the crisp bacon strips in the refrigerator.)
Step 4: Place the roast on it's side and turn until all sides are properly browned.
Step 5: Add two inches of hot water to the pot and allow it to slowly boil for about an hour.
Step 6: Add fresh carrots and potatoes to the pot and allow to simmer for another 45 minutes.
Step 7: Remove pot from heat and allow meat to rest.

Step 8: Mix two pints of chocolate ice cream, 1/2 cup of chocolate syrup, one cup of half and half in a blender with the chilled bacon strips to make a Chocolate Bacon Shaken.
(I know, it sounds terrible but it actually tasted good.)

What's the point of all this?
This week, I had to babysit a couple of teen aged boys while their mother was out of town.
These boys' mother thought that I was going to cook and clean while she was away.
But I'm old school - I believe in boys doing what is required to ensure that a home runs smoothly.
These boys had someone enforce rules and expectations on them (probably) for the first time in their lives.

As the boys boasted of their cooking skills to their grandmother, she boasted of her cooking skills of yore.
This conversation moved from school, to friends, to pop culture, to what she expects from each of them.
As these boys have televisions and computers in each of their rooms - there was rarely a situation when this family would eat dinner together.

After a week of this interaction - these boys seem to sit and talk to their grandmother more.
These boys now ask questions about how and where their grandmother was raised, where she'd worked and about the history of there family
Their grandmother is now looking over their homework (even though she doesn't understand it herself) which they seem anxious to explain.
These boys once again became members of their own family.

On the return of their mother, their grandmother boasted of the newly acquired abilities of these young men.
Their home was clean, their homework was done, and their family was fed.
Their mother had assumed that I had done all the housework but she was surprised to learn that her boys were more capable than she'd ever believed.

IMO- We have become victims of our own "success".
Too many seem more focused on "Keeping Up With The Jones' " at the expense of developing strong cooperative families.
Sure, a father in the home might be the most desirable situation - but what is really missing is leadership.
Too many parents are trying to be liked by their children instead of developing respect from their children.
Too many have lost focus on a strong foundation that will enable their children to make smart (not popular) choices.
Too many don't even know the value of themselves.