Mid-morning Saturday, Aaron and I pulled out the mowing equipment and set to work on our yard. It has been great to have the rain but if it had not stopped soon we were going to need a machete to get to the house.
Kiera grabbed her bucket of chalk and played tic-tac-toe with the neighborhood cat while we tackled the yard. As we were getting close to finishing the front yard I saw Kiera go in the house. I quickly finished the last bit of the yard and turned the mower off.
“I’m going to check on Kiera before we head to the back yard,” I yelled to Aaron over the sound of his weed eater. He nodded his head in acknowledgement.
“Kiera?” I said as I walked in the front door.
“Yes, Mommy! I’m in the kitchen!” She yelled in response.
I entered the kitchen to see her standing on her stool, washing her hands at the kitchen sink. Glancing around, I noticed that the refrigerator door was standing open. “What are you doing, baby?” I asked as I closed the refrigerator door.
Drying her hands on a dish towel, she answered, “I’m making lunch for y’all!”
I stepped closer to the counter where she had placed lettuce, tomatoes, leftover chicken, and ranch dressing. “Wow. That is very nice of you honey. But, we still have to finish the back yard so it may be just a little bit. Are you hungry?”
“No, I ate the oranges that you gave me earlier.” She replied as she moved her stool so she could reach her ingredients.
About that time, Aaron came in the house. “What are y’all doing?” He asked. I think he was afraid that I had deserted him and left the back yard just for him.
“Kiera is making lunch for us,” I answered, making wide eyes at him to convey my amazement.
“I’m making salads with chicken and nuts,” she explained to Aaron and waved her hand in the direction of the shelled sunflower seeds that are kept in a container on the counter beside the trail mix and pinto beans.
He glanced around, before walking across the kitchen and opening the back door, “Okay, honey. We are going to mow in the back yard. I am going to leave the door open so you can come outside or to get us if you need us.”
She smiled and nodded her head as she laid the plates out in front of her. I hesitantly stepped to the door. “Don’t touch the stove,” I cautioned.
“And don’t touch the knives,” Aaron tossed out as he walked out the door.
We started back on the yard and took turns checking in on Kiera. During one of the check-ins, I saw that my Mom was in the kitchen with Kiera. I breathed a sigh of relief and went back to mowing the jungle, otherwise known as the back yard.
Once Aaron and I finished up the yard, we put the mowing equipment up and proceeded to try and rinse some of the grass off our legs before going in the house. As I sprayed Aaron’s feet off with the water hose, I saw Mom motion to Kiera and announce that it was time. Kiera quickly followed her into the house. I was puzzled until we walked in the door.
As we walked in, Kiera had just finished pulling the plates out of the refrigerator. Mom had convinced her to put the plates in the refrigerator until we were able to come in the house and eat.
Kiera was beaming as she began to fill our glasses with ice. I looked at the plates and was astounded to see a beautiful salad on them with a small bowl of dressing on the side. They looked delicious.
“Do you like the salads?” She inquired. “I made them with chicken and nuts. I gave you a lot, Mommy because I know you like a lot on your salad.”
Aaron and I hugged our growing little girl and thanked her profusely for making salad for us. I took a picture of the salad so I could brag about it later on Facebook.
We sat down and began to eat our salads. “This is really good, honey!” I exclaimed. I took another bite and bit down on what I felt certain was a rock. Not wanting to cause her distress, I turned my head and spit the offending piece in my hand.
Aaron noticed and mouthed, “What?” to me. I held up the chunks of rockish food and turned it over so I could see it better in the light.
Much to my astonishment, it was an uncooked pinto bean. Before I could say anything, Aaron quietly muttered, “Ouch!” as he found his own rock in the salad.
“Umm…honey… where did you get the nuts?” I asked Kiera.
“Off the counter,” she replied.
“Baby, I think you gave us beans instead of nuts,” Aaron told her as tactfully as one can in that situation. “The salad is great though,” He hastened to reassure her. “You just have to be careful and not bite down on these when you’re eating.”
She shrugged and responded, “Well, they looked like nuts.”
As she went off to play, Aaron and I shared a laugh over the pinto bean salad. I pulled up the photo that I had taken and noticed on a closer look that before we had covered the salad with ranch dressing the pinto beans were clearly visible.
She has talked about becoming a chef lately. Obviously, we are going to have to work on identifying beans from nuts. It was a pretty salad though.
Rowonna McNeely is a graphic artist for Willie’s T’s Screenprint & Embroidery. She is a mother of a five-year-old girl and step mother of two adult girls. Her crazy life includes a dog, Sloane and psychotic cat, Gracie. Both females. She is married to her prince, who is outnumbered by the opposite gender.
