Good at "The Hard." Bad at "The Easy."

Sometimes you just have to own up to the fact that you aren’t good at something.  And other times it is absolutely necessary to brag about what you do well.  Well, not absolutely necessary, but sometimes it just feels good.

But what if there are simple things that you suck at?  Like making pancakes. 

I can make a mean pancake batter totally from scratch.  But when I pour it into the pan, creating perfect little silver dollar pancakes, this is where the yumminess ends.  I always cook them too long.  They come out dry.  Or singed.  Maybe a few times squishy in the middle.  Needless to say I don’t bother making homemade batter anymore.  I just buy that yellow plastic jug of Bisquick where all you have to do is add water. 

What’s strange is that I can execute the most complicated of recipes without a hitch.  I can filet, sauté, brown, fry, batter, roast, grill, stew, or flambé with the best of em.  But flipping a flippin’ pancake at the right moment?  Not gonna happen.  It makes no sense.  Luckily, I have learned to accept my pancake-making affliction.

Another simple thing I’m bad at?  Growing a Chia Pet.  For years I have had a beautiful, bountiful garden filled with herbs, vegetables and fruits.  I know when to prune, water, and harvest to make the most out of everything in it.  But the SpongeBob Chia Pet Teague received for Christmas baffles me.  First, I gave it too much water and the seeds drowned.  Then I forgot about it for 3 days and the tiny little green sprouts that had managed to survive shriveled up and turned black.  After scraping off the seeds (And listening to Teague tell me how I killed SpongeBob’s hair, which by the way SpongeBob doesn’t even have hair, Teague), I replanted it three days ago.  It just keeps drying out and looking haggard. 

I’m going to come right out and say it: I can’t grow a Chia Pet.  Kids have been growing them since 1982 and I am physically incapable.  Although it makes me feel a little better that each Chia comes with enough seeds for three plantings.  Clearly, someone else out there has failed and needed more seeds.

Other simple things I’m bad at?  Playing blocks and cars.  It sounds so easy, but when I watch Colin build or pretend with the cars, I realize that my boys must be staring at me like I’m an idiot.  My buildings don’t have roofs.  Who am I kidding?  They don't even have walls.  I usually build a fence and say it’s outside of an imaginary house or stable (I like to add a few farm animals to support my claim).  So an architect, I am not.  And according to Crews, I make the wrong sounds for the cars.  I’m pretty sure I roll them correctly though.

I am also terrible at loading the dishwasher.  On multiple occasions my friend Amanda has just opened it up and stared at me.  I didn’t know there was a method!  I just shove things in until nothing else fits.  Then I lay a few things on top of that… It has come to my attention that doing so is both incorrect and inefficient.  Even with practice my skills haven't gotten much better.

However!  Let an idea flow into my head and I can weave it into a 350 page story.  Need your vehicle parallel parked in a space that is only a hair bigger than your car?  I’m your girl. 

So there you have it.  I’m good at “the hard.”  Bad at “the easy.”  Which is probably why I tend to make everything so difficult!