Let me preface this post by letting you know how often I fret about Aidan. How his brother's quirkiness affects him. I know it stresses him out sometimes. I know often, like me, he needs a break. He craves a little more calm, less provocation. Just remember that keeps me up at night sometimes.
So, on this beautiful summer evening, our CSA share arrived. I LOVE that wooden crate of goodness. As one of the first deliveries, it was a bit slim, but was bursting with the most beautiful red strawberries I have ever seen. And in the bottom of the crate: rhubarb. I cracked open the newsletter after dinner and saw that Jason's (one of our farmers) grandmother Donna had passed away. Included in the newsletter were two of her recipes. I wasn't sure I had enough rhubarb to make one of the recipes (we split the share with our beloved Lynnie) so I chopped the rhubarb up to see how much we had: 2 1/2 cups, exactly the amount needed for Grandma Donna's Rhubarb Cake.
Rowan was in the other room, so when Aidan asked to help with the cake (just us) I thought that was fair, as Rowan had helped make dinner. (Man I hope these boys continue to love to work in the kitchen, cuz the chicks are gonna DIG them.) We started baking away, when Rowan wandered in, wanting to help too. I could see Aidan tense up - Rowan's recent wanting to be a part of EVERYTHING in the world is MUCH harder for him than the Rowan who perseverated in the corner. He started to fight, I started to threaten that NO one was helping, and pretty soon, there the three of us were, making cake peacefully together.
We got to the part where you have to run the mixer for several minutes, and I had no idea how to handle that, as Rowan wanted to help, yet also wanted his ears covered. I was about to go for the headphones, when Aidan figured it out, and somehow silently made an agreement with Rowan of how it would work. So here's what we did: Aidan would run the mixer, I added ingredients with one hand while assisting with the other, I would grab the mixer, Aidan would cover Rowan's ears so they could use the mixer, and I would continue to assist. When it was Aidan's turn again, I would take the mixer, Rowan would cover his ears, and then Aidan would take over again. We switched off about 6 times seamlessly. And while it may have looked like a circus act to some fly on the wall, it was perfection to me. Turns out Rowan is one of Aidan's greatest teachers too. And I get to eat rhubarb cake, so everybody wins.
