What Would You Do Wednesday: Noodles

Love my high school son. But there are moments I do consider trading him in for a different model.

The other day, I got a phone call from the mother of one of his friends. These are “newer” friends- I’ve never done anything with them other than say a friendly “hello” as we mutually drop kids off at each others’ house or share friendly wave in the driveway. It’s a common form of parental communication. You can go years without ever really “knowing” someone.

But these folks extended a nice offer. “Come join us for a barbeque!” the mom shared with a friendly, inviting voice.

I love being invited over to someone’s home. Love it. So this was a real, nice surprise. And of course I accepted.

“What can I bring?” I ask. And, mind you, this wasn’t one of those “I’m-going-to-offer-but-hope-they-don’t-take-me-up-on-it” kind of offers. I genuinely wanted to be a part of the fun.

Her response made me want to crawl in a hole. Or shoot my son.

“Oh, no, no, no. This is our gift to you. And I know you don’t know how to cook. Your son always jokes about how all he eats is Ramen.”

Ramen?

I’ve never made Ramen in my life. I’ve never EATEN Ramen. I do have a cabbage salad that’s pretty tasty and it uses some crumbled Ramen. That’s the closest I come to “making Ramen.”

Apparently, I come to learn that my son’s been telling this kind heart about his limited culinary world- all the fault of dear old dad. Somewhere along his storyline, he shared the comment that the last real meal he had was “last Thanksgiving.”

What? Hello?

I am not a great cook. I admit it. But I do cook. I do put new food on this tongue-lashing teen’s plate regularly. But he doesn’t “like” it. “It” includes fish, pork, ham, many meats, all sauces, fruits, vegetables, blah, blah, blah. So I’ve learned to quit hitting myself over the head. And yes, he has a limited palette of food on his dinner plate each night.

“I’m heading to the grocery store! What sounds good!” I always ask.

He gives me nothing to work with. Nada. Wait, I take that back. He loves steak. Really expensive steak. Sorry, but that doesn’t fit into my daily budget. You’re thinking “how about burgers?” And trust me, I try that. Often. But he complains about that too.

So, I’m thinking about buying a huge box of Ramen. And serve it morning, noon, and night for a week. Just to make a point.

What would you do!?