Hell's Kitchen

I am writing from the depths of my 100th meltdown

staring at a pan of burnt sweet potato fries.

The stove is my enemy and, to my prediction,

my inevitable demise.

I wonder where it went,

my domestication got lost in transit.

I fear the spatula and the whisk

are conspiring as I await their gambit.

The pressure of expectation

says I should be good at this.

I want to be a helpful wife,

but I feel a continual swing and a miss.

I hope someday to be acceptable

in the role of providing nourishment

but until then, I will pick up pizza

and my burns confirm its worth every cent.

. . . . . . . . .

This poem is dripping with sarcasm, but I really do feel defeated recently by my cooking! I do not feel equipped, not did I try to be. Aside from the talented exceptions, It has come to my attention that more and more women my age that I talk to have no idea how to cook.

When I was growing up, girls were taught to dream bigger and bigger. We could be anything we wanted to be, and movies like Mulan resinated to us just how much freedom we had as girls. Phrases like 'fight like a girl' began to phase out, along with other stereotypes and expectations. Thank God because I would have been a riot of a kid, lemme tell ya.

We literally grew up on the idea that we could be more! Society was changing and being taught to cook and clean was not the first thing we were introduced to. We were taught to make, to build, to seek, to read, to gain knowledge, to work hard, to be THE leader.

Us girls were raised on Disney movies that, aside from the idiots who think otherwise, showed us that we could be the leading role in our movie, our life. Yeah, they are considered 'fairytales' but that's not what we took away from those movies. We saw a pretty woman go through trials and tribulations, find her strength, created something positive from it, sang to frikkin birds while cleaning up other peoples messes, AND STILL GET THE PRINCE. Hello!!! We weren't concerned with learning how to make grandmas stuffed cannelloni we wanted to be those women in the movies who were strong and worked hard to get what they wanted, to be 'Part of Your World'.

I am being vulnerable about this because I know I am not the only one feeling crappy about themselves because they are a wife who can't cook well, yet! Don't feel bad if you were a 90s baby who didn't live in the kitchen and now can't cook to save her life. We are busy kicking ass and taking names and I, for one, am not sorry.

We will prevail...women always do...

xoxo,

Lady Liberosis