By Three months old. The pediatrician says they are right on track for their adjusted age, which is one month. One month adjusted. They are, by another measure, already three months old, which means I have been a parent for three months, which means I have been running on approximately four hours of sleep per night for three months, which is a sentence I cannot read without feeling a complicated pride-exhaustion-disbelief combination that I do not have a single word for.
The sleep is getting slightly better. Not good. Slightly better. Owen went a four-hour stretch on Tuesday and I woke up in a panic at the three-hour mark convinced something was wrong and lay there listening to the monitor for forty-five minutes before he stirred and I understood that "something wrong" had simply been "four consecutive hours of sleep" and I had forgotten what that felt like. This is where we are.
I have started thinking about going back to school in September. My leave covers the full year but I could go back in September if I wanted to, which I think I do, which I am still negotiating with myself about. I love teaching. I also love these babies. I am going to have to figure out how to hold both of those things, and I am going to have to trust my mom to watch them while I do, which I know she will, which I know will be fine, and which I am going to have feelings about anyway.
I made a pasta salad this week for the first time since before the babies. Cold pasta, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, Aldi Italian dressing, a block of feta crumbled over the top. Something that can be assembled in ten minutes and lives in the refrigerator and can be eaten at any hour without heating. This is called feeding yourself strategically and it is one of the most important skills I have developed in the last three months.
The pasta salad I mentioned was a revelation, but it sent me down a path of thinking about what else I could make once, refrigerate, and eat in stolen minutes throughout the day—no heating required, no real assembly at the moment of need. This Crunchy Ramen Salad landed in my rotation the following week and it has the same logic: ten minutes of effort during a nap window, and then it just sits in the fridge, ready whenever I am. The crunch from the ramen noodles somehow holds up, and honestly, something about eating food with actual texture made me feel, briefly, like a functioning adult person again.
Crunchy Ramen Salad
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 10 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 1 package (14 oz) coleslaw mix
- 2 packages (3 oz each) ramen noodles, uncooked and broken up (seasoning packets reserved)
- 1 cup shelled sunflower seeds
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 ramen seasoning packet
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the vegetable oil, apple cider vinegar, sugar, and one ramen seasoning packet until the sugar dissolves. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Build the salad base. In a large bowl, combine the coleslaw mix, sliced green onions, sunflower seeds, and sliced almonds.
- Add the crunch. Break the dry ramen noodles into small pieces directly into the bowl. They go in raw—this is where the crunch comes from and it holds surprisingly well.
- Dress and toss. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss everything together until evenly coated.
- Rest or serve. You can serve immediately for maximum crunch, or refrigerate for up to 24 hours. The noodles will soften slightly overnight but the salad stays delicious and the flavors deepen.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 380 | Protein: 9g | Fat: 27g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 420mg