I’ve lost containment…again

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When my son, Noah, was a baby I would put him in his crib at night, content that he might not go to sleep right away but that he was “contained”. Then one night, while I was working at the computer downstairs, I heard this “thump, thump, thump” and the sound of running. I turned around and there was my precious boy, elated that he had escaped the crib.

drivers-tag This week, I lost containment again. My now 16-year-old son got his driver’s license.  For the last three months, my husband and I have been “driving assistants” as Tennessee requires a person 21 or older to accompany a driver with a learner’s permit. It’s been a harrowing experience. As you sit in the “seat of death,” otherwise known as the passenger seat, furiously stomping on that imaginary brake pedal while your son careens (or so it seems) down the roadway, you just know he’s never going to get the hang of this. As he accelerates toward a red light and you scream “STOP!” at the top of your lungs, you fear not only for his safety but every other driver on the road. And, then, all of a sudden he’s at the DMV taking his test and you pray he doesn’t pass but he does.

The next thing you know, he’s driving himself to school and has the coveted parking pass attached to his rearview mirror.

The afternoon he got home from the DMV, he immediately took off in “his” Jeep to savor his new-found freedom. I made turkey pot pie. Comfort food in a time of dire distress. I will get over this. I’ve already figured out I now have an extra person to call if I’m cooking supper and suddenly figure out I’m out of milk. But this sense of his drifting into adulthood is unexpectedly uncomfortable and a little sad.

Turkey Pot Pie

2 cups cooked turkey, cut into chunks

1 8-ounce package mushrooms

1 cup carrots, cut into cubes and blanched

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup onions, diced

1/4 cup flour

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup cream

Salt, pepper and dried thyme to taste

1 package pie dough

Place the bottom crust in a pie pan, poke holes in it with a fork and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Saute the onion in a little butter. Add the mushrooms and cook until they’re nicely browned. Add the flour and mix thoroughly. Slowly pour in the chicken stock until you have a sauce that coats the back of the spoon. Add the turkey, carrots, peas, and cream to the sauce. Add salt, pepper and thyme to taste. Pour into the baked shell and top with remaining pie dough. Make three slits in the top to let the steam vent.

Bake at 350 degrees until the top crust is nicely browned.

Put lefovers in individual containers so your son can eat leftovers when he gets home and realize that he really wanted to be home for dinner in the first place.

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