After having kids, I feel it’s a common question to ask the parent(s) if they’re planning to have any more kids.  My wife and I can confidently and easily respond, “Oh no! We’re good!”.  We easily come to this answer because we feel complete with our 2 kids. 

We had a few unfortunate events resulting in ER visits showing our kids had dietary restrictions (i.e., egg and nut allergies).   And of course, they have the typical picky appetite on top of their food allergies.  So, you can imagine food is one of the most discussed topics each day.  What is for breakfast?  What is for snack (morning and afternoon)?  What is for lunch?  What is for dinner and dessert? What is for our forbidden late-night snack when we watch TV while the kids are asleep? Despite the dietary restrictions, we try to expose our kids to different foods and even preparing their food themselves.

We recently started a new family tradition to make dumplings for the Lunar New Year.  We laid out all the ingredients and showed my kids the steps to make the dumplings.  My son (6 at the time) picked it up instantly!  My daughter (4 at the time) needed some help but was having fun trying.  Somehow my wife was able to catch a surprisingly non-chaotic moment of us making the dumplings on video and when we watched it together, we just took a breath, smiled, and she said to me, “My heart is full.”

That phrase has stuck with me and embodies how food is such an integral piece in how we communicate and how we create core memories that we will remember for our lifetime.