ChefLuna.com

While at the restaurant today, I overheard a guest respond to the host that his party was “three, and a half,” indicating that he was accompanied by two adults and a child. I don’t think the child overheard this comment, but I did, and it made me think about the way adults oftentimes do not view the child in their presence as a complete being.

What does this announcement say to the child? And what does it say about the person who made the declaration that the third person in his party was a “half”? At what point is the child expected to be whole? And at what point will the adult in the child’s presence acknowledge that child as whole?

Because I come from a large family, I have been a witness to the rearing of children since becoming an uncle in my single digits and into my adult-age uncle-status. And I have heard how adults speak to children of varying ages. One phrase from my own childhood that I’ve heard repeated with many other children is: “You should know better; you are no longer a child.”

When I heard this customer refer to his “half-guest”, it dawned on me how it could be potentially confusing to a “whole person” (whether child or adult) regarding how she or he should … be. Would it not stem, therefore that the adult who believes in the “half-guest” struggles himself with his sense of identity or wholeness?

Does this comment indicate a “half adult” for not seeing the “wholeness” of the child in his presence? What do you think?

Thanks so much for visiting my website. This is my second, and I’m really excited about all the fun things that I’ll be able to post here. First of all, I love the fact that it’s a blog. I am learning that this is a new word, short for “web log”. Basically, my website can easily keep track of the things I want to put on it, and you can keep track of what I have to say. Not bad!

My lovely one is helping me put all this together, of course. She helps me with many things that I do when I’m not having fun in the kitchen. One of our most exciting projects is something I have never done before: publish a book.

What’s really fun about this, is that we are publishing a children’s book that draws slightly from my own experience as a child, as well as my numerous experiences as an uncle—dozens of times over. (Even though I don’t have kids of my own, I have learned from some of the world’s youngest sages while showing them a trick or two at the cutting board or over the grill!)

After almost 20 years of cooking, I thought I’d do something new, and so I wrote three short stories. One of them is about to “hit the stands”. It’s called “Luna Needs a Miracle!” and I’ll fill you in on the details as we get closer to the release date. Stay Tuned!