Weekday Pasta Recipe

Have all the ingredients for pasta with meat sauce on hand; also 2 small boys, homework, a painting project and a grey Cork afternoon.

Chop onion, mince garlic, fry with olive oil in large heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Stir. Put down spoon, wipe hands, get water for the boy's painting project.
Chop mushrooms, great zuchini. Take mince from wrapping.
Stir onion mix, add mince, check heat.
"Mummy look!" Check painting project, advise on shades of blue for the sky.
Stir mince.
Put on water for noodles in a large saucepan.
Add vegetables and salt and herbs, once mince is browned.
Change rinsing water, mind the green paint all over the sink. Discuss how to achieve pale shades of yellow and brown.
Adjust newspaper on table to prevent paint landing all over dining table.
Open tin of tomatoes, add this and tomato paste to the sauce. Do not squeeze tomato paste tube onto boy's paint palette. (He's not using red today.)
Rinse brush before he moves on to yellow, under the cold tap, not in the noodle water.
Add noodles to water once boiling.
Stir sauce. Check painting's progress, advise opinions. Taste sauce, adjust seasoning.
Allow to simmer: the sauce, not the boys. Chat to painter and his smaller brother. Assemble clean plates, drinks, grate parmesan.
Move dirty paintbrushes from the sink before you strain off cooked noodles.
Dad comes home from work.
Remove painting to drying spot, rinse paint plate, serve sauce over noodles.
Sit together, enjoy!

Where are the recipe books like this? Does anyone else cook like this, with often up to 3 different things going on at once?

It will surely be what I remember about my times here, in fact what I'll remember about all these early years before they were both in school. Pictured is the Bean, helping with the strawberries, as the box construction and paint project dries on the table. There are SO many of these afternoons here, I do treasure them. And sit in an exhausted stupour sometimes between 9 and 10pm, once it's all over. That's where Channel 4 comes in.

It is an incredible leap coming in January next year, when I will see both my beautiful boys off to school - a new stage for us all.