Explaining to a 2-year-old that 'you can't watch TV again' is difficult ~ Grilled Mackerel and Macaroni Salad ~

A Sunday morning where everyone slept in late.

When I went downstairs and turned on the TV,
"Pretty Cure" was just starting.

My daughter, who hasn't shown much interest in it so far,
usually starts saying
"I want to watch YouTube" as soon as the opening ends, but
on this day, I turned the TV on at 8:50.
This was the highlight.

My daughter was glued to the transformation scene.
She was so excited through the ending song after they defeated the villains,
and as soon as the commercials started, still full of excitement,
she ran to report it to my wife, who was in the bathroom.

"Pretty Cure transformed!"
"When I grow up, I'm going to be a Pretty Cure!"

As for me, thinking "that's enough," I
changed the channel to the morning news program.
Just as I was watching to check the weather forecast,
my daughter came back.

"But I want to watch Pretty Cure again!"
"Let me watch Pretty Cure!"

"Pretty Cure is already over. Look."
When I changed the channel back, "Kamen Rider" had already started.
But a 2-year-old doesn't understand that.

After all, she's a generation that has been familiar with YouTube since birth.
If there's a scene she found interesting,
"Watch it again!"
she's used to having it replayed over and over, so
she started crying and getting angry, thinking that couldn't possibly be the case.

Our peaceful Sunday took a turn,
and just as I was wondering what to do...
she seemed to become interested in
the Kamen Rider on the screen that I had left on.

"This is scary!"
"The monster is pitiful, isn't it?"
"I'm going to be a superhero!"

Isn't your emotional range just too much?
And your dreams keep changing too...

After that, we had lunch and it was time for my daughter's nap.

I started making a few extra side dishes
to put in my wife's bento box starting tomorrow.

Even though this means the bento and dinner will be the same,
I can increase the number of items each time.

All that's left is to grill the mackerel in the evening and make miso soup.

In the evening, I first make the rolled omelet for the bento.

When it cooled down, I called my wife
and had her pack the bento box however she liked.

She happily packed the gratin from Friday, the yakisoba from Saturday,
and the simmered dishes and rolled omelet I had just made.

During the 30 minutes until the rice was cooked,
I took out the frozen mackerel, poured boiling water over it, then lightly salted it and baked it in the oven.
Was the water too hot? The skin peeled off a little.
Next time, I'll try it at about 80 degrees.

I made miso soup, and for the shishito peppers I received from my parents' house, I
grilled them in the toaster oven and sprinkled them with bonito flakes, and tonight's dinner was complete.

Ever since I served grilled mackerel with salt before and was told it was "stinky,"
I had been hesitant to serve it, but
it seems that the extra step of pouring boiling water over it before grilling removed the fishy smell.
They polished off half a fillet.
They also gobbled up their favorite freeze-dried tofu.
They even asked for seconds of the macaroni salad,
so tonight was a complete success with everything eaten.

Thank you for eating again tonight.
Daddy will do his best to cook again tomorrow.