Spaghetti Pasta with Pancetta and Spinach

My life as a mother is definitely made easier by social media outlets like youtube, Instagram and Twitter. It’s also made a lot harder by those on-line distractions. The obvious way it has made my life more difficult is I have a feeling I’d be better mother if my daughter didn’t have to ask me three times to look up from Twitter to see her cartwheel. I’m a mom who works from home so I can sometimes fool myself into thinking that I’m always really there for my family. But, recently, I did the math and figured out collectively I spend about two hours giving social media outlets screen time. Do you know what I could accomplish with an extra two hours in my day? I guess you could argue that these are little mental breaks or “me time,” but maybe I’d be better off  grabbing my “me time” at the nail salon. It’s true part of my job as co-creator of this site is to manage part of our social media, but is all that time really for SPC? However, when I need it, like a good friend, social media is there to bail me out too.

When the pressure of a trick or treater’s costume hopes were hinged on me getting her clown face makeup spot-on, youtube was there for me with an easy tutorial. Yes,  I could have done without the 2-hour rabbit hole I subsequently went down watching videos of teenagers’ doing nail art but my daughter thought it was cool, and, besides, doesn’t that count as mother-daughter time? I love the dinner inspiration I get from Instagram photos but did I can do without the 20-minute discussion I had with a friend about why I haven’t been “liking” enough of her photos. (Honestly, it was for no other reason than that I missed it! I follow a lot of people but try to like everything of the actual people I know in the world!) I find myself really loving the fact I live in the social media age especially when my daughter randomly asks, “Where is Mt. Everest?” So I open up my lap top, share with her its location on google maps and then find an amazing documentary we can’t turn away from (see it here) about how the Himalayas were formed. A few days later when I over hear my daughter explaining to her friend what are Eurasian and Indian plates, I feel pretty pleased with the hour and a half rabbit hole we went down that sunny Saturday when we could have been outside.

But there are some videos I’m finding I desperately need. For instance, where’s the video for How to Brush Out a Knot From a Small Human’s Head that Looks Like it was the Handywork of a Rabid Beaver Building a Dam? Or How to Lose that Fantastically Unbrushed, Hanging-by-a-Thread Loose Tooth In One Easy Step Rather Than 6 Whiney Days? Where’s that video? I’d also kill for the How to Get Dressed for School Without Crying About Your Outfit video. And, most importantly, I think a video for this pasta recipe is also mandatory. Almost as helpful as learning how to avoid a morning meltdown, this dish makes getting dinner on the table attainable, even on your busiest day. For the littles in the house, there’s no denying the fun of sucking back strings of spaghetti but I love the simple but powerful flavour the pancetta gives the pasta. And, of course, a hearty sprinkle of cheese always makes everyone at the table smile.

If you’re feeling bad about the time it took you to read this post, don’t. If you make this dish (and watch that documentary with your curious kid), it was all worth it.