Sunday with Charlene White: ‘My son knowing how to cook really matters to me’
When are you up? I’m mum to two children under four – so I’m lucky to be asleep still at 6am. These days, they don’t care if mummy’s exhausted. Keeping the older one entertained with the iPad until 7am is a victory. From then it’s a day of tottering.
Do you have a Sunday routine? Doing my hair. Afro hair takes time to care for properly. Sunday morning I wash, condition and tie it up wet. Once the kids are in bed, I sit cross-legged on the bedroom floor to blow it out and then comes flat twisting. And dancing with my son. I find it hard to spend time in a room that’s silent. It feels a wasted opportunity.
Do you switch off ? Never completely. I love news and don’t want to miss anything. It’s not unheard of for me to send excited messages to my planning editor at 6am on a Sunday morning with ideas for the week ahead.
I’ve stopped texting him at that time, but email feels less intrusive.
What’s for Sunday lunch? We’re Caribbean, it’s Sunday dinner: rice and peas, stew chicken, macaroni cheese and jerked treats. My son is in the kitchen with me, now he’s old enough to stand by the stove. Him knowing how to cook really matters to me. That’s how my mother taught me.
A special Sunday? Last month, the first after Covid restrictions were eased slightly. I had my brother and sister over for the first time in months: we talked for hours; they played with my kids in the garden. My youngest has spent most of her life in lockdown and was nervous at first. It was emotional to see those bonds grow.
What have you missed most over the past year? Long, boozy Sunday lunches at the pub with my partner and friends. I can’t wait to drop the kids off with my sister (thank you!) and spend a whole day in the sunshine without them. Good food, drink and laughter, please: none of these two-hour time limits on tables. I’ve really, really missed it.