Maddie & micrwave 1991.

Maddie & micrwave 1991.

When our daughter was 2 years old, she would go to bed with a bottle of milk. She was impatient and it placated her to sit by the microwave and wait for the ‘ping’. We used to tell her how ‘in the old days’ she’d have had to wait a lot longer, for water to boil in pans, then for the milk to heat and cool again. We worried that microwaves and McDonalds would make her expect everything instant, and that we’d never get the chance to do anything slow again.

We were new at everything then; parenting, furnishing a house, we had only our instincts to guide us. We chose this compact microwave for its whiteness and to make the best use of space. Most other microwaves at the time were brown or silver and the size of a small fridge.

 

Maddie &  Microwave 2012

Maddie & Microwave 2012

Our daughter is now 23. She lives and works in France and had to exert great patience to get there.When she comes home and cooks us French cuisine, she uses our Panasonic microwave oven, recently pictured.

This is not the same model of Panasonic, it is the same Panasonic. 21 years on, it is still a perfect fit for my brand new kitchen and the technology has not dated. The edging trim has yellowed a little but my new kitchen is cream so it suits. It still defrosts because we are all impatient, and it still warms and cooks for us, like the nanny that stays long after the child has left home.