Baking Bread and Balancing Tech: The Energy Audit

On a sunny afternoon in Germany and a rainy, chilly day in South Africa, Babette logs in for her weekly English meeting with Janita. What starts as a simple language practice quickly turns into an honest, sometimes humorous exploration of modern life: work stress, parenting in the age of smartphones, the quest for “me time,” and the surprisingly emotional world of baking sourdough.

Babette, a working mother with a packed schedule, describes herself as “good… not great.” The sun may be shining outside her office window, but like many parents juggling responsibilities, her energy is constantly being negotiated.

And that’s exactly what the day’s meeting is about: energy — where it comes from and where it disappears.

The Daily Energy Drain

When Janita asks what drains her energy the most, Babette doesn’t hesitate.

“My children,” she says with a laugh that every parent will recognize.

Her son, who is 11, has developed a familiar modern habit: screen time that seems impossible to control. From the moment he leaves school until he reaches home, the phone often dominates his attention.

Babette finds herself repeating the same message every day.

“Put the phone away.”
“Take a break.”
“Go outside.”

But the cycle continues.

What frustrates her most isn’t just the device — it’s the feeling of talking without being heard. Like many parents, she is trying to teach balance: learning apps are fine, chatting with friends is fine, even games are fine… but not all the time.

The real worry? He spends less time outdoors and more time in his room with a PlayStation controller.

Technology, it seems, is both helpful and exhausting.

Two Kids, Two Worlds

Interestingly, Babette’s daughter is the opposite.

She loves friends, playdates, and social interaction. One day she might be crafting homemade key rings, the next she’s filming creative videos about horses for YouTube. She happily meets friends outside after school and checks in with her mom using a smartwatch.

Sometimes, perhaps a little too often.

One afternoon, Babette received five or six calls in one hour.

The emergency?

Her daughter wanted something to drink.

Babette’s response was practical and very German-mom direct:

“You have money. Go to the shop and buy something.”

The Mental Load of Work

Parenting isn’t the only source of fatigue.

Babette explains that mental work exhausts her more than physical work. At her office job, she spends much of the day managing emails and orders. Some tasks are quick and routine, but others — especially customer complaints or special requests — can take far longer.

The most frustrating part?

Waiting.

When a request has to be sent to colleagues in Belgium, the response might take weeks.

“I like to answer customers quickly,” she says. “Waiting is not my strong point.”

The Myth of Relaxing Hobbies

Janita suggests turning to hobbies to recharge.

But Babette’s hobbies have a complicated relationship with relaxation.

Take baking bread, for example.

What sounds peaceful — mixing flour, kneading dough, waiting for a golden loaf to rise — often turns into a perfectionist’s challenge.

“If the bread is not high enough,” she admits, “I get annoyed.”

The same thing happens with knitting.

If the finished piece doesn’t look exactly like the picture in the instructions, the enjoyment quickly disappears.

Her verdict?

“Sometimes I think I am a perfectionist. And that’s terrible.”

Bread Experiments and TikTok Ideas

Despite the frustration, Babette keeps experimenting in the kitchen.

Recently she tried:

• Sourdough bread rolls
• Cheeseburger muffins
• A berry birthday cake
• Sourdough pizza shaped like donuts

Some experiments are a hit.

Others… not so much.

Her family is supportive — mostly. Her son loved the cheeseburger muffins. The pizza received a polite “it’s okay.”

Her toughest critic might be her mother-in-law, who jokingly insists she is “not a guinea pig” for culinary experiments.

Still, Babette keeps trying new ideas she finds online: chocolate bread, matcha strawberry loaves, and even cheeseburger-style bread.

The challenge?

“If I bake matcha bread,” she laughs, “I think I must eat it alone.”

The Search for “Me Time”

Like many busy parents, Babette struggles to carve out time for herself.

She owns two dartboards in her basement — one electronic and one traditional steel board — but admits she rarely uses them. She tried hula hoop workouts, but the motivation faded after a few weeks.

Winter hasn’t helped either.

“I think everything together,” she says when describing her lack of motivation.

But there is hope on the horizon.

Next week she plans to start dart training classes, which will give her a regular hour or two away from daily responsibilities.

“It will be your escape,” Janita encourages.

And maybe, just maybe, the start of a new routine.

The One Hobby That Always Works

After discussing all the hobbies that sometimes become stressful, Babette finally admits there is one activity that never disappoints.

Puzzles.

Unlike bread or knitting, puzzles don’t have to rise perfectly or match a picture exactly.

You simply sit down, focus on the pieces, and slowly build something.

No perfection required.

A Lesson That’s More Than Language

By the end of the session, the English lesson has become something more than vocabulary practice.

For Babette, it’s also a small moment of reflection — and a little pocket of “me time.”

As they say goodbye, Janita laughs and wishes her luck with the weekend’s baking experiments.

And Babette leaves with a plan:

Maybe next time, the bread won’t need to be perfect.

Maybe it just needs to be fun.