Sunday, July 5, 2009




Dinner? Who needs to eat a real meal? Not my family I tell you what. They eat all the time. Not a day goes by without a request to be fed simply because I am in the kitchen. Whatever the time.

Sunday night I planned to make a lovely spaghetti dinner complete with salad and bread. I call this type of meal a 3-course meal. I know it isn't one because we eat it all at once but I like to assign names to special things. Having different foods on our plates at mealtime is an occasion worthy of a special title. I also realize spaghetti is nothing fancy either but I'm comfortable in the knowledge that yes, I have been known to cook interesting meals from time to time and sometimes they are even good.


This is how preparing it went.


While I am boiling water and prepping salads, Dan calls to me from outside "Hey! Mom! See right here? See this thing? When I drive it this way it goes like this!"


Me vaguely while trying to concentrate on gathering ingredients "Yeah Dan, cool!"


Now I'm making bread sticks and thinking about what to serve the kids (Dan and Shannon don't eat what we do. I know that's wrong...whatever. I don't want to get into it.)


Shannon comes in and wails "Katie took off all my doll clothes!! Why is she always doing that? I HATE IT WHEN SHE DOES THAT!"

Me while forming meatballs "mmmhhmm, that's nice dear. Now go play." (okay, that's not what I said but it's not important.)

1 minute later... Shannon brings the naked doll into the kitchen and I am now dressing the doll instead of cooking the pasta.


30 seconds later...Dan outside yelling "Mom! See that jet? Mom did you see that jet? Mom! Come here! Look at that jet!!"

"Yes Dan, I see that jet...wow."

return to meatballs

20 seconds later Shannon comes in... "You put her clothes on wrong, and you need to fix her arm, it's backwards."


Now I'm madly chopping veggies because when there are multiple items to a meal we all know how important timing is, and it was crunch time. (okay, there were no veggies but I was in a hurry.)


Time to put in the spaghetti. Is there a reason why we have to put it in halfway and wait for it to soften before dousing it all? Why not just break it in half?


Dan inside the kitchen now "You know that pole from the grill, I put it on the tire, well not the tire, on the side of the wheel and then I cut the grass with it like that."


What?? Nevermind. No time to imagine what he's done out there. The kids need a fruit and something to drink.


Pressure's on now to get stuff to the table nice and hot and Katie walks in with a toy ferret hanging from a bracelet fashioned like a noose. Then she quietly walks out. Hmmm....no time to worry about that one either. Time to take out the chicken nuggets.


Shannon comes in to complain about her tummy.

Dan comes in to inspect my progress. "When is it ready? The oven (toaster) light is off. It's ready! Mom, can we eat now?" (I'm still trying to explain the difference between toasting and baking in the toaster oven. He just doesn't get it.


Time to make the lemonade because this is a fancy meal.


Katie comes in jumping and singing "Boing boing boing"


Then she's determined to put forks in the kids' cups of chocolate milk. "I hep you mom." she announces.


In my head I'm repeating to myself "I am a good mom I am a good mom be patient I am a good mom."


Ooops, I forgot the sauce, the bread is burning, the spaghetti is overcooked, what's in the microwave again?


Dinner


5 minutes later I'm cleaning up and Dan is pestering me with "when is dessert?"


*sigh*



During dinner Daddy says to Daniel "Is that your sock on the shelf?"

We keep eating, Dan gets up pretty much unnoticed and when he returns he says" what sock Daddy? That's a cow!"


sneaky little sucker

3 comments:

  1. Some day you WILL be able to sit down and eat a real meal..sort of.I grew up with my mother breaking the spaghetti in half into the pot;I do that too.Easier to cook,easier to eat.I'm always amazed when I even see tv cooks do it whole!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a test comment. Hopefully it works.
    Tim

    ReplyDelete
  3. What fun! I just get interrupted by phone calls.

    ReplyDelete