i don't know about your dinnertime but ours is usually circus-like. 3 children who can't keep their hands to themselves, or stay in their seats for that matter, and keep the others crying and/or screaming. i keep telling myself that one of these times i am going to record our dinner hour so that someday in the future we might miss this zoo.
let me give you tonight as an example. we sat down to eat and before 30 seconds had passed Mary decides she wants to change her clothes--out of her belle dress-up. so she AND Will run upstairs and get her other clothes. she changes at the table side. another 5 seconds passed. now Mary decides she wants a spoon and not a regular spoon but a baby spoon. she goes searching thru the silverware drawer. she comes back to the table. Will, upon seeing Mary's "baby" spoon, jumps off his seat and rummages thru the silverware drawer to find a "baby" spoon. he can't find one so dad gets up and searches for a "baby" spoon for Will. found one! now we can eat...oh not so fast. Nelson, who actually thinks he is just as big as Will and Mary, gets off his stool and goes over to the silverware drawer which is higher than he is tall and sticks his hand up high trying to find something---pretty sure he doesn't have a clue what he is doing but he saw brother and sister do it so he must do it too. ahhh. can we eat now? ok. we are eating. but now Nels decides he wants a "lap" so he climbs up on the table and says to dad "a lap" so he sits in daddy's lap while daddy tries to eat dinner. then 1 minute later he stands up and does the chinese splits to get to mommy's lap. yeah, it is a really fun game. can't you tell by my enthusiasm? of course all this time we are asking the kids to sit in their seats and eat dinner- but it seems that they have become immune to our voices. they really must not hear mom and dad's voices right? i mean, they couldn't be listening to us ask them to do something over and over and not respond in the slightest without having become immune, right?
now lets turn to the actual dinner which, by now, is getting cold. Salmon, potatoes, baking powder biscuits and green beans. well, the green beans got substituted last minute for the spaghetti squash because for some reason the squash has been in the oven for about 50 minutes on 400 and is still CRUNCHY. i was REALLY looking forward to that squash but time is up and i need another veggie--green beans. the salmon: a little over cooked and dry and less than flavorful (can someone teach me how to make salmon tasty please). the potatoes were ok and the biscuits were kinda dry yet pasty. SO all in all it wasn't the BEST dinnertime we have ever had. pretty much less than stellar.
oh, and know that this all took place in the course of about 10 minutes. and i am writing this in the aftermath so i could give you the full story. my questions to you are:: what is your dinnertime like? and how do you control the circus?
16 comments:
Oh the memories! Can you not remember the days when our table was full of all these people with their own agendas? This was a good chuckle and prompts a comment: you ain't seen nothin yet! Just remember there is yet another dinner tomorrow night and the next and the next. . .next. . .next. .. . . Better love it and continue to write about it or these fun memories will slip by. All is good! xoxoxo Mom
Oh Joni I sure hope we can all look at our dinnertime and laugh or cherish the moments someday. We ended up having to move the girls across the table from each other because they couldn't keep their hands to themselves, it only makes it a longer reach across the table now I guess. Good luck!
Oh Joni! I can see my future very clearly in this image. Right now we have a "out of your seat means you are finished eating" rule, but we never enforce it. Ha ha. Jane doesn't know "please pass" so she stands up and walks over to the part of the table with the bread to get it. You didn't even mention eating the food. She's in the all-carbs-all-the-time diet.
I have stumbled on a good way to cook salmon. On the grill. Depending on how thick it is, 10-15 min max. Turn just once. We use Old Bay seasoning on it. Tastes just like Wmbg.
Joni, sounds like quite the event!
Just love it and enjoy every minute of it! Kids grow way too fast. Before you know it high school comes around and they are seldom even home at dinner time, then they graduate, and are never home.
I love your pictures! Your cuties are getting so big!
Hi Joni! We live in Chicago now and we miss Williamsburg and everyone we knew there. I like to check in on you guys because we always thought a lot of you all and like to see what everyone is up to and watch the kids/families grow! (Spaghetti squash- Pierce the skin several times and microwave whole for 15 mins, turning once. Remove and let stand 10 minutes-easy!) Bobbie, Matt and Seth
It's identical to what we go through!! It's so NOT fun....and then I think why do I even try to make a decent meal?!!
Thanks for sharing! It makes me feel better that we're not alone.
He he he! Laughing with you not at you. "PLEASE eat your dinner!", "NO you cannot have marshmallows instead of chicken", "I"m not sure how they cut the chicken's head off honey."
Yes, dinnertime is a fun time, isn't it? I say EAT WITHOUT THEM!
PS...Pacific Northwest Salmon....I think I put the recipe for that rub in one of the books. It's the only way I like it. I think I remember that you don't like heat, so you could leave out the Cayenne pepper, or just give it a tiny dash.
And try tilapia. It rocks. With warm mango salsa on top....SO good. The individually frozen/sealed ones are great. they cook under the broiler in just a few minutes and my kiddos even love it. VERY mild fish.
I don't know what you're talking about, Joni. My kids just sit and eat...veggies and all. Yah stinkin' right! I'm with Nicole, eat without them--though I think I recall you saying, Nicole, that that was the way you grew up--just eating, no talking at the dinner table??? We should all be asking YOUR parents for advice.
(commenting to Amy about Nicole) well when you have 11 kids I'm sure it is survival mode...hoping to actually GET some dinner before the older ones scarf it down.
Maybe that is an answer? Our kids don't know what hunger feels like. Maybe we should try to set the food on the table and then Matt and I devour it....without offering any to them. They may think it is funny the first time...but after a while they may not like the hunger pains! :) I'm into painful parenting!
No really...our house is the same. I wish all they asked about was how the food got dead....but they usually say "this is yukky"...this tastes kind of funny mom".."do I have to eat all of it?"..."just 3 big bites...then I can throw it away?" I must not cook well...but matt seems to like it...or he is just a really good liar...probably the latter!
Keep it up Jones. You are doing a GREAT job!
Esther is pretty good at the table and Nathan just sits there watching everything. But we do have our share of chaotic evenings when food is being spilled all over and she won't touch anything. Esther is not allowed to leave the table until she's done and we tell her when she's done. We resort to bribery quite often. Four more bites and then you can have more of whatever on the table you like or another glass of milk, etc. Yeah, bribery usually works for Esther. I'm curious to see how dinner will change as Nathan gets older and he and Esther start to interact more!
I can relate to that! Dinner time for us sounds about the same, but you are right one of these days we will miss it and I am beginning to realize it will come faster than we hope for.
Hey Joni, I saw your blog link on Heidi's, so I thought I'd take a peek (I hope you don't mind). This blog made me laugh so hard, thanks! I'm totally in the same boat! We might need to install seatbelts to our dinning chairs so that we can get through dinner safetly ;) Your not alone, our dinner time is the same!
Oh and Way Cute Hair, I almost didn't recognize you at church!
Hi Joni! I loved this post. I am always telling Ben that we are not the only ones who have to deal with a circus for every meal! We have had to move children around to be away from certain other children and we ALWAYS have to strap Alex into his booster or we would never eat. Plus, we are liberal with the "reminders" during mealtime that if anyone gets up before they are excused, they will lose their treat. This works most of the time but, still, our meals are definitely circus-like. Thanks for sharing!
ooo, i have the says all for tasty meat yummyness. it will seriously turn any kind of fish into restaurant quality mahi-mahi or something. but here's the catch, you have to call me to get it! i am holding it ransom until then....
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