Quality Time

Once upon a time, I wanted to have kids. Once upon a time I knew that I would be a mom who would never yell, a mom who would be perfectly patient with my lovely angels all the time. And oh, the angels. My children would be polite and kind, they'd never argue, they'd never have dirt under their nails, eat too much candy....

Are your rolling your eyes and laughing at me yet? When was that Once Upon a Time? Obviously, it was before I had children. Anyway, as part of my little fantasy land, I believed we'd have a healthy, homemade meal together every night. Go ahead and laugh some more. I don't cook, I hate it, and I'm not very good. When I'm do cook, it's not unusual for something to go wrong and for me to say, "ok everybody, pizza tonight!" after there's an awful taste to whatever it was I just pulled out of the oven. And don't forget the smoke. Usually there's a lot of smoke.

Alright, where was I going with all that? I thought we'd have Family Dinners. Here's reality. We don't have family dinners. Our schedules don't match up quite enough for everyone to eat at the same time. Our culinary preferences almost never match up. So most nights now sound like this...

Ok everyone, it's time to eat. Are you hungry? Come to the kitchen and find some food. Then I list the leftovers or the stuff that I'm willing to make tonight, do you want mac and cheese or grilled cheese or spaghetti? Everyone grabs something, eats as quickly as they can and rushes back to some other activity. It's enough to make you feel really disconnected and depressed about how we don't spend time together. But here's the secret success, here's our Quality Time. Once we're all home for the night, after Scouts, Ballet, Work, we all settle down on the couches in the living room. We talk about homework, we play the piano, we talk about anything and everything. And that's where the best part of our day sneaks in. We're in the same room together, not arguing for the moment, snuggling and reading and I can't even list all the good stuff that happens. But those moments are the glue that keeps us all together.

I know it looks like they're all busy playing with electronics. But they really are enjoying each other's company, laughing and playing games together. For real. They are. 

Cute Little Story - I walk in the door and say "You can see Orion really clearly tonight." Archer knows exactly what this means and runs outside to gaze up at the stars. Shelly and Eli follow him out, but everyone realizes its too cold and runs back into the dining room. Archer tries to point out Orion while Shelly and Eli crowd around him and they're all standing inside but leaning outside and it's too crowded there in the doorway but it's too cold and WHERE is Orion's belt? And that's why I don't worry about Family Dinner, we're stargazing.