Friday, October 1, 2010

Dinner & a Show

The show was a farce...

We settle down to eat the chicken noodle soup and biscuits I made for dinner. There is a bit of a scuffle over who gets to say the prayer. Gunnison asks first, so he is the lucky one. Gavin, the unlucky one taps his spoon throughout the prayer in defiance over the situation. Kit and I ask the big boys about school, people munch, I feed Emmeline, things are good. Kit turns to me, "Where's Gunner?" Hmmm...youngest son is missing. We find him, make him stay at the table and eat a little more of his, as of yet, untouched food. Gavin tells Josiah to pull his finger (??!!!). I quickly put a stop to that-I don't like potty-humor, especially NOT at the table. But, the discussion of what pulling your finger (or hand) means ensues. I sigh, Kit laughs...dinner continues. Where's Gunner? We find him, remind him he has to stay at the table until he is excused. He picks out a few pieces of chicken from his bowl and starts eating (sans silverware of course). Kit and I start talking about the house; Josiah breaks out in song (we actually have a rule against singing at the dinner table-cruel and unusual, I know). Gavin shows off by seeing how high he can flip his spoon by slamming his fist on the handle and...where's Gunner? We haul his skinny little bottom back to the table, make him eat one more bite, ask to be excused, and now he's legitimately on the loose. Gavin tells us the noodles taste funny and asks to be excused. He's legitimately on the loose. Josiah asks for another bowl of soup, his third (!!!), but only the "liquid soup part" because "I don't really like the rest of it". He hunches over his bowl, his hands demurely laying in his lap, and proceeds to slurp loudly from his bowl, with just his mouth. Emmeline, not to be outdone by the chaos around her, decides to squeal and make herself heard. Gunnison comes running into the room, Gavin's chasing him. We send him back out. We look down, and Gavin is skulking in and trying to hide under the table and Emme's high-chair. He is "spying" and "being a ninja"; we send him back out. Josiah declares loudly he is stuffed, and to prove it, lifts up his shirt to see just how much his belly protrudes from between his bony litttle rib cage. He asks to be excused and heads out to join the fray of the chase/battle we can hear coming from the family room beyond the kitchen. Kit and I smile, laugh...or cry?? and comment on how in 30 minutes, the meal had become a dinner and a show.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

You make me laugh!! I can picture all of it so clearly. Your family, I think, has nearly everyone beat in the "children are full of character and imagination" dept. I can laugh (but truly sympathize!!)! We had the same dinner last night and the only children to eat the soup were the Vest children...nice. Greyson said the chicken was "dirty" and Cooper said that the soup was "disgusting" (which it was not) and Ella followed suit. Nice...real nice.

Ashlee said...

So funny Lib!! Sorry that your hard work for dinner was not appreciated! But I do take some comfort in knowing that other families are not sitting together at the table, enjoying each others company, recapping the their exciting day, and complimenting their mother on how wonderful the dinner is (soup from a can!).

Isn't it funny that now you have to do so much to make sure your kids eat enough and then in a few years, those boys will be eating you out of the house!! :)

whitney said...

sounds alarmingly like my house...only with a lot more eating :P I can't even manage to keep the kids at the table for longer then 3 minutes, I sweat (especially the girls).

I agree w/Steph, I can picture it all so well! You kids definitely win the personality prize!

Ashlee said...

PS - I have reread this post 3 times because I think it is so funny! You paint quite a picture! I love it!

Jenny said...

I love seeing how things REALLY are in my friends' lives! Awesome! Truly makes you wonder why on earth the experts always say eating dinner as a family can help keep your kids on the straight and narrow.

Aubrey said...

What a fun "season" of life we are in, hunh? It seems like dinner time at our house is actually a see-who-can-cry-the-loudest match at our house. Both kids are always starving and of course don't want to eat what we put in front of them (well, Lillian is still at the easy Gerber food stage, but Samuel not so much).

Haylee Munk Brown said...

hilarious!

holyoak said...

I think it was a very tender mercy for mom to have girls first...

Hannah-girl said...

So funny! I think I'd much rather have dinner and a show than just dinner. ;)

PS- the first nine days in April are officially yours! :)

Andrea said...

Oh the joys of being a parent. :) These are the memories that make up life. I sure miss your family.

Coty said...

Hilarious! Probably frustrating at the time, but looking back... it probably gets a chuckle or two :)

Hey, I found this link for making baby leg warmers for cheaper than I can buy them already made. You can go to family dollar or dollar tree and pick up a scarf for a buck...then go home and make these:

http://obsessivelystitching.blogspot.com/2009/09/dollar-store-scarf-to-baby-legs.html


They are adorable, and affordable!!!! I just thought they were so cool, and the cold season is coming up; our little girls need a fabulous way to stay warm and cozy, right!

Hannah-girl said...

Ah! Happy Late Birthday to Gavin! I meant to wish him a happy birthday on the actual day but completely forgot. Please tell him I'm sorry, and that I think he should get to celebrate for a few hours today since I forgot. ;)

Charee B Mcclellan said...

haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaa, you are just too dang funny and so very cute! i just love you. Always have and for sure always will. I just love your family. what darling and cute kids. i feel like my 2 kids can be crazy dinners and so on..i can't imagine more. GOOD JOB GIRL! i look up to you as an example. I was anti blogging during the summer..so i am excited to be back and see all waht is going on in your fun family! love you girl...write all these fun memories down. as you know, pres monson said...all too soon, it will be quiet and we will miss it! so true, so true.

Kara and Theo said...

Too funny!!! It's nice to know that we aren't the only ones who struggle at dinnertime. My kids always raise their shirts to show us how "full" they are. We'll laugh about this...one day. :/