Dinner plans

State testing time is upon us and one of my least favorite parts of my job is being the District Assessment Coordinator. Last Monday, after coming back from a wonderful 12 day escape to Peru, I spent the day digging through 29 boxes of tests, trying to make some sense of it all. I left at five, jumped on my trusty bike and sped toward home. By the time I pulled into the garage, I was still carrying a good deal of the day's stress with me. This is not normal- usually I am able to leave the stress behind as I pedal for home. Anyway- Monday I walked into the back door and before really even greeting my kids, started rummaging through the fridge, trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Eli was at the sink messing around with some tea bags- I thought for sure he was into his 'backyard stew' mindset. The snow was gone, the sun was out, and that usually means the boys like to 'make soup' outside. He asked for something, but I didn't have time to help him out. I had to make dinner! I had to put my work stuff away! I had to pee! But persistent little Eli grabbed my elbow, looked me in the eye, and said, "Mom, me and Theo want to make dinner tonight, it's a restaurant." Sure enough, when I took the time to look up, I saw that they had carefully written out a menu and were asking grandma to try to find a tablecloth and a candle before she left. Turns out all I had to do was sit down at the table and order up a meal. Once Jon got home Theo offered up some wine. So we ordered 'noodles with cheese' and an appetizer of nachos. Then we sat back and tried not to get involved. This was easier for Jon than me. I kept saying, "Jon- maybe you should help them drain the noodles....maybe you should....." but he shushed me and refilled my wine. And they did it- they got dinner on the table with no major issues (ok, we did have to pick half of the cooked noodles off of the floor at one point, but I had washed that floor in the past 3 months, so that was just fine...) and Jon and I just sat. It was lovely. As dinner was served the cooks did ask for permission to join us at the table, which was a nice perk at this restaurant. Loved it.