The Dinner Hour

Oh, the dinner hour. I am so glad it doesn't actually last an hour. It is pure madness at this stage for us. We wait as long as we can to eat so that we can all eat together--usually, we make it until Matt gets home, and sometimes we don't. Often, he rolls in the door just as it is put on the table. Then, we spend 10-15 minutes shoving our food in, trying not to choke, as the girls jabber away, make demands, refuse to eat, complain about food, ask for treats, etc. We exchange many wide-eyed crazy looks at each other across the table, practice deep breathing, and remind ourselves that bedtime is near. If I didn't have such a strong belief in family meal times, I'd just wait to eat until the girls were asleep. I decided to take a video clip tonight, as an example of the chaos that ensues. I didn't want the girls to know I was doing it, so you will be looking at the kitchen counter most of the time. You can hear Jillian tell me that it is morning (start of the bedtime protest because it is still light outside), and you can hear Adrienne chant relentlessly about wanting to see the Sea Monkeys (aka brine shrimp) we have growing in the container on the hutch as a science experiment ("I want Sea Monkeys Daddy"), and then remind us that she wants to take a bath. Over, and over, and over. Here's a 45 second taste of the dinner hour.....wine, anyone????