I have noticed that most of my families’ interaction occurs around the eight foot island that we have in our kitchen. This should come as no surprise since it is only a step away from the refrigerator and I have three teenagers and an almost 10 year old. I have to laugh though at how many times a day I wipe that counter clean. I am not sure that you would even believe me.
Yesterday night, we ate around it. I laid out all of the Christmas leftovers, paper plates and yelled, “Come and get it!”
They sure took me seriously. It was like a stampede of elephants thundering from their respective corners of the house. Thank heavens I had the foresight to choose my food prior to their arrival because I don’t think I would have gotten any. Those of you who are raising teenagers know exactly what I am talking about. There are not enough chairs at the island for everyone so some of the kids lounged against the countertops, others fought over the remaining chair. What a sight to see. I wish I could tell you that everyone ate happily and politely. I wish I could give you (those of you with more than one young child) hope that teenagers are not a lot. It would all be lies if I tried to convince you of it. My middle son, whom I affectionately dubbed- Orange Shoe Guy (OSG,) fought with his sister the whole time. The oldest two competed for their father’s attention and I was left sitting alone at the table just watching the hullabaloo. Truthfully, it was delightful. No, not the fighting and competition but the energy and vibe was good. They were interacting. That interaction, of course, led to a full scale wrestling match on the kitchen floor which only ended when the littlest bumped her head. The wrestling was not mean- it was a playful match with my husband against all four of the others. He lost~
It is times like these that I want my children to remember. There was nothing fancy. Half of us were in our pajamas- the other half wanted to be. The food was potluck. The plates were paper. Yet, the conversation (for the most part) was good. The laughter was loud. It was a joy to be a part of. I am just happy that they were smart enough to leave this momma out of the wrestling match though. I am no match for two 13 year old boys.
I hope that your holidays have brought you much joy.
~Angie
<a href=”http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1164982 “>Photo Credit</a>
