I am surprised when people tell me that our family is a rarity in that we sit down for dinner together every night. We make jokes about The Bush Years and “Family Values”, and aren’t we “old school”, but truly, this is the only time of day we all sit together and get to know what is happening in each other’s lives. Yes, even a Democrat mom, an Independent dad, one budding democrat, one “on the fence” and one completely undecided member of our family embrace the good ‘ol family values of nightly dinner.
Lately I find myself flashing back to dinnertime with my mom and sister when I was growing up. My mom was like a broken record – quit saying LIKE! I remember, I didn’t realize I even said LIKE so much. When did I finally break that habit? Please tell me it was by the time I turned 17, because I don’t know how much more LIKE I can take!
What is it about teenage English that gives the work LIKE so much power? “…and I was like…”, “and she was like…” The same goes for the word ALL,”and he was all,”, “and I was all…” I have counted on my hands under the table, and if it is a decently long story – the word LIKE might be used upwards of 20 times. Have I mentioned two of my daughters are taking high school honors English? I would bet someone a million dollars that either one of my honors English students can’t speak for two minutes without using the world LIKE improperly.
Then there is the speed of delivery. Is it excitement that makes the words tumble out so quickly? Again, flash backs to my very own mother, “SLOW DOWN!!! I cannot follow along when you speak so fast!” Amazingly, I still have the knack to understand my daughters in their quick-speak, but I find myself translating for my husband a lot. Bringing up the tail end and fighting for air time is darling 13-year old 7th grader who loves to follow up most sentences with “… and stuff,” clearly adding an intelligence factor not to be equaled. Even her brightest comments lose that je ne se quoi when followed by “…and stuff”.
On a high note – and taking a clue from the Kardashians, to whom we have no aspirations of keeping up with…we’ve recently started going around the table talking about the peak and pit of our day. It is fun, because everyone participates, and everyone gets to be center stage for a bit. It distracts me from seeing bad table manners like shoveling food into one’s mouth, eating hunched over one’s plate, slurping, elbows on the table…all those lovely and attention-getting bad habits that a mom must learn to ignore at times, or else the entire time spend dining would be one tirade after another of Miss Manners gone Mad.
Seeing the big picture, until one of the girls embarrasses herself in front of her peers in the dining hall at collage, table etiquette appears to be a lost cause. But at that embarrassing ah-ha moment hopefully all the years of carefully picked Manners 101lessong during dinnertime will come flooding back, and all will be right in the world. Hope is a mother’s best friend.
1 comment:
Gill and I try to have family dinners, but during the week, it's hard. He gets home late, the boys go to bed early, it just doesn't mesh. HOWEVER, we do have a similar tradition in our home - when it's time to say goodnite, the boys bless whomever they are thinking of and then share with us their favorite part of the day. (At 4 years old, they rarely have a low point, but the favorite parts are awesome). Sometimes it's something special, like a police officer coming to school or sometimes it's random, "my favorite part of the day was pancakes for breakfast". Either way, it's a great way to bond and spend quality time with your kids.
You're doing a great job raising 3 teenagers and I love reading about it! xoxo
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