I actually enjoy cooking for my family, for the most part. Sure, part of it is pure drudgery and I long to get a break from it, but, in general, it isn't the hardest part of my day. I do get a little tired of my tried and true menu (and curse the frequent return of the dreaded sloppy joe fatigue syndrome. I've also found myself falling prey to the loathed tuna casserole surprise addiction of late).
Tonight, however, I was reminded that my kids have very different ideas of the term "gourmet". My planned dinner was chicken nachos--a typical family favorite (any meal based around tortilla chips is bound to be a winner). Midway through the dinner, Claire declared we needed to play our frequently required dinner time "quiet game".
"1-2-3 BE QUIET" she commanded.
"No," her daddy reprimanded. "We're not playing tonight."
"Yeah, Claire," Sam declared.
"Can I have some more milk?" Grace asked.
"BAAAAA! Ma-na, moke," Lucy added.
"You can have more milk, honey," I told Lucy.
"Claire wins!" Chad pronounced. "You get candy!" (Can you see how he messes with us?) He then proceeded to produce a handful of candy corns from his shirt pocket. What?
Before the protests could reach a fever pitch, we assured all other children of an allotment of candy corns once their plates were clean.
"I'll share," Claire promised grandly.
Dinner proceeded remarkably calmly, considering. A few minutes later, I looked up to find Claire ever so carefully balancing a candy corn on the melted cheese on her taco chip. She slowly raised it to her lips and took a dainty bite, her blue eyes meeting mine over her chip.
I got Chad's attention and he burst out laughing.
"Is that good?" he asked her.
"Uh-huh!" she enthused.
Clearly I needn't stress too much about menu planning and cooking for the little ducks. At least for any meal with which I'm willing to serve a side of candy corn!
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