Thursday, September 18, 2008

Sometimes... You just do what you gotta do.

In our tiny little kitchen is a tiny little table and four sticky chairs- one of them with a broken rung. (Rung... funny word.) It wobbles when you sit down it it. It shakes, it teeters, and it feels like it's going to leave you sitting in a heap on the floor. That chair has been fixed. And fixed. And fixed. And it has fallen apart again, and again, and again. So we gave up fixing it.

Well. Everynight I brew up a wonderful home-cooked meal and my family comes walking from their various locations around the house with smiles on their faces and pleasantly take their places at the table. Okay, so that's not exactly how it goes but it wouldn't sound quite as nice if I said I stand at the microwave burning hotdogs and yelling "I saaaiid supper. is. ready!" and then admited that they come shoving their way into the kitchen, fighting over those three good chairs while I'm left portioning out the mac-n-cheese.

Anyways.

As it always turns out, I'm always the last to get my food, and coincidently, the last one standing. (Which means it's "easier" for me to get the forgotten napkins, the extra fork, the milk, etc, etc. You know....Since I'm still standing.) Which means... by the time I get to the table with my cold supper... the three good chairs are long-since occupied and once again I get to climb my into the broken chair (which is wedged between the baby swing and the wall... so getting to that broken chair does require some athletic ability and delicate maneuvering).

Well.

One day, I came to my senses. As I turned from the stove with my plate of cold supper and saw my family gobbling down their meals on the three good chairs, I announced, "Yes! I get the broken chair!!" like it was some kind of reward or something. Well, let me tell you: never, never, my friends, underestimate the power of a little reverse psychology. All it took was to do that a couple of times and suddenly... Sitting on the broken chair is a luxary. Okay, okay. I didn't convince my husband... And Jack hasn't really caught on... But, Lydia? She now proudly announces, "I get the broken chair!" To which I reply, "Ooh! Lucky!"

And then? And then I sit down with my cold, burned supper in a sticky, unbroken chair. Ah, the simple pleasures in the life of a mother.

8 comments:

Megan said...

you mean you never get a hot supper either? Glad to know I'm not the only one! Keep blogging Sarah! I love reading them!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the laugh. ~Brita

Sharyn said...

We have that chair at our house too - except ours is also Super over the top noisy squeaky - and it never fails, someone feels like they should sit on it at 6am and wiggle. Lots.

Aleena said...

that's awesome!

Amy L said...

hahahaha - you are a natural story teller, and that I admire.
Kids - they sure are great.

Anonymous said...

The trick to eating a little hot food is to take a few bites or eat all of your portion while fixing the kids plates. It sure does taste better than the ice cold supper. LOL Love the chair experience. (cousin) Christy

Anonymous said...

I was laughing as I read and my daughter said "what's so funny?" so I quoted the part about the burnt hotdogs and hollering for the kids and she said, "that sounds like you mom!" Jane

Sarah said...

Thanks for all the comments! I figured you all could relate. :)