A Lunch in the Life

Generally speaking I am not lunchtime's biggest fan. I never really know what to make first of all, and we usually end up having the same old thing over and over again. It's always high-stress, because at the beginning of it, Addison is weepy and whiny because he's hungry, Bryn is yelling at me to shovel in the rice cereal, and my tummy is consuming itself. So I try to answer all three calls at once, which is usually effective but also extremely messy. And it's the end of a long morning, Mommy's patience is running out, and everyone is ready for nap time.

All that aside, today was actually a semi-decent lunch experience. Setup was a nightmare because the kitchen floor was freshly mopped and I was trying very hard to not ruin it, make three lunches, and keep my big helper in the other room. But somehow we got through that mess. Addison said the prayer and was about 30% reverent, which is impressive. And he actually fed himself, which is a miracle. In the meantime, Bryn ate and drank admirably, I got a bite in here and there, and neither one of us had to be hosed off or change our clothes once it was all over. Not bad.

Addison is really the one who made this lunch a rousing success. He started off by turning his half of a pbj on its side and pushing it around the table pretending it was a car. Took a few bites, lost interest, and grabbed a pretzel. After explaining to me that it looked like an M (which it actually did), he ate it and a few others. We were on a roll. Then he opened up his sandwich and started licking out the insides, which is fine with me. As long as it's going in his mouth, I'll take it. I looked at him a minute later and ran for the camera.

Blackberry jam. Addison was thrilled and kept asking to "take a smile." So we documented our lovely lunch guest, Bryn.

Addison then discovered my almost-empty bowl of salad, said "Yummy carrots." (What the?!) and then ate like five of them. Somewhere in the mix, however, he ended up with a piece of red cabbage in his mouth along with a spoonful of applesauce. He did his best to chew it up, but finally ended gagging it onto his pants. We consoled him by taking another smile.

That made it all better. We quoted some Dinosaur Train, finger painted in the peanut butter a little bit, finished eating, cleaned up, and that was that. No timeouts or threats thereof, and only one article of clothing as a casualty. All in all, a wild success.