Supper time = Agitated time

Can we just skip this hour -or two- in the day and add a more appealing one later in it?  I truly want supper time to be a family time…forever!... It has the potential to be the only opportunity to be together as a family of 4 at any given our throughout our day.  So why must it be so agitating?   

I am not even excited to get off of work and rush home, just to start this process.  Don’t get me wrong I can’t wait to get home to my kids, but the WHOLE supper process is not one to look forward too.

My kids have bad habits… the majority of them come out in that half hour between pulling into the driveway and supper is cooking.

First, Isaac loves his milk … ALWAYS has.. Chocolate milk… in a sippy cup… YES THE KID IS 5… I do my absolute best to distract the conversation… so he can have his milk IN a glass at the dinner table WITH his supper and all 4 of us are eating and drinking together.  (Just what I am drinking may have to change soon, if this process continues ) ;)

Trevor begs for “ackrs” (crackers.. yes I broke down once so the kid got 2 small crackers prior to supper, just to keep my sanity for ----- ok so it only lasted 2 minutes, but???)  Now he thinks it is the routine of the day.  It is better than “ady” or “uit acks” (candy or fruit snacks)-isn’t it?  I already know the answer to that.

Do you realize how much energy it takes to hold your ground… I know you do if you are a mother!   So my energy is being transferred into commotion at suppertime.



With Sprinkle Cheese?
With Sauce?



Now, we can move onto to the horrible eaters in my house… figuring out what a healthy, new, exciting option that EVERYONE in the family will eat = painstakingly infuriating… well in our house that consists of spaghetti… Can I serve spaghetti --with "sprinkle cheese" 5 times a week?  (Wouldn’t that make life easier.)  It even gets a bit complicated then too-- do you want sauce today, do you want to put the spinkle cheese on it or mommy?  BUT honestly, I could serve a “favorite” say, chicken strips, for supper and one of the kids won’t eat that day…I just can’t win. 

I have come to the conclusion, that I am not going to try to win… but, I feel like I am going to starve my kids.  (I know they won’t, but then I am wondering where that “hold your ground” energy is going to come from, when later into the evening they are “hungry”.)  I just can’t keep supper on the table for 3 hours in order for my kids to actually eat it. 

Finally, (Maybe one of the biggest issues –due to his age)  MY HUSBAND – granted, I know he gets off at 6 pm – meanders in from work at 620pm…. After getting the boys all riled up (even just by entering the house--- which in the end is a good thing = they sure love their daddy), should easily be able to see any of the following:  the table isn’t set yet- set it, we have started eating because the food is ready-could you join us, I would like some assistance with -whatever- -- OFFER---  BUT instead he meanders (which is the perfect word, because it surely isn’t a time managing hustle)  UPSTAIRS.. changes out of his work clothes and PACKS his gym bag for the next morning… IF these were a one time occurrence = no big deal.  

I have brought up the issue, well, probably everyday.  He goes on to tell me that I need to settle down, and has stated that he needs time to get home and change and relax… not just jump into things -- like supper?  That was made for you?… REALLY... do I get that opportunity?...

Last night, I was baking 3 sets of cakes, making supper, setting the table, cleaning up the house, helping Isaac on the iPad, avoiding “feeding” the kids until it was supper that could be fed, putting away the 4 bags I had gotten from the store on MY lunch break AND preparing for the next day… all still in my scrubs from work.  Joe walks in just as I was ready to serve supper 15 minutes later he was finally “ready” sit down and eat with the rest of us – clothes changed, bag packed, and a phone conversation –cut short—because “ I better go, my wife is calling for me.”

Do you see the same annoying pattern that agitates my day from 530-7pm?  I wonder where the first improvements could come from?  Maybe, I need to stop multi-tasking so much… possibly.  But if I only “made” supper when I came home from work, I wouldn’t be able to get to bed until midnight.  = not happening.  (on a side note—Joe is equally agitated on the 3 days a week/month he happens to be home at 5:30pm on a weekday, yet still wonders why I am so called “crabby” when he gets home.)