God knows, we try.
You know how they say the Institution of The Family is disintegrating because there is no Family Dinner anymore? That family members don’t talk to each other because they eat in front of the TV? Or, that parents work late, leaving their latchkey kids to microwave frozen entrees? Or, that parents are too busy shuttling their overcommitted offspring hither and yon to lessons, practices, and games, to bother with a daily family dinner?
And imagine, these same overworked, overextended parents might have to also squeeze in a run to the grocery store, to buy milk and bread tonic and lime, or maybe to the liquor store because who drank all the gin?? And, you gotta exercise sometime, right, so they skip dinner to fit in a quick circuit at the gym, or – gasp! – attend a meeting at school, or church?
Well, I am proud to share with both of my readers that in our house, we have DINNER. Together, all five of us. At the same time. Almost every night! Of course, my clever readers have deduced this from my blog’s title. Because nothing says “fun family dinner” like Mom barking suggesting helpful table manners instruction to three boys. And their dad.
At these dinners, in between guiding my children towards better manners, we talk about our days. We share our dreams, hopes and aspirations. We giggle. We make plans. And, we pray.
Well. Isn’t that special.
That’s right. Just as many families do, we begin each meal with a blessing. Our cherubic children quietly [snort!] fold their hands, bow their heads, close their eyes, and together, in our family’s tradition, we recite this special grace, handed down through the generations:
God is great, God is good,
Let us thank Him for our food.
By his hands we all are fed…
And then, readers, here is where we depart a bit from forefathers. All three boys race to the end with a very loud, very fast
THANKYOUGODFORDAILYBREADAMEN, I WON!
NO, I WON!
NO, I WON!
Yes, that’s right. My boys actually fight over who finished grace first. I am not sure how this started, or why, but in our house, it ain’t grace if it doesn’t finish like this.
For a while, we discouraged this unconventional ending. “God can’t understand you when you say it fast like that,” we cautioned. Or, “God prefers your indoor voice, and so do we.”
And yet, they persist.
We have finally come around to this: God knows we are trying to share our faith and traditions with our children. And if they take it and make it their own, God is jiggy with that. Because after all, isn’t that what each generation does? They take what their parents have done, and they modify it to suit their time. If “religion” was all somber prayers and hushed voices, it’d be mighty hard to interest to the wee ones in it.
So, I figure God is giggling every day at around 6:00 p.m., as we offer up a round of boisterous thanks for fish sticks and peas. Again.
Filed under: gin | Tagged: blessing, family, family dinner, gin, grace, manners, overextended family, religion, tonic, tradition
LOL!! At least they are excited about it!
My family has dinner together in the dining room unless there is a “Deal or No Deal” on Tivo. Then we all have dinner in the Family room while we watch. While the kids are shouting out case numbers to the TV, my Wife and I play a game of “Real or Not Real” when they show the models on the screen.
I LOVE that you do sit down dinners. I think the fact that nobody does them anymore (including me) is the root of so many of our collective problems. Seriously, everybody sit down to dinner? No more war. ;)
And with the fun you guys are having, why WOULDN’T you sit?
Thanks for the inspiration.
You actually have two things to be proud of: the nightly dinners and family prayers. I can check off nightly dinners, but we’re oh so behind on the family prayers.
Isn’t it weird how the dynamics change at the dinner table? A Tween-ish Son all of a sudden will have something to say, whereas after school he was all “Nothing happened today.” If they know there is a Comfort Zone where all conversation is allowed, i naively believe the conversation–and any issues– will come.
Of course, I also believed in Santa Claus until I was 35. But that’s just me.
Great writing!
What? No Santa Claus??
Thanks for the reality check. Only two boys here, but they fight like they are three and grace before dinner seems to be a flashpoint. That, and getting in the house. I’m grateful for the getting in the house one, that I’m not chasing them all over the neighborhood. But oy on the prayers.
Great post. Glad I wandered by. And to find someone else posting on my timetable.
[...] cute; he grins the whole way through it, every time. He says it quietly, almost reverently, unlike grace at dinner. When we got to “Amen,” here is what he [...]