Through the insanity of daily lives, I have tried to come up with some threads of structure that the kids might look back on fondly. The nightly book, the morning quiet time I have with Max before the bus, the dinner-time "highlights and lowlights." I have great hopes that highlights and lowlights will grow over the years, be a great springboard for the boys to realize they can talk freely about their days at dinner, the good and the bad... They will look back in the upcoming years as think "You know, we could talk to our parents about anything...." Won't that be great??
Well, it may bloom some day, but for now, it's has become Omar and I's lowlight. First, it starts with the shreaks of "HIGHLIGHTSANDLOWLIGHTSMEFIRST!!" as soon as the butts hit the chairs. I used to pick who went first by doing Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo (EMMM). But now the person picked to go first wants to do EMMM themselves to pick who goes first. Then, after that person gives their H&L, THEY have to do EMMM to pick the next person. And so on, and so on, and so on (including mom, dad, Leo, Dulsi, grandma....). Even the last person picked is chosen by a bizarre one person rendition of EMMM while pointing at the last kid over and over again. Interject frequent interruptions and indignent cries of "Mom! He's interrupting me!"By the time all this transpires, Omar and I are ready for dessert, and the kids' plates are basically still full. Sometimes, I have stuck a fork in my eye by this point...
The new twist is the kids want to do something new, EMMM getting so passe... Spencer makes up some new story about a flying dolphin, pointing to people in no particular order with each word, and after he goes on mostly non-sensically for a good minute or so, points to someone as if it was all predetermined. Max puts his hands behind his back and has us pick a number between 1 and 10. Spencer picks 59, Calvin picks 0, and then there is mass confusion of who goes next.
Ah, childhood. Let no good idea by parents go unpunished...
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