Christmas 2004
Texas Bluebonnets 2005
When we lived in Galveston and the girls were little, they would complain about whatever I made for dinner. Too much whine with dinner, if you know what I mean. I didn't want to make two dinners every night so they ate some portion of what Brady and I were eating. There were several evenings they survived on rice or bread. Oh well, they survived! Anyway, I still didn't like hearing the complaints! So, when Brady had to do an away rotation in Washington, D.C. I thought I'd cut them some slack and fix them "kid-friendly" meals for seven straight nights! I was so excited to finally get a break from the bad reviews I was receiving from my food critics in training. The first night I proudly placed tacos on the table. Guess what? They complained, deep breath, okay! The next night I made hot dogs! Guess what? They complained, Grrrr! The next night I let them help me make pizzas. You guessed it, they complained, here come the water works! I called Brady, sniff, sob, sniff, they are still complaining about dinner. He said "okay, here's what you do... make them one more meal they should like and WHEN they complain make them oatmeal for dinner the next night. Keep making them oatmeal for dinner until they learn to quit complaining!" I was like... this is genius! Plus, I won't have to plan dinners for awhile!
On the fourth night I made pigs in a blanket and mac-n-cheese, no-fail-meal, right? Wrong, THEY COMPLAINED, how could they? As soon as the first complaint left their perfectly proportioned pouty lips, I said "TOMORROW NIGHT YOU WILL HAVE OATMEAL FOR DINNER!" In one perfect harmonious chime my three little darling girls yelled " YAY"!! So, as planned, I made oatmeal for dinner the next night and all I heard was yum and mom this is so good! UGH! What's a mom to do? As a last resort I prayed for wisdom on how to handle my serious whine with dinner problem. As a result of my prayers, I told the girls this whole story from beginning to end and how their whining made me feel and they laughed and laughed. We all laughed!
I haven't heard a complaint about dinner in years. Maybe I just tune it out now!? I just try to focus on the "thanks mom," or the "this is good" I hear every now and then. However, one Saturday about a year ago Riley complained about lunch. My retort was, "I'm sorry you don't like lunch, what are you going to make for dinner?". She got on the computer and looked up the recipe for Asian Chicken, we went to the store and bought her ingredients. She cooked it all by herself. It was delicious and she hasn't complained since!
