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Meera had her very first ballet class on Saturday morning. She loved it! She’s going to be going each week, and the best part is she’s doing ballet with her two best friends. Watching the three of them on Saturday had to be one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen!
MorMor and MorFar surprised us by spontaneously coming to visit for the weekend! Given that it takes a full day to drive here, this was a rare and special treat (they drove all day Friday and Sunday in order to spend Saturday with us). I had been talking on the phone with my mom last week, telling her how much I missed her, and telling her how much the kids missed her and my dad, and she spur-of-the-moment suggested that she and my Dad might come for the weekend. I almost cried I was so happy.
They arrived Friday afternoon. Meera was ecstatic when she found them in the house after waking up from her nap. And then Kyle and Owen were beside themselves with surprise upon seeing MorMor and MorFar at pick-up Friday after school!
We had such a good weekend. Saturday we got to bring MorMor and MorFar to our first football game of the season. Lehigh played University of New Hampshire (it was a big deal to K & O that MorMor and MorFar rooted for Lehigh despite the fact that UNH is their state’s school)! We had so much fun tailgating, watching the marching band, and hanging out at the game. Among other things, I was just so happy that my parents could finally see the MINDBLOWING CRAZINESS that is my boys’ interactions with the Lehigh co-eds at football games (flirting with the sorority sisters; tossing footballs and tackling with the frat boys; it is a real question as to which is more entertaining—watching the football game or watching my boys’ skills in the Charm Arena)!
We were sad to see them go on Sunday morning. But so grateful for the gift of their visit.
Well, we got through the first week. What a crazy time of year. I kind of wish that we were in the category of families who take these sorts of things more lightly (we have some friends who make a huge deal of it, and some friends who purposefully don’t). I actually think in some ways it makes more sense to not make a huge thing of it (take some pressure off the situation!). But suffice it to say that we J-Ms don’t. We take it the-opposite-of-lightly (as K & O would say). It is all a big huge deal. For better or for worse.
As the result of lots (and lots!) of effort, and probably even more luck, we sailed through the first week with relative ease. The boys love their first grade, adore their school, and are ridiculously excited because they’ll be playing soccer for their school team this year. Papi and I, on the other hand, while excited for our two uber-athletes, are feeling quite ambivalent… and I’ll admit: anxious… about the extremely rigorous soccer schedule; we are now full-speed-ahead into the world of organized sports—a world we held off from entering for as long as humanly possible, but a world in which we are now suddenly fully immersed. Meera, in an unexpected twist, is not so thrilled with her “new school.” For a bunch of complicated reasons, we moved her into a new daycare starting this fall (she took the summer off and began last week at a new place that we thought would be better). She’s struggling with the adjustment and we’re not 100% confident she’s going to be alright there. The next few days will be important ones in figuring out her situation.
In the meantime… we’re back to the grind with the school year routine. Summer seems like a distant memory as I valiantly attempt to enthuse myself for another year school lunch making. Yes, I know, I could throw a ‘lunchables’ in there and call it a night, but I cannot bring myself to do it. I don’t judge others for doing it (in fact, in many respects, I have great admiration for other parents who can do these things with much less vigor), but I seem to be hard-wired to make the bambinos’ lunches with 100% effort each and every time. I can’t explain it; I am just compelled to do it. Meera’s loving the boys’ old Laptop Lunch systems (K & O outgrew these long ago when their appetites way surpassed the maximum volume capacity of these bento boxes). The boys now beg for “thermos lunch” (translation: a hot and heavy lunch). They want tortellini, ravioli, mac-n-cheese, soups, leftovers of any kind… and the more thermoses on any given day, the better (i.e., ideal lunch = mac-n-cheese AND tomato soup… in other words, TWO THERMOSES EACH). They come home with empty lunchboxes each and every day. I swear, I know I sound like a broken record, but really: they are going to eat me out of house and home before they are even 12.
Back To School Week = Week Of Comfort Food here.
Day 1 was our Back-To-School Dinner
Day 2 was homemade mac-n-cheese, salad with French dressing (update to the linked-to post: we now affectionately call the salad dressing “Haitian Dressing” because it turns out that this is a very popular salad dressing in Haiti!)
Day 3 was teriyaki marinated steak, mashed potatoes, broccoli (I have an old teriyaki marinade recipe that is a new favorite of all three bambinos!)
Day 4 was take out pizza (Mommy teaches a grad seminar on Thursday nights!)
Day 5 was “Sunny Chick Pasta” & a mozzarella-tomato-basil salad (nothing says “September” to me more than the awesome farm stand tomatoes that are in abundance right now!)
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A little story about the first week that I don’t want to forget:
Before school started the boys received letters from their teacher. Among other things, the letter said that they were going to be learning a lot of “ology’s” in school this year– “geology, astronomy, meteorology…” etc. At the very top of the list was “sociology.” Well, Kyle could have just burst with excitement at this. “We’re going to do sociology Mom!!!!!! Sociology!!!!!!!!!!!” Before school even began he was making plans to ask his teacher if I could come in to be a Guest Speaker, strategizing for a field trip to my office, and deciding which of my books he was going to bring in to class for show-and-tell. Anyone who knows me can just imagine how insanely uncomfortable the prospects of this made me. (In a nutshell: am modest to a fault and self-promotion – or even the possible perception of it on the part of others – makes me extremely edgy.) I kept trying to blow it off (and have Kyle blow it off), re-direct his energies, and generally not encourage his grand plans. But by mid-way through his first week of school there was no holding him back any longer. He was determined to bring some of my books to class (as in, books of which I’m an author). He carefully selected three (the three which have covers most prominently displaying my name), and put them in his backpack (see photo at the top of this post) and off he went. I could have just died. After school that day I asked Kyle how it went with my books. He said, “GREAT!” and that was all he was willing to offer. At the end of the week the boys’ teacher approached me to thank me for letting Kyle bring in the books. I tried to explain how persistent he had been and that it was not my idea. She then told me the whole story of what went down in class. My anxiety quickly dispersed as I was just about rolling on the floor laughing at her re-telling of the story! Apparently Kyle was enthusiastically passing the books around and the kids (as in the whole class) insisted that they wanted to read my books. Their teacher eventually sat them down and read aloud one paragraph, which she then attempted to translate into 1st Grade Language. The kids, who had started out excited, were quickly lost in translation and completely overcome with confusion. Then one kid finally asked, “So, what is income?” And they then wound up in a deep conversation about income, wealth, and the difference between the two. I can just imagine the whole scene and I am practically laughing out loud (as I also cringe) even now as I type this out!
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And that’s a wrap! One week down, too many to count left!
This summer we read the entire “Julian” series of books by Ann Cameron. This is the first series of books that Kyle and Owen have really latched onto and loved. We tried Harry Potter, and the Narnia series, but they didn’t stick. K & O just don’t seem to be fantasy-literature types (much to their Papi’s chagrin). What we’ve discovered, however, (much to their Mama’s thrill), is that they are big into contemporary reality-based fiction. The “Julian” books are just perfect for our boys. We highly recommend them for kids who aren’t the Harry Potter/Narnia types… particularly black kids who want to see characters who look like them represented in their reading (K & O are both definitely in this category). Here’s the amazon link: (CLICK).
This summer we also did “summer workbooks” for the first time. I initially bought the review-of-kindergarten summer workbooks, thinking the boys might benefit from keeping at the top of their academic game over the summer. We all quickly discovered that K & O loved working on these workbooks; they zipped right through the kindergarten ones and finished them before the summer was even halfway over. So, I bought the 1st grade ones, which were slightly more challenging, but oftentimes just as fun for the boys. They spent a lot of time this summer with their “workbooks”—it became a favorite pastime for them, and we often found them working on them at the kitchen table in the early morning or mid-afternoon. Some of my best memories of this summer are of sitting with K & O during Meera’s naps, working with them on their workbooks.
In mid-August we made our annual summer pilgrimage to New Hampshire. But this time we added a new twist— an overnight at my sister Stina’s house. Auntie Stina, Cousin Sadie, Uncle Mark, and Charlie (the dog) are much beloved by the J-Ms. They come up just about daily in conversation at our house— so while they are far, far away up in Maine, they are close, close to our hearts here in Pennsylvania. We were so excited to be invited to their house, and it turned out to be a major highlight of our summer.
While we were there we enjoyed lots of things. The scenery alone is breathtaking. We also had a great al fresco dinner. And the bambinos were enamored with the chickens, the chicken coop, and the eggs (the morning we woke up there Owen waited and waited for an egg to be laid, and his patience paid off with a fresh new egg laid right before his eyes… which Mark and Stina promptly fried up for him to eat for breakfast with his bagel). But the highlight of all highlights was an open-air ride better than any rollercoaster imaginable… a ride in the back of Mark’s truck around their fields. At first it was just the cousins. Then I jumped in too. And then Stina too. And then Braydon. Before long, we were all in the truck— for many spins around the field. It was a great, great time and one that will live in our memories for a long, long time.
As summer ends and fall begins we find ourselves reminiscing about our summer. “Mark’s Truck” and our visit to “Auntie Stina and Sadie’s House” is a big highlight.
This is an annual tradition for us (for past two years, click here)…
Menu (planned entirely per request of the big First Graders)
Blackened Tilapia & Blackened Shrimp
Brown Rice
Green Beans
and for dessert…
Fresh Peach Cake* with Whipped Cream
*If you’ve been reading this blog for long you might recall that Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa cookbooks are my absolute favorites. I made this Fresh Peach Cake from her How Easy Is That? cookbook for the first time yesterday for our Back To School Dinner dessert. It was fabulous! It isn’t too sweet (which is what we J-Ms like), and goes great with whipped cream (which is what two of us J-Ms really like; see photo directly above!). I highly recommend it. If you don’t have the cookbook, the recipe can also be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/fresh-peach-cake-recipe/index.html
This summer we had the most spectacular summer babysitter. Thursday was Ryan’s last day – school is starting for her; school is starting for us; all good things must come to an end – and the bambinos were so upset to have their days with her come to a close. We had Ryan over for lunch on Friday to celebrate the end of a fantastic summer. When it was time for her to go, the three kids were so sad. Meera was actually crying and tried to lock herself inside Ryan’s car. Kyle and Owen constructed a pile of rocks and gravel at the end of the driveway hoping that Ryan would “get a flat tire and have to sleep over.” Ryan did manage to get out of our driveway and as she drove away and I held Meera (who was crying hysterically), Owen said, “Mommy, it is just so sad to have it end.” Over the course of the summer they bonded intensely with Ryan and came to genuinely love her. We all came to feel like she was part of the family. Although we’ll hopefully have a life-long connection with Ryan, it is still bittersweet to have this chapter end. Pictures taken after lunch on Friday afternoon:
I asked Ryan if she wanted to do a Guest Blogger Post for the blog, and was so happy when she said she’d do it. Here’s her post:
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By Ryan – September 5, 2011
This summer I had the true privilege of hanging out with the Johnson-McCormick family. When I first received the e-mail that Heather was looking for a babysitter I seriously thought about whether or not to apply. I am currently a graduate student and felt that my summers should be more academic, but to tell you the truth I was really looking for a little challenge, the opportunity to relax my mind, and the opportunity to have fun, thus, I thought babysitting would be perfect. I have been babysitting since I was 15 and thought that this was business as usual… as I quickly discovered babysitting Meera, Kyle and Owen was not business as usual. Although they did provide me with a challenge, my mind was never at rest, but at then end of it all, I had a tremendous amount of fun and an exciting two months with three amazing children.
During the two months that I hung out with Owen, Kyle and Meera I knew that we had a good time together, but I did not know it warranted a spot as a Guest blogger on the Johnson-McCormick blog. To be honest, I am a little stumped about what to write. Seeing that this blog serves as a memory of Kyle, Meera and Owen’s childhood I decided to use it as a platform to write them short messages about how they each helped to make this a great summer for me. For those who do not know them personally this may be difficult to follow, but for those who do, you will completely understand the messages and hopefully feel the emotion that I am trying to express.
Meera:
Thank you for being my biggest cheerleader. It was virtually impossible to be sad when you are around. From the scream of excitement when I walk through the door every morning, to the words of “more!,” “higher!” and “jump!” (with a slight southern twang) resonating in my ears when I went home, you are undeniably a ball of joy. Thank you for moving to the beat of your own drum, you couldn’t care less about trying to be one of the boys, you are a big girl princess (in all the good ways). Thank you for going against the societal grain and not wearing clothes, I think we made it through a whole week in which I never saw you in more than a diaper… and to that I say POWER ON! Meera you are a kind and gentle soul, as evident through the care that you give to your dolls and stuffed animals. You are genuinely affectionate and loving and your smile and laughter bounce off of everything. Thank you Meera for helping make this summer an awesome one for me, and my hope for you is that you continue to grow and blossom while keeping all the things that make you amazing.
Kyle:
Thank you for being sweet. I know boys don’t like that word, but what I am trying to say is thank you for being thoughtful, selfless and considerate. Kyle, you are not only an amazing athlete, but also an amazing person. Thank you for making sure that whatever we did, we did it together. I truly admire the way you value, respect and protect your brother and sister. Your actions demonstrate your enormous heart and the strong bond your family shares. Thank you for doing your best to try to keep me in shape by constantly making me play some type of sport outside, although I was designated pitcher who barely moved 5 steps most of the time…you tried. Thank you for helping in the kitchen. I could always count on you to assist me in finding whatever I needed. This is to Kyle and Owen both: thank you for taking such good care of my dog Sammy and exhausting him whenever he came over for a swim. Kyle, I see you growing up to be an amazing young man, one that is smart, kind and talented. Thank you for hanging out with me, and teaching me all about driveway baseball.
Owen:
Thank you for being a prince charming in the making. Thank you for always complimenting my hair and nails. Thank you for always making me feel like, in your own words, an “amazing woman.” Thank you for being considerate of your brother and sister, and thank you for ensuring Meera was happy so that I would not have to deal with a temper tantrum (I’m specifically referring to you writing Meera’s name all over her body like tattoos with purple marker). Owen, thank you for displaying energy and happiness in every movement. Thank you for making me smile, most of the time, and frown occasionally. Thank you for the hugs of forgive and forget and the hugs of pure joy. Owen I am 100% sure that you will develop into an amazing man. You have the gifts of leadership, boldness and intelligence, which when coupled create magic. I look forward to the day when I see your name in bright lights…thanks for an amazing summer!
Heather and Braydon:
Thank you for entrusting me with your kids. Thank you for never freaking out about paint on the floor, in their hair or on their clothes. Thank you for not stressing about missed naps or too much sugar. Thank you for making me feel so comfortable in your home, and most importantly, thank you for hiring me. Heather and Braydon you have three amazing amazing amazing kids…thank you for allowing me to spend my summer with them.
Of course I do not know how to conclude this entry so I will end by saying, when I left the Johnson-McCormick house on Friday everybody said “thanks for the best summer ever” and my response was awww thank you. What I should have said was Thank you for an incredible summer and thank you for helping me to remember why kids are so awesome! See you later alligators, after while crocodiles.
Last week I took an afternoon off from work to take Kyle and Owen back-to-school shopping. This was a first for us— in past years there was no chance I would have gone school shopping with them. For one thing, they were totally disinterested in shopping of any sort and wouldn’t have wanted to go (but lately they’re starting to show –granted only the tiniest bit— slight interest in what they own/wear). For another thing, I wouldn’t have wanted to deal with the insanity-producing experience that surely would have been involved with attempting to do school shopping with my off-the-wall-rambunctious-two-balls-of-energy-twin-boys (but lately they’re starting to show –granted only the tiniest bit – signs of maturity and a little mellowing out). In the past it would have been so much better for everyone involved if I just did it myself. This year, though, I really wanted to give it a try, and I thought they might enjoy it, so off we went.
First stop: Staples for school supplies. Their teacher had sent them each a list of necessary items. They each got a cart and we went aisle-by-aisle until they had everything crossed off of their lists. About halfway through I was already thanking my lucky stars that I had brought them with me, because what they were picking out was not at all what I would have chosen for them. If given the choice of 3 or 4 types of pencils, they both, in a highly coordinated effort, deliberately chose the exact same pencils. If shown an entire wall of 3-ring-binders, they quickly and efficiently went into peaceful deliberations to determine which one color they would both choose. I attempted to get them to consider different choices – “since you like both notebooks, then how about one of you get the one with skateboards on it and the other gets the one with peace signs?!” But there was no convincing them. In the end, we walked out of Staples with two boys carrying two bags of school supplies containing identically matching items. No variation whatsoever on anything. And they were happy.
Second stop: Dicks Sporting Goods for the first-day-of-school outfits. I purposefully don’t buy fall/winter clothes until much later in the season (it is warm here deep into the fall, so they can still wear much of their summer clothes for the first part of the school year), but I want them to walk into school that very first day feeling like a million bucks, so a special spiffy new first-day-of-school outfit is always a must. I really wanted to try to get them to pick out their own outfits (something they had never done in a store, and something they almost always refuse to do even in their own closet). And I had determined that if I was going to let them pick out their own outfits, then I was really going to let them do it all the way; I vowed to myself that I would interfere as little as humanly possible no matter what happened.
Dicks is their favorite store on the planet for any and everything, including clothes, and so there we went. We walked through the store to the youth section, me in the middle with the two of them on either side holding my two hands. It felt huge for me, like we were treading into significant new territory on our life journey together. When we got to the youth section I got down to their eye level and I explained the situation to them: “Boys, this is the area for kids. I want you to look around and see what you like for your first-day-of-school outfits. I really want you to choose your outfits yourselves— find something you love— anything you want! It just has to be short sleeved shirts and shorts because it will be warm out on your first day of school.” They took off perusing the racks. I started to look too. I was seeing gorgeous little golf shirts in beautiful colors and nice fabrics with matching khaki shorts with tiny Nike logos hidden on the hemlines. “Wow!” I thought to myself, “I should have been shopping at Dicks for them all along!” I could hear K & O a couple of racks over engrossed in excited chatter. It seemed to be going well! I pulled a seriously cute royal blue shirt off the rack, thinking I’d show it to them as an option, but stopped myself, quickly put the shirt back on the rack, and tried to mentally re-commit to being hands-off. “I need to try to let them do this themselves,” I thought. Right then I heard their voices: “Mommy! We found it!!!”
I spun around to face them. And there they were, faces beaming, eyes lit up, massive smiles, proudly holding up their choice outfits. I tried hard not to stumble upon my first sight of it; tried hard to keep a straight face and normal tone of voice. “Wow! Guys! That’s…. awesome.” The outfits were: identical. The colors were: fluorescent. The fabrics were: synthetic. The ‘style’ was: glaring, ‘I could not be more self-confident,’ in-your-face, ‘I-am-a-sportster-ROCKSTAR,’ look-at-me-look-at-me-look-at-me-now! In a nutshell: Nothing about the outfits was anything I’d ever have chosen for them. But, at the same time, everything about the outfits screamed KYLE AND OWEN. If anyone could pull this look off, it would be them. “Alright, then. Let’s try them on!” The dressing room experience was maniacal. They could not get enough of themselves in the mirrors. There was dancing, jumping, air-hoop-dunking, chest-thumping, and dramatic-shows-of-pretend-home-run-hitting and soccer-goal-scoring. In those outfits they were large and in charge. Fueled by the outfits they were even louder and prouder than usual (which is a lot). They filled up not just the dressing room, but the entire Dicks Sporting Goods with their two huge personas in identically matching neon athletic attire.
Tears sprung to Owen’s eyes when I told him he had to take off the outfit so that we could buy it. Kyle begged to wear it once we got home, but I told them they had to wait until the first day of school. At the register, an older woman was checking us out. K & O proudly told her that they had picked the clothes out themselves and they were going to wear them to their first day of first grade. She smiled at them and then winked at me. She said, “Even if it isn’t what you would have chosen, you’ll be so glad you did this.” I know she’s right.
And so we walked out of there with two boys carrying two bags of back-to-school-clothes containing identically matching outfits. Outfits I’d never have chosen. A huge step forward. And a lot of food for thought.
Now, a few days later, I think what strikes me the most is that the outfits K & O chose are about as conspicuous as it gets. And as a white adoptive mother of twin black (and additionally, gorgeous and self-confident) sons, I spend a lot of time thinking about our conspicuousness and attempting, at times, to make our family as inconspicuous as possible. What seems remarkable to me is how loud the outfits K & O chose are.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about being conspicuous. For several weeks now I’ve had a big blog post rattling around in my head about my experiences of us being a conspicuous adoptive family. And then a few days ago I read a blog post that articulated so many of the same thoughts I’ve had on the subject. So, instead of re-writing my own (similar) version of it, I thought that instead I’d just link to it. So… if you have some time, and you’re curious, you should definitely read this blog post (click here for link) from Claudia at My Fascinating Life. It pretty much precisely sums up most of my own perspective.
con·spic·u·ous Adjective/kənˈspikyo͞oəs/
1. Standing out so as to be clearly visible.
2. Attracting notice or attention
Over the past few months Kyle has lost two teeth— one that Owen pulled out for him (they have a tendency to pull each other’s loose teeth out), and one that came out while eating his lunch at school last spring. He’s been saving both of these teeth, stored safely in the Tooth Fairy Pillow, waiting and waiting and waiting for all these months for Owen to lose a tooth. They insist on holding out for the Tooth Fairy until they have at least one tooth each in the pillow. I have no idea how (or why) they came up with this policy for themselves, but it is their hard-and-fast rule at this point. Owen’s front teeth have been slightly wiggly for quite a while now. But for the last two weeks or so his front left tooth has been driving us all crazy. He has been playing around with it in his mouth incessantly, and has been adamant that he does not want Kyle to pull this one out. I had told him that if the tooth wasn’t out by the time school starts that I was going to pull it out – no questions asked – because I couldn’t allow him to go to school being so distracted by that tooth. Finally, yesterday, while we were at the pool, it came out. None of us are quite sure how—but none of us really care, because finally the tooth is out (huge relief to us all). He was so excited and couldn’t stop looking at himself in the mirror. Right away he brought his tooth upstairs and tucked it into the tooth fairy pillow with Kyle’s 2 teeth. They decided that tonight is the night that they’ll leave them for the Tooth Fairy. They are very curious as to what will happen— what does the Tooth Fairy leave for 3 teeth?! We don’t know! But we’re soon to find out!
We’re winding down our summer of sports around here. Last week Calvin came for the last swimming lesson of 2011, and he stayed afterwards for our annual celebratory meal together, wrapping up our fourth year (!!!) of swimming lessons with our beloved Calvin.
The funny thing about Calvin is that he’s not a swimming teacher, per se (he only teaches our kids), rather he is simply an awesome alum of collegiate-level swimming (nationally ranked NCAA). He was the captain of the Lehigh swim team and has been a competitive swimmer his whole life. So, it is only natural that he’s been teaching our kids not just swimming, but competitive racing swimming. The result is that our kids are doing things in the water that they’d probably never be doing with more “normal” swim lessons.
The boys, at the end of their 7-year-old summer, continue to amaze us with their skills in the pool. They do all the strokes beautifully, including the butterfly (my favorite to watch them do since in my mind that was always a stroke for only the most serious of swim racers). They are awesome divers, and are particularly adept at racing dives. They do beautiful flip turns inside the walls of the pool. They can swim the length of the pool underwater now (not just the width). And this summer they mastered the art of treading water. Their favorite thing to do is race each other (they go back and forth in terms of who wins).
Meera, at the end of her 3-year-old summer, and her first summer of swim lessons with Calvin, has surprised us with her love of the water and her daredevil antics in the pool. We had thought that Kyle and Owen were just super unusual in their agility in the pool, but Meera (crazily enough) seems to show many of the same traits (we’re still trying to wrap our minds around that). She’s not nearly as strong as Kyle and Owen were at her age, but she’s just as fearless. Which is kinda scary. At this point she is fully swimming (doggy paddle with strong kicking), can turn in any direction under water swimming, jumps off the edge of the pool into any depth, and has mastered the arts of both holding her breath under water (for long stretches of time) and blowing bubbles.
Our pool will stay open until the end of September, but our swimming time will decrease greatly once school starts, and swimming lessons are all done. We’ll miss our “Calvin Days”… until next summer!
First Friday now has a proven track record. 7 out of 7 times it has been a massive success in every possible way. Tonight was the special night for Kyle and me: The first Friday of September. I went out on a limb and veered way off track from our typical patterns of behavior – I took Kyle to Cracker Barrel. I had never been to a Cracker Barrel before. I knew their reputation to be “simple southern country food.” I also knew that you could potentially make a night of it there— playing checkers and sitting in rockers and browsing the “Country Store.” But this is not my kind of place. Normally I’d never choose the kind of food Cracker Barrel serves (for my entire adult life I’ve always chosen a little hole-in-the-wall ethnic restaurant over any “American” food and/or chain restaurant). And the fact is that over the past 15 years or so I’ve become quite a ‘foodie’ (semi-ashamed to admit that). Many of my closer friends (especially those who have been guests at my dinner parties) would probably chuckle at hearing me say that I spent Friday night at a Cracker Barrel, but they probably wouldn’t be totally shocked either (I’m always willing to try anything). Well, thanks to Cracker Barrel, Kyle and I had a splendid night on the town! We came home grinning ear-to-ear with happy satisfaction with an AWESOME First Friday mother-son date night. We made a whole night of it, and loved every bit of it. The food was great (both Kyle and I can appreciate a good thing, and the food we had was a good thing— honestly really simple, basic, good food!), the old fashioned peg game that we played at our table throughout dinner made for some real fun, our after-dinner checkers match (yes, while sitting in rockers) was downright delightful, and the Country Store gave way to some terrific gifts for Kyle to bring home to his brother and sister. Kyle was literally skipping out of the place as we left, with a huge smile across his face. And I felt like I had really connected one-on-one with my precious son… which makes me feel like the happiest, luckiest, most contented mama on earth. It was such a splendid night.
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