Family Dinner - My favorite time of day!

I can't express how much I enjoy the family dinner time.

The typical scene is that I plan the dinner, based on what I know the family enjoys with some surprises (new recipes I'm dying to try) mixed in.

Every day without fail, one of the family members will ask, "What's for dinner." I have an index card with the week's meals clipped to the family calendar, but I guess no one notices it. Then they ask, "What time are we eating?" Well, we ALWAYS eat between 6:15 and 6:45 pm, but I guess they need it nailed down, just so they aren't in the middle of a Guitar Hero riff (TS); the latest Nick or Disney show (DD); or a nap (Hubby).

Then, in a giant leap of faith, I assume the kids will be present at dinnertime and will remember to do their jobs.
My job = planning, shopping, cooking, cleaning as I go and, during the school year, assisting with homework, which seems to reach a crisis point just as I need to pay close attention to the saute pan
Kids' job = washing their hands, setting the table and pouring drinks before the meal fossilizes

I just realized I started this post about how I enjoy dinnertime, AND I TRULY DO.

So I'll get to the good part. We all sit down, everyone has a smile on their face, and the talk just starts. We update each other on our days, which usually leads to auxilliary conversations about random topics, and frequently ends with TS doing some sort of crazy impersonation or silly voice that has us all cracking up. It's a good thing I know the Heimlich Maneuver, because one of these days, we're going to need it.

We frequently remember and talk about the times when the kids were little, and they crack up at the stories. One our favorite dinnertime memories from that era was when we'd let DD let out of her highchair, she'd use the edge of the table to propel herself around to her brother's plate (picky eater, remember?). He'd leave a lot of food on his plate, and she knew it. So we'd just see a little arm reaching up and grabbing whatever was left on his plate.

Well, it's time to make tonight's meal. I know it will be a good one.