Lunch Today

"CRASHHH," followed by the always identifiable sound of scattered stoneware. A plate dropped while the girls were fixing lunch for everyone. Today in church they had a lesson on why you should respect your parents. They had been talking to each other about fixing something since early in the weekend and I'm sure the lesson in church was the final inspiration.

I hustled down stairs after changing out of my church clothes post-haste to make sure bare feet weren't in the kitchen. Worried about the suprise I heard, "Don't look, dad!" both girls yelled in unison. "Did someone drop a plate?" I asked. The guilty girl apologized. I cleaned it up without looking in the dining room and the girls scurried faster to get lunch ready. "Dad, what kind of salad dressing do you like?" I went upstairs and said, "Just get the pinkish-red one, the vinaigrette"

"We have to eat it," I told Mom, although I was really looking forward to some leftover fajitas. "Whatever it is, we should eat it, so they're encouraged to do these kind of things."

"LUNCH IS READY!!!" they cried up the stairs, delighted in their satisfaction for fixing lunch. Mom picked up Jack and we went downstairs to the banquet waiting for us.

And there it was. Mom and I both had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a salad. I had a corn tortilla with three Twizzlers on my plate. Our favorite soda pops were opened and ready to drink. I sat down across from Mom. In between us was the "Salad Dressing" -- Hot chili sauce. Whoa!! Mom and I smiled we both saw the chili sauce.

I said thank you very much, we kissed our daughters who were beaming with pride. I pushed my chair back, "I'm going to get the other salad dressing."

"Oh, I already put it in your salad," Terra replied matter-of-factly. "You don't need to get it." Mom burst out laughing and I could barely keep mine contained. "Jack did something funny upstairs," Mom said. Now with a license to laugh, I couldn't hold it in.

Misty was brave, she ate the salad and its "dressing." I quickly put her bowl over mine so the tiny chefs didn't notice I barely ate any of it.