All Fun & Games

Last night Katelyn had a friend from church come over to our house for dinner (pizza) and a movie (Becoming Jane). Katelyn's friend is a sweet girl, and we all had an evening that would rank as "above average" on the Family Entertainment Scale.... Not exceptionally high on the scale, just a little more enjoyable than a typical evening around here.

So today after church, this friend's mom comes to me and says, "Kylie had a great time at your house last night. She told me, 'Mom, they play games at the dinner table. We don't do that.'" I quickly replied to this mom, "Oh yes, we do that every night," as I winked.

The "game" we played was simply an effort to keep our girls at the table and engaged with the family for more than two bites. We ended up playing an impromptu quiz game about Emily, and we shared a few laughs while we finished our pizza.

I wish that every dinner was like that. And it struck me as humorous that Katelyn's friend would go home after one evening with us and assume that we are a jolly, connected, game-playing family all the time.

It reminded me of my first exposure to this place where we now live. Doug and I came househunting. We flew in to our new city on New Year's Day, just a few days after we'd been snowed in at my parents' house. There was misty rain all day long while we looked at houses for rent. But the temperatures were mild, and it was shockingly green and pretty in this area, for the middle of winter. The next day, it was clear and sunny, and a very beautiful day. As we drove around town trying to get to know the area a little bit, we even lowered the car windows a crack and enjoyed the fresh air. Mid-morning, we stopped at a store, and inside, I asked one of the employees how often they had weather like this, during the winter season.
He and his buddy laughed out loud. Now I understand why. I had no idea how lucky we were to be here, exploring the area for the first time, on such a beautiful January day as that.

I think it may have been a tender mercy.

I love days like that, and the more rare they become, the more thrilled I get to see them return occasionally.

But in the meanwhile, I think I'm even more prone to experience one lousy day and think that's the way it is all the time.

I love playing "games" at the dinner table, and although I could easily get depressed because that is not the every-day course of family dinners around here, I'm trying to just be very grateful for those occasions, and from them take comfort that we really are doing something right as a family, and that our relations in this household involve more than just bickering, nagging, and getting frustrated with each other.

There's nothing like the impending birth of a new family member to make a mother insecure and discouraged about all the things she's not yet doing right, or even well-enough, for the family she's already got. And there's nothing like an unusually cold and gloomy summer to make a sun-worshiper like myself dread the seemingly-endless dreariness of winter.

So this week, I am so grateful for lots of sunshine, spending time outside, and family games around the dinner table.