(or: The joys of a large brood)
(illustration photo)
Friday night, and the vote is for Tacos. We usually have Tacos in front of the TV, where there are 2 big couches facing each other and 2 chairs, one on either short side of the table. The table is set for 8, and looks quite orderly – it’s not a big table, but it holds (almost) everything. The burritothingies have to be on a side table, the taco shells too, as well as the chips. And the bottles of soft drinks. And the napkin holder.
Enter: The Family. Mum and Dad – not exactly rake thin, the same goes for Brats # 2 and 3. #s 1 and 4 can be wedged in anywhere, and the same goes for #5. #6, the Miracle Boy, has his own seat at table, but he really doesn’t care about that for longer than 7 minutes. There are so many wonderful people to climb on…
Then starts the dance. Bowls go back and forth – salad, cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, sweetcorn – drinks are being poured, there’s chatting and, eventually, eating. Miracle Boy starts climbing all over the place, everyone is feeding the mice who live under the couches (of course they do, where else would all that cheese go?). The TV volume is turned to maximum, but no one hears much. The TV is wedged in the corner section of the bookshelf. Not a big one, and old-fashioned, with a great big backside. Don’t tell my family, but the loudspeakers are bust, which gives the Friday night din an extra quality of broken base…
When we’re old and grey, when we’ve got more space than we’ll ever need, and we’re left all alone in our state of the art home theater seating for two, watching TV at normal volume (as normal as our hearing aids will allow), we’ll miss it all. The hustle and bustle, the noise, the quarreling and the making up. We’ll even miss the imaginary mice under the couch.
I know. Every age has its charm. I will, however be wanting grandkids long before that.
DO YOU HEAR THAT, KIDS?????
Stumble it!
