I've Failed My Children!

I realized recently that we have failed our children in a major way. Would you like me to explain? (in a My Cousin Vinny voice).

Every week, in our house, one child gets to be the one who chooses the video game, rides in the best seat, picks the movie we see or the activity, etc. It is kind of like "Most Favored Nation Status." They switch off each week. Of course, along with great priviledge comes great responsibility and so that person also has to do the extra chores like taking out the trash, emptying the dishwasher, etc. You get the idea. One of the priviledges that they currently enjoy is Thursday's dinner. They are allowed to choose the menu and prepare the meal (with me as chef's assistant, of course). It's something they both look forward to each week. They have a $5 budget in addition to anything we already have to prepare the meal. We've had some interesting Thursday meals. We've also had some more mundane ones (that I just don't often prepare).

This week however we've been up to our ears with updating our home study and getting our paperwork renewed for the adoption. Not to mention other activities that have kept us busy. So yesterday, as I waited for my daughter, who had "most favored nation status" for the week, to come out of the school, I realized we had not put together her menu or done the shopping required. So when she came out and we talked about it, I suggested we just do breakfast for dinner. You know, you make things like biscuits, eggs, gravy, pancakes, sausage -- all the good breakfast stuff but you're having it for dinner. Unfortunately, until I thought about it, I had not realized that as a family, we have never EVER done this. We've had dinner foods for breakfast but never vice versa. So when I suggested it, her response was "How do you do that?" This is a child of the south, people! So I explained. And she was all for it. Despite the fact that I offered to stop at the store and let her choose something more dinner-ish.

My son was unaware of what we were having until we sat down to eat. When he understood, the look on his face said it all. He was certain we were all off our rockers. I could almost hear him saying, " This just ain't right." He made it through the meal but that look of disbelief never left his face. I can almost be certain that breakfast for dinner is not something he will EVER suggest.

He's probably wondering what's next. Cornbread and beans. Peanut butter and syrup. Thank goodness he's already in love with chocolate gravy. I guess there are some boundaries (at least in his mind) which should never be crossed.