Artichokes and Snuffleupagus

Today was a tough day.

Not a bad one, for sure...everyone is healthy, the kids are wonderful, it's summer time and we have lots of exciting things to look forward to. But  a tough one. The kind of day where I slept through my alarm and spilled coffee grounds all over the kitchen floor and my hair looked awful and my chin randomly started breaking out. I blew off my diet and then felt guilty about it and then ate more anyway.

The dog threw up all over the carpet (of course, on the day the house had just been cleaned.)I got a couple of rejection emails, sigh. I made a couple of frustrating phone calls that went nowhere and wasted countless minutes of precious kid-nap time. Then E woke up cranky and wouldn't get dressed and we were late to ballet and then Baby N dumped an entire bag of Goldfish all over the brand-new ballet studio floor.

But still, because it was Wednesday, we piled in the car and headed to GG's, where we have dinner every Wednesday night. It's a highlight of our week (and, we hope, of hers.) When we got there, I collapsed in a chair and moaned a little and let the kids jump all over the couch cushions like maniacs. GG joked with them and listened to my tales of woe, sighing sympathetically at appropriate times. She passed me the Neiman catalogue to distract me with shoes. She watched E pirouette around the room and let Baby N make numerous calls to China (probably) on her cell phone.

We sat down at the dinner table and GG served dinner. Which she'd cooked herself. Mini hamburgers (mine cooked still-mooing rare), corn on the cob, artichokes. A perfectly ripe avocado. And lots of ketchup.

E ate her artichoke on the same Snuffleupagus placemat I used at GG's house when I was a kid. She licked her fingers and grinned and declared that this dinner was "the best dinner ever." GG showed Baby N how to dip his hamburger pieces in ketchup and I've never seen him look more gleeful. Then he ate an entire banana with a tiny silver baby fork GG swears is the secret to getting him to eat a balanced meal.

And I realized how magical it is, to be 34 years old and still get to feel totally safe and totally loved in my grandmother's kitchen, while she serves my favorites foods without needing to ask what they are, and feeds the kids and forces me (despite my very best attempts because after all, she is NINETY and shouldn't she be the one sitting down?!) to sit down and enjoy my dinner and just relax, already.

So I relaxed. Ate a mini burger and my artichoke (or what was left of it after E got done.) I let GG fuss over the kids and coax them to eat and feed them way too many cookies for dessert. I stared down at the Snuffleupagus placemat and thought


This. Is. Perfect.

After dinner, we piled back in the car and headed home for baths and books and bedtime. All of which seemed just a little bit easier after that brief but lovely respite from the not-bad-just-tough day. And now the kids are sleeping, and I'm working (and also watching a million episodes of Pretty Little Liars on DVR because  J isn't around to stop me) and everything feels pretty good again. Thanks to the artichoke, and Snuffleupagus, and GG.

Thanks for dinner, GG.
We love you more than jelly beans.