Tonight at dinner I decided that I had had enough of the chaotic screaming. We needed to have a civilized conversation.
I've waited for about 7 years for this to happen. Sitting around the table with each of my kids sharing the details of their day while their siblings listened attentively. My children are now 7, 6, 4, 4, 3, and 3. Surely we could have a conversation!
I decided to get the ball rolling by asking them all to answer a simple question:
What do you want to be when you grow up?
So we went around the table and here is how the conversation went:
JoJo--I want to be dressed in Mommy and Daddy clothes
Mama--So when you grow up you want to wear grown up clothes.
JoJo--Yes!
Haven--I want to be a Garbage Boy. I want to be the man that drives the garbage truck.
Daddy--I want to be a retiree!
Louise--I wanna be purple!
Grace--Hmmm, I'm not sure I want to have a job.
Manny--I want to be a skateboard guy.
We never got to poor Katriel. By this point JoJo decided that he actually wanted to drive a big truck, too. Then he and Manny started screaming at each other over what color truck it should be, blue or yellow. Then they started fighting over who got to talk next. JoJo started stuttering like he does when he's really excited so he couldn't complete a sentence and Manny yelled "JoJo, you talk to much!!!" Then Grace somehow managed to get some chili powder in her eye and was freaking out and left the table crying. And that was pretty much the end of that.
So, I guess we'll try the art of conversation again next year!