Do I Owe Someone an Apology?

My Dad invited Heather, all the kids and me over to his house for dinner Sunday night. Heather bought some fresh corn on the cob from a local farm stand and she made a peach pie with farm fresh peaches. We even got to see my brother for a while before he had to jet over and perform "Hamlet" under the stars.

Things were going splendidly until we tried to sit down for dinner.

As some of you can imagine (and maybe some of you have first hand experience), wrangling three kids 5-years and younger at dinner can have its challenges. Heather and I seem to be able to handle things fairly well. Keep the kids well behaved and maybe even get them to eat something most times.

Last night however, the three of them made quite an argument for birth control. Holy crap. I haven't stood up and sat down so many times in an hour since the last time I was at church. My legs got tired and my food got cold. It was unbelievable. Part of the problem was that we decided to eat outside. Sunday evening was too nice out not to dine outside, but it just gave the kids one more thing to react to and distract them. I mean Ian seems to flip out any time a bug enters his personal air space - which according to last night's performance, entails the entire state of Illinois.

Hectic doesn't even begin to describe what went on. At one point I looked over and my Dad was sitting all by himself at the table. How sad.

Things calmed down after dinner thankfully. We actually had a much nicer time sitting down to have dessert. We were inside and we all got to enjoy the interaction of sitting around the table together while eating.

In the end no damage was done, but for a control freak like myself, it's always a trying situation. I've always had a difficult time dealing with children - the proclivity for the irrational, the hyper-activity, th constant noise - though having my own has taught me how to temper myself and be more patient. Still, some situations get me all worked up. Luckily I have Heather there to keep me grounded and to keep things in perspective.