Two related items:
1) One day last week I got home from work early to grumpy kids. The verbal one requesting to play with a friend. I called one who graciously said "Come over!". Kids played. We drank wine, and I (barely) helped her assemble dinner. We had leftovers at home. Afterwards, there was a Facebook exchange about playdates during 'the witching hour' and why didn't we do that more often.
2) Yesterday a friend emailed to invite us over for the evening. I suggested cooperative dinner and delineated what I planned to make (sweet potato and corn chowder). Kids played. She and I cooked in parallel. We all ate together. No more effort for me (except the drive) than cooking for my own family, probably less in fact because the kids were entertained with an extra small person and her unfamiliar and therefore enticing toys.
The lessons here will not be new to at least some of you (bearingblog readers), but I still think that they are worth repeating.
1) Be open to possibility.
2) Take a chance then evaluate what worked and didn't (last night kids were too busy playing to eat very well and required more bedtime snack than usual).
3) Reach out. I'm feeling inadequate on this point at the moment because in our current living situation we lack the room and chairs to entertain well (i.e. without guests sitting on the floor).
4) It doesn't have to be perfect.
5) People you treat as family don't have to be related to you.
6) Make a plan and then execute it.
Let's work together for an enriching 2011!
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2 comments:
good for you!
You can't get too many good things in life without taking a chance.
Billy and I have been talking about inviting you guys over ever since last summer, but it's always, oh, our house is too dirty or the dogs will misbehave, etc. But we're going to do it. After one caveat: we have to child-proof our home. So, hopefully, by this spring, we'll have a childproofed home that won't be too hot or too cold.
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