Last Saturday, Jeff and I took turns taking older kids out so we could give them more individual attention. At Cori's request we spent some of our time at her favorite chinese restaurant. We also spent time setting things up at the church building and did some grocery shopping so we had a lot of time together, while the boys stayed home and played video games.
Cori really has developed a love for chinese food, but I like to think she also loves it because it is something the two of us share alone. We have fun as they bring us each part of the meal like we are in a five star restaurant eating a seven course meal. In reality, it is a hole in the wall restaurant and the food is marginal. We started with a "Pink Monkey Shake" which was new to us as usually Cori orders the "Pink Monster". We shared a bowl of wonton soup, I let Cori eat the wonton's out of it. Then we had crab rangoon dipped in sweet and sour sauce. Then they brought out the the main course. Cori discovered she liked my chicken that was coated in sauce better then her own, but their was pleanty to go around. We now know she has moved beyond the kiddie menu and is ready to venture her taste buds a little farther. I guess her love of wonton soup should have given me a clue. And of course, a chinese lunch out would be incomplete without a fortune cookie. Both of our fortune cookies fit our personalities well, and her lucky number was listed as 5 and mine as 8, and randomly enough those are our lucky numbers.
We had so much time talking about random and silly things. Then we talked about more serious things. Cori told me how sad it makes her that some dads leave their family. She said she dreams sometimes that dad leaves us and it makes her cry. She also acknowledged that when she is awake she knows that dad would never do that to us, but it still makes her sad to know that happens to other kids. Sometimes my heart just breaks when I see glimpses of what our kids are having to worry about. Gone our the days of wondering who we will sit next to at school, they don't choose that nowdays anyway. Now little ones have questions about divorce, abuse, pornography, abortion, and recently Nathan asked me about gay marriage. I wish there was a way to shield them from the knowledge, but in reality I know that I need to teach them everything I can so that they can be prepared to stand up against the struggles of their generation.
Never knowing if the next words out of their mouth will be about star wars and princesses or war, hardship, or immorality; we take the kids individually so we can sit and listen and try to teach right from wrong or maybe just enjoy a Pink Monkey Shake and a fortune cookie.
***In case you wanted to know, Cori's fortune cookie said, "People find it difficult to resist your persuasive manner." And mine was, "You will make many changes before settling satisfactorily."
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