Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Dinnertime

Dinner tonight was pretty much like every night at my house. In other words, it's a three-ring circus. I try to avoid having people over for dinner as much as possible because of the indigestion factor.

"Hey guys, turn off the TV and come eat!"

"Hey! Mom said to turn off the TV," Lexi whined which could only mean one thing - Jackson hit her/made a face at her/bugged her in any one of a thousand ways.

"Shut up!"

"You shut up! Mom said!" Then to me, "Mom, Jackson won't turn off the TV!"

"Shut up, Lexi! You're such a tattletale."

"Someone pour the milk and sit down," I instructed, ignoring the fighting.

"Ew! Why is the rice brown?"

"It isn't rice; it's risotto, duh!"

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"Do I have to eat?"

"No, you don't have to eat; you can go to bed instead," I offered.

"Can I just have a peanut butter sandwich?"

"Mom made dinner. It's chicken. Just eat it!"

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

I lost it and exploded, "Ohmygosh, I am so sick of hearing that word come out of your mouths. Knock it off!"

Austin piped up with his standard smart-butted-ness, "Um, it's more than one word, Mom."

I stared at him for a second.

Don't you hate it when the kids catch you saying something stupid? Something you know is stupid the second it comes out of your mouth? Something like, Close your mouth and brush your teeth. Or, Be quiet and answer me! Or, What on earth are you doing? as I'm looking directly at what they're doing.

There was only one response that was appropriate in this situation.

"Shut up, Austin!"

20 comments:

bdonna426 said...

LOL...... sounds like my 3 grandkids too......

Love your sense of humor. I get upset at times but later just go hide and laugh at them !

Kim Neyer said...

Posts like this make me wonder what I'm in for.... and I only have one so far!

V1nce said...

Well said, well said. And the shut uppedness continues...

ELC said...

Oh heavens--I can completely hear that dialogue unfolding! Kids these days... :-)

Unknown said...

I can SO relate to this one. My two are constantly going at it with the "shut ups." If you come up with a way to stop it, please let me know.

Sunnyworld said...

I always told my kids that they had to say, "Please be quiet" instead of "shut up." They hated that so much they didn't say either one! Not fun to have them always telling each other to shut up -- but they do grow out of it! Keep up the good work with those six wonderful children!

Christine said...

Ha ha I feel your pain. It's worse when family shares their tableside manners with people other than family.

We were invited to someones house for pie on Saturday. They were trying to play catch phrase and every answer that came out of my 12 year olds mouth was "Poop".

It got real old real quick and I'm sure these new friends won't be having us back any time soon.

Rachel said...

Sometimes Shut Up is the only thing that makes sense!

TornadoTwos said...

LOL, sounds a lot like my house! My kids can't turn off the tv without fighting either.

Ashley said...

We've always had the "don't say shut-up" rule at our house which only means that when I've completely reached my limit, blow my top and scream "SHUT UP!!!" that it's incredibly shocking and my kids know they are in deep doo-doo. Well either that or that Mom has lost her mind and the next one to speak may just lose an eye or something.

I think u should institute the rule that whoever says shut-up, mouths shut-up, whispers shut-up, etc. has to pay the person they said it to 25 cents. If they don't have the 25 cents to pay, then the fee is owed, but immediately doubles. Nothing like having to pay your sibling to nip it in the bud...hopefully!!

Sherry C said...

Lol.. i hope dinner tonight is a little more peacefully.

Sharon said...

Don't worry, it will get better as they get older!

Melissa said...

LOL! My daughter is a very picky eater and so every night its the same routine. Whining over color, smell or just anything.I go crazy! Most time I say the same thing as you "You have a choice, eat or go to be". This is always followed by screaming and tears though!

Unknown said...

This was hysterical!! In my house it's my husband who won't turn off the tv and my daughter stands up for him.

Robin said...

I can't imagine with 6 kids going at each other. My own 2 drive me nuts!!

V1nce said...

Is it me or would it be really, really funny if each commenter is saying "shut up" to the previous commenter?

Anonymous said...

@V1nce: That would not be funny...that would be childish and immature. So...Shut Up V1nce! hahahahaha!

Anonymous said...

I just have one kid left at home so I don't get this "pleasurable" experience anymore. Your post started me thinking though, what kinds of foods do you make for dinner? With 6 mouths to feed there's got to be things that each kid refuses to eat. Is there anything that everyone likes?

mommeeof10 said...

We rarely eat together as a family at one table. I would have to get all the clean laundry sorted and off the dining room table for that to happen...

Anne said...

That is funny although I'm sure for you at the time it wasn't. Your "Be quiet and answer me!" reminds my of the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon when Calvin is yelling something to his Mom and she yells to him "Calvin stop yelling at me. Come here and speak to me!!!" So he trapses across the room to his Mom leaving dirty tracks every step and says "Mom, I stepped in dog doo!!!". Still cracks me up!

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