I made a huge pot of chili for the Super Bowl the other night, but it turned out there were only three of us around to eat it — my husband, myself and my youngest.
I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me that the teens might have plans. Even when they started talking about where they might go, I was still in a bit of denial. It was Sunday night after all. Who goes out on Sunday night?
So we have a lot of chili left over.
The experience left me thinking about a conversation I overheard the other day. Some friends were talking about their weekend away with their young kids. At some point during the weekend, they got a brief respite from the kids when someone else took them to the hotel pool. That was the highlight of their trip.
I used to feel that way. These days, however, we go away to actually spend time with the kids. Funny how that works. As soon as they aren’t so annoying, it’s nearly impossible to get them to spend time with you.
Luckily, on Sunday evening, the girls ended getting home shortly after the halftime show. They hung out and watched the rest of the game with us. To me, that was a big win.
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FranklyStein is a blog by Chesapeake Family Life editor Betsy Stein, who lives in Catonsville with her husband, Chris, and four children, Maggie, 18, Lilly, 16, Adam, 16, and Jonah, 12.
