The first Sunday of 2012 fell on January 1st: New Year’s Day. After stuffing ourselves New Year’s Eve with shrimp cocktail, hummus and pita chips, Frank’s famous chocolate chip cookies, Brazilian cheese bread, coconut cake, and then toasting at midnight with Welch’s sparkling white grape juice, the thought of eating another large meal the next day made me nauseas.
What easier guests to have over on such a day than Mom and Dad?
No gourmet expectations. No pressure to make a positive first impression. I didn’t even make my usual mad dash around the house to clean each toilet.
My kind hearted Dad walked in our front door and said,
“Can we have rice and beans?”
I think my father is the first dinner guest ever to request leftovers. On New Year’s Eve, I made a large pot of Feijuada, a delicious black bean stew, and a triple recipe of Brazilian rice. Luckily, the day after, rice and beans always taste even better. While my parents and kids munched on the previous night’s veggie tray and polished off the rest of the hummus, I put the microwave to work reheating everything else.
When my parents come to dinner, I make it a point to quiz my children on the details of their grandparents’ lives. To Jack, I posed,
“What state was Grandma Mary born in?”
I asked Kate, “Where did Grandpa Glenn go to college?”
I want my children to take an interest in our guests and initiate conversation at the table. However, it’s more fun for my kids if I turn the social training into a guessing game. As the questions are answered, my children hear their grandparents tell interesting stories of days gone by.Thank you Mom and Dad for being my first and easiest dinner guests of 2012. I could serve you peanut butter and jelly on paper plates and you would not complain. In fact, I think I have!
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