Then the tension that had been brewing all day between my 7-year-old and 4-year-old finally exploded and SmackDown 2015 started happening.
“Um,” I said, as Laura rang the doorbell and the boys trampled over each other to see who could answer it first.
I’ll admit that first crappy dinner required many deep breaths on my part, although of course I loved spending time with Laura and her family. Since then, we’ve had monthly crappy dinners. Perhaps the most memorable was when Laura threw her back out and couldn’t move from her couch. Instead of cancelling, she shouted out instructions as we rummaged around her kitchen and took lasagnas from her freezer. Now that’s comfy, cozy friendship.
Although we regularly break the crappy dinner rules, Laura and I are seeing each other more often, and there’s definitely nothing crappy about that. There is an old proverb that says, “Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.” Crappy dinner is all about placing priority on what truly matters, and about accepting life –and motherhood – for all of the beautiful, crappy things it throws your way. Beans and wieners, anyone?
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This article originally appeared Mothering.com.
