Pace and Fettuccine

When there are no basketball games to be coached and it's a Monday, G Adams arrives home before me and can start dinner. (We've got the tumbling for Camille .... Caroline and I watch that little bit flip around.) Tonight, he not only started dinner, he started, finished and well, yeah, made dinner. What. A. Gift.

His specialty and by request from the girls .... fettuccine. Recipe is as follows -- boil water, pop in the noode.s and cook for around eight minutes. While the noodles are cooking, open up the freshly made (packaged) fettuccine cream sauce and heat it up in a pan. Also, fry up some bacon. Mix the bacon with the cream sauce. Drain the noodles. Voila. Dinner is served.

The Adams girls picked up and put away their toys while I set the table. And, they also put on their nightgowns. I mean, I started to smell the fourth part coming along with the smoky bacon aroma coming from the kitchen.

While we are dinner, I thought about the evening. And, I reflected on the pace of the activities in our home. Tonight, we moved a little slower. No real reason as to why, but we just kind of let things fall into place. We put together backpacks and lunches in the midst of talking about the day. Teeth were brushed while I cleaned up the kitchen. We had a phone chat with Chris while getting settled to read.

It all just fit in.

Usually, I hit the ground running when I arrive home. No pausing to enjoy a story from the day. No deep breaths to relax. I have this idea that if I get everything done before dinner, life goes much smoother. Not true. Yes, I get everything done (sometimes people in this household have to move quickly out of my way) but at what cost? It's frenetic. And, no fun.

Fettuccine for dinner is fun. Sloppy noodles. Stories between slurps. The slower pace is nice. Smiles over sighs. And, fourth parts for everyone not just one.

Dinner tomorrow? Nah, not fettuccine. Plus, there's a basketball game. But maybe, just maybe, I'll try this relaxed pace. We'll see. The worst thing that can happen is we eat sandwiches or cereal for dinner.

And that ain't bad.