Dinner for Eight

Tuesday nights are kind of a big deal in my house these days.  My dad comes over for dinner every Tuesday, a tradition that started a few years ago after my mother died.  Back then one or two of my kids were away at college at any given time so it was often just Jeff and me and perhaps one daughter if we were lucky.  As time went by the girls graduated from college and moved back to the area. Slowly the dinners grew larger, sometimes to five or six people if everyone was around. Then Katie moved in with her boyfriend (now husband) and he started coming regularly and we became six, sometimes seven.  Then Sarah moved in with her boyfriend and started bringing him. So now we are at eight. And occasionally Claire invites her boyfriend so we can be as big as nine.

It is a lot of work to make dinner for 8 or 9.  I’m not used to boys and they actually eat a lot.  I also like to have leftovers for my dad. So I have to make way more food than I ever did in a house with three daughters.  My dad loves sweets so I always have a nice dessert. And I like to bake so I always try to make something rather than buying it.  So you can see how this adds up to more effort than I put into ordinary dinners. And yet, I wouldn’t trade Tuesday nights for anything. I cherish the time with my dad and daughters and their husband, fiance and boyfriend.  It is lovely to observe the close relationship my kids have with my dad. And I have gotten to know the boys so well since they started coming. All three are loud and talkative and hungry! It’s delightfully novel for a person who raised three girls.  

On Tuesday the week can still seem awfully long and the weekend very far away. I welcome the oasis of Tuesday night dinner for 8 (or 9)!