Bringing Their “A” Game

It’s Friday, the end of our third work week in quarantine. I cleaned my kitchen and it feels amazing. As long as I don’t look down; the floor has cracks and there are always crumbs in it. Maybe one day we’ll get a new kitchen. Is it selfish to hope that we’ll be able to renovate this one day? I look around and see in my mind’s eye a beautiful white kitchen, not the old cabinets that don’t close, the outdated countertops, the cheap melamine drawers.

On to more exciting things. Today we had a wonderful Shabbat dinner. The kids were acting out scenes from a show they had watched, and Abigail did a hilarious yet graceful dance. It definitely felt very lively and busy. Although we are stuck at home, our lives, thank G-d, feel very full.

An hour and a half earlier, and you would never had known that we’d have such a sad tidying dinner on the table. It was 6:00 pm and I had not started dinner, other than popping the sweet potato into the oven. I was busy doing work and, if I’m really being honest, finalizing an outline for a zoom Seder we’re having with Dan’s and my family.

The kids weren’t thrilled when they found out that nothing had been made, but brought their “A” game. Aiden set the table, which I had no idea he could do; Ava made Cesar salad dressing and croutons; and Ezra helped fry the breaded sole, and helped is father with the salmon on the barbecue. I threw in some brocolli to roast and washed and chopped the romaine, and tadaa! Dinner on the table in record time.