This actually happened tonight at dinner. My kids and I sat down to a normal meal of bulgogi burgers, beans, and of course white rice. (Do you see the blend of Korean and American in there? My husband is half Korean; I’m white. My kids are, obviously, ¼ Korean. We happily mix the cuisine up in this house.)

 

Anyway, we sat down to dinner and proceeded to enjoy each others company on this beautiful Friday afternoon over dinner. Did I mention that it’s summer?! Whoo whooo! We talked and giggled. We rapped (yes…rapped, as in freestyle, we even put it to music. Ha!), and made faces. It was general chaos, and it was a blast!

 

My daughter asked if we could make S’mores. I said fine, but I would be making them in the oven, as it was 90 degrees, and building a fire seemed an unpleasant endeavor. She didn’t like that idea. She kept hounding me. “But mom…please mom…you don’t even have to sit out there…come on mom.” She said indigently, because obviously I am a limp dishrag kind of mom who never cuts it up or has fun with them.

 

Are you serious? I freakin’ rap with them!!! Did I mention that I’m white? Not white like Eminem, white like Zooey Deschanel from ‘New Girl’. Yeah, me rapping is supper funny. The kids shot milk out their noses the first time I did it.

 

So I gave her the look. You know…the mom look. I laid into her about appreciating what she has; appreciating that fact that I did say yes; and that even if it wasn’t exactly the way she wanted it, that compromise was something to do with grace. Heat was creeping up my neck. I was just getting started.

 

I opened my mouth to continue but was cut off. My daughter raised her right hand. She placed it stoically over her heart and said “I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

 

We rolled! It truly was the single most hilarious diversion tactic I had ever seen! How do you stay mad after that? I didn’t. We created more, me fake mad scenes, and let my son try it. It was fun for a good half an hour.

 

Moral of the story…? Have dinner with you kids. They’re a blast!