Love is in the Air

I make a big deal of Valentine's Day for the family. I figure this is a perfect opportunity to celebrate family love. Usually this means making a special meal and decorating the table up with my fancy things . Each one gets a personalized card and a little something at their place - either a fun little gift, or candy of some sort (easier - because you don't have to store it or find a place for it on the wall).

This year, I decided to make a chicken cordon blue dinner. (If you've been reading my posts, it was what my husband answered he would order if there was a limitless menu - I guessed a mushroom burger - but was oh-so-wrong). After I had made the chocolate cupcakes, and set the table, I made a run to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients. Chicken cordon blue. rice and noodles for our Korean "son", salad, baby tomatoes (to match the red hearts sprinkled about on the table) and Jones Soda - which is a treat for us all - especially at the price they charge! [Oh yes, I picked up some Ferrero Roche for each place setting.]

It had all the makings of a very special family time. The lace table cloth, the fancy goblets, the napkins with heart stickers, and a special flower for the centerpiece ( I put one on and my husband replaced it with a cyclamen wrapped with heart stamped tissue - which melted my heart).

And just in time, I let go of my expectations. This has been a learning curve for me. Over the years I have come to leave aside my thoughts of making these dinners an occasion of refined pleasure. "Refined" and "three males in the house" do not exactly go in the same sentence.

In our house, mashed potatoes are sculpted into roadways, or volcanoes. Fancy napkins become hats or moustaches or magic tricks. I have long since abandoned the idea of candles on the table because candle wax only serves as a temptation for the sculptors in the family (all the boys) to design it into shapes of trains planes and automobiles. And at the end of every elaborate meal, the tablecloth resembles the aftermath of a good natured war between several small countries..

Not that I don't keep trying. I mentally apologize to future loves of their life - I say "I tried to teach them...but it was an uphill battle all the way." - But in reality, I am not prepared to end the fun in the interest of demanding 'exemplary' manners. They are very imaginative -these boys.

Tonight, they did not disappoint. Before long, the Jones Soda bottles became musical instruments. At least ten minutes was spent trying out various tunes with the bottles. They ran to the sink and filled them up to make the notes go higher. After that, they had a spontaneous contest to see who could hang the bottle off their tongue the longest. When they tired of that, they made their cheeks into suction cups and let the bottle become a sort of a glass tumor.

The fun was reflected in gales of laughter at the silliness that ensued. I think each of us enjoyed the celebration, with its eclectic mix of structured and organic pleasure. I hope each one will let the festiveness of the evening wash into their souls and that when they pull out the remnant memory later on they enjoy it just as much.