Sunday Dinner

We do Sunday Dinner at the dining room table with real napkins and a fully set table.  Yes, it is a lot of work, but it has finally started to pay off. The boys learned to properly set a table, and they like to have a say in what dishes and napkins/tablecloths get used.  (Yes, that is a pathetic attempt to justify my obsession for dishes and seasonal linens!)  The best part is that they are starting to count on dinner being an event.  We linger over the meal for longer than it takes to cook.   Although we eat dinner together pretty much every night, it's not usually a prolonged meal; the boys have places to go and homework to finish.  Sunday is a different story though, I can take the time to make a more involved recipe, like the Farfalle Chicken Milano we tried (the boys loved it-- I thought it needed mushrooms), and a few different side dishes and a dessert.

Yesterday our youngest asked why we have Sunday Dinner.  Why?  Because he and his brother will be 10 & 12 next month.  And from the time they were born to now was, I swear, 5 minutes.  And there is nothing quite like listening to them discuss what happened in their respective religious education classes with each other.  But mostly, I want Sunday Dinner at home to be something that they look forward to when they have their own families.