I never liked pop quizzes when I was in school and I don’t like them now.
Sometimes a family team gets a surprise test, and we had one last Saturday night.
“Sir, we have no record of your reservation.”
I was standing outside of a restaurant with 13 of my friends where I had made reservations a month ago and had confirmed by phone earlier that week, but somehow they lost it.
Trying to get last minute reservations, outside, Saturday evening, with all of the COVID restrictions seemed impossible.
Where could we go? Maybe our house?
I knew our kids were settling into a fun sibling dinner and a movie night at home so they wouldn’t mind helping us pull together a quick meal right?
I told our group we had a change of plans and we’d like to invite them back to our house for dinner on our front porch.
After a flurry of text messages sent by April and me to the family text group our kids sprang into action.
Banquet seating for thirteen with candles, music, a fire, and drinks were all set up by the time we arrived home after a quick stop at the grocery store.
About the time we would have been served our dinner at the restaurant we had the full three-course, garlic herb butter filet mignon meal completed so that April, my parents, and I could relax with our guests and get on with the real business of the evening – thanking our friends for how they each stepped up to help at a Family Teams event we hosted last month.
After clearing and cleaning, our kids were still able to enjoy their own dinner and movie night.
OK, so what’s the takeaway from this for those of you who are in the thick of all the challenges with younger kids? Working like a team may still feel like an impossible dream but we want to encourage you to keep going. Keep passing the daily pop quizzes that come in your stage like that blown out diaper, or those fighting siblings, or bad attitudes. You are still in the early stages of team building, and the best is yet to come.
I’m so excited for the future challenges that are coming because I’m convinced that whatever they are we’ll get to face them together.
Jeremy
This entry is a part of Jeremy’s Journal, a newsletter Jeremy sends out every Wednesday morning to encourage you on your parenting journey. You can sign up to get them every Wednesday here.
