Dinner's On the Table, or Wherever the Heck It Gets Flung

*This table setting can be found at Rocky Mountain Decor

Something occurred to me this past week.  I was contemplating a a major upcoming shopping trip, which will necessitate massive meal planning for my large family. 
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I hate this.
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I hate cooking.  I hate shopping.  And I hate sitting down to a family dinner.
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I asked myself "Why?"  I thought it over and realized I hated all this because dinnertime was a battlezone when I was a kid, the food was terrible and sometimes we didn't have much of it, and I hated it.
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So, then I thought, "But, wait.  I'm a grown-up now.  My husband and I and our children have worked hard to have a harmonious home.  So, why am I still hating dinnertime?  It's not fair for my husband and children to suffer for the way I grew up.  They deserve much better.  They deserve my absolute best."
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So, I'm on a personal mission.  I am going to learn to love family dinnertime.
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We are going to have a beautiful table with delicious and healthy food, but that's just the start.  I'm going to sit and relax and enjoy being with my family.  I'm going to breathe and be calm and not leap away at the first possible opportunity.  There's no reason for me to run away from my husband and children!  I love them.  They're good and kind to me.  The Run Reflex is outdated and obsolete.  I am home safe now, living happily ever after, free and in the wild.
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First things first, we're going to need a new table that we can all sit down to.  There's six of us and we have a teeny-tiny table we cram around.  And I want mismatched chairs like Mrs. Weasley's in Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets.  Yes, that's the look I'm going for and I can get it dirt-cheap at yard sales.  Dark red and denim, those will be my colors.
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And I must learn to like cooking and cooking with my children.
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That's going to be so much harder!
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But, I will do it.  I will.  I just need a plan, a step by step plan.  First, I'll make a list of all the dinners we like best and who likes what the most.  Then, that child and I can make that child's favorite dinner together.
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Next, I'll set up the weekly schedule around Husband's work (crazy airline pilot hours) and children's school and homeschool.  And then I'll make up the meal plan.  And finally the shopping list.
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And I'm going to buy new plates just like these at Target-
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I'll need to buy two sets, because it's only a service for four and we passed that up two babies ago.
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I can't change anyone or my past, but I can change myself and my future.