"1, 2, 16"

When we re-did our house and built a kitchen nook, I bought a table at which I intended for us to eat all our meals. Unless, of course, we had company. Then we could sit in the dining room.

I found a lovely natural wood table that seated 6 comfortably and had a drop leaf. I purchased 4 chairs for three sides of the table, and a bench for the side that goes along the back wall.

In the three of four years since buying the table, we've had many different seating assignments. At first, I put Daelyn next to me so I could help him with his meal. He was in a booster seat, which only attached to the chairs . . . or so we thought. After not being able to get through a single meal without him laying all over me and grabbing me, we decided to give his booster seat a try on the bench. Then Deanna complained that Dane twiddled his hands constantly during our grace before meals. It drove her crazy. Deanna had to be moved. There was also the issue of Deanna frequently falling off the bench. Anytime she got really tickled about something - whoops! Off she'd go.

Our final seating assignment is - Don at the head, me at his left. Next to me on the chair is Deanna. On Don's right is Daelyn. Next to Daelyn is Dane. The chair at the opposite end is the guest chair.

This arrangement has been working fairly well. However, my children have been pretty tired and snarly since getting home from Colorado. Mountain time is two hours behind us and we're getting over our high-altitude sickness, so this week has been challenging. Today we went for Mexican food at lunchtime. Halfway through the meal, Dane curled up in a ball in the booth and told me he was going to take a nap. I hurried the children into the van, home, and into their beds. We all needed a good nap.

The problem is this - they desperately needed a nap, but they feel so much better now, they're giddy. Daelyn has been laughing uncontrollably about nothing. Dane is smiling sweetly, and Deanna even asked me kindly to dish up salad with only a few tomatoes for her. Then she commented under her breath, "I know, I know. I REALLY do feel better after a nap. You don't even have to say it."

"I wasn't going to say that," I told her. "But I was thinking something very similar."

"What?"

"You can catch more bees with honey than you can with vinegar," I explained.

"What does that mean, Mama?" Dane asked. I explained, making sure they knew that the correct saying was "flies" not "bees", but flies sounds nasty. Bees sounds so much nicer.

Dane smiled. Daelyn started laughing and fell off the bench.

When he pulled himself back into place again, Deanna said, "Are you okay, Bud? How many fingers am I holding up?"

I glanced at her. She was holding three fingers in the air.

"16," Daelyn blurted out.

Yep! He's just fine.