Lima Beans in the sink and Egg Foo Yong behind the refrigerator were normal occurrences with Tristan and Bryan Lee. Every meal was a struggle, as they sat endlessly staring at their plates wanting the ugly green vegetables, or whatever unappetizing food they did not wish to eat, to disappear. When the food would not go away, they simply found new places to hide the uneaten portions.
While Tristan and Bryan made a long drawn out affair of meals, Corey and Billy, Jr. added an element of danger to the dining experience. They were meat eaters, and as such would finish everything on their plates in order to get all-leftover meat scraps. One evening, as we sat waiting for Bryan and Tristan to finish, Bryan took his chicken bone and began chewing into it, breaking the bone, and scaring me to death.
“What on Earth are you doing?” I asked Bryan.
He replied, “Well, I may as well eat the bone, ‘cause I never get a seconds on meat. Least not without injury.”
What Bryan referred to was the manner in which the two oldest boys stabbed at the meat plate. You could not get seconds from that plate without risking the loss of a hand to a fork. In a way, it was a competition to see which of the two could eat the most and finish first.
Mealtime in our home, at that time, became less of a filling experience and more of a hassle. We did not enjoy meals we simply survived them. However, the clean up after the meal was over, only served to add misery to discomfort.
Dishes done, I would pull the plug allowing the water to flow out of the sink, if it would, and indeed sometimes, it would not. The secret to most successes that Tristan and Bryan made in the attempt to hide their uneaten portions of the meal, lay in the hiding place itself. I only cleaned behind the refrigerator once a month, therefore, it made a good hiding place, but the sink would clog up when food in a large amount remained on the plate. Another place they chose to put their hidden food was the garbage bag, but that did not take long to discover. Nothing, no place in the house was without value when it came to hiding food. The toilet, back yard, and a number of toys replaced the plate in holding leftover food, not that it was leftover in the sense that it was spare, but that it was leftover from the meal, uneaten.
Generally, it took 30-minutes to prepare a meal, and several hours sitting at the table waiting for the meal to end. I could finish washing the dishes, clean up the counters and stove, and watch a few sitcoms while Bryan and Tristan piddle at eating a meal.
If you have children, you know that it is impossible to prepare what every member of the family wants for supper. If two of our children were happy about supper, then supper was a success. My husband and I eat most foods, and wanted the children to try a portion of whatever was on their plates. “If you haven’t eaten something, how do you know that you don’t like it?” I would ask.
Tristan would answer, “Because it’s green and I don’t eat green things.”
Bryan would add, “Yea, what she said. We don’t eat green things.”
“It’s not as though anyone is asking you to eat a worm.” I would insist.
“Yep, it is Mom. Those lima beans look like worms. I ain’t eating no worms.” Tristan would reply.
To this day, the suggestion that we might try Egg Foo Yong again, gets a few laughs and snickers. However, Tristan sits endless hours at the dinner table now, waiting for her son, Zack, to finish his meal. Paybacks are good!
Our supper prayer:
God is good,
God is great,
Could we finish this meal,
Before it gets too late,
Watch your hands,
No kicking no biting,
God help us survive,
Just one more meal,
Amen.
