Just Passing

16. Dinner Conversation

"So, how was work today?" Tiffany asks as we all sit around the kitchen table for dinner, the kids strapped into their chairs between us.

"More salt!" Spencer demands before I can answer.

"Have you taken a bite of your ronis? I put a lot of salt on them," Tiffany assures.

"I want more salt. More salt pleeeeeeease."

"Here, here, here." I get up and grab the sea salt grinder, but leave the cover on. I shake it over Spencer's plate several times for show. "Is that good?"

Spencer picks up a buttery penne with his fingers and sucks it into his mouth. "Mmm, good."

"What do you say, Spencer?" Tiffany prompts.

"Thank you, Daddy," he says with his mouth full, little bits of pasta falling down his chin.

"Of course, buddy." I go and put the salt shaker back. When I sit down I finally answer Tiffany's question, "Today was the first day that I worked with Blake."

"Oh yeah, how'd it go?"

"No roni!" It's Nora's turn to interrupt. "Chee!"

"You have cheese right there." Tiffany points to her tray.

"No. Ro chee."

"Huh?" Tiffany and I say simultaneously.

"Ro cheese. Ra. Ro-ro," she insists.

I get up and open the fridge. "Is she saying red? What is she asking for?" Tiffany shrugs, so I turn to Nora. "This?" I hold out a cheese stick.

"No! Ro-ro!"

"This?" I try again with a block of cheddar, but Nora still isn't happy. I look around the shelves for inspiration. "This?" I ask again, showing her a container of romano.

"Yay! Ro!"

"She is too much." Tiffany laughs as I spoon some grated cheese over Nora's pile of penne on her tray. "Ok, Nora, what do you say?"

"Sank," she happily responds.

Maybe now we can finally have an adult conversation. "Blake did really well during our session. Honestly, I'm not sure why he's having a hard time in math class."

Tiffany fills her fork with some green beans. "I started to have trouble in math when I was around that age. Maybe a bit older. I do think girls get the message that math is for boys and they stop paying attention."

"But Blake is a boy, so..." What Tiffany says is true. Although, normally you see the data for girls dip in middle school, not fourth grade. However, I'm not following her logic for Blake's situation. She knows that Blake is a boy. 

"I want my water." Spencer pushes away the blue sippy cup with green alligators and reaches for the pink sippy cup with purple flowers that is on his sister's tray.

"The waters are both the same," I tell him.

"I want my water," he repeats stubbornly.

"Ok, fine." I switch the cups. Thankfully, Nora is still eating her pennes with ro-ro cheese and doesn't seem to mind trading waters.

"Well, maybe he is having, like, performance anxiety or something," Tiffany reasons, swallowing her bite and reaching for more. "Boys are supposed to be better at math, and he wants to prove himself, but then, he gets too nervous."

I'm relieved that she doesn't say something about him being socialized as a girl. "That's an interesting theory, but, I dunno." I take a bite of the bacon-wrapped turkey that Tiffany made. "Mama, this is delicious!"

"Thanks. Just something I threw together. But, I think the bacon got a little burned."

"No, no, it's good crispy." I take another bite. I wish I could cook like her. It seems magical how she just takes a bunch of groceries and turns them into a meal. "Spence, buddy, you can't just drink water for dinner. Here, try some turkey, too."

"No. All done."

"You are not all done, we just sat down." Tiffany tells him.

"I done. Down. I want down. All done." He is very insistent.

"This is ridiculous." Tiffany looks at me, exasperated. "Can we let them watch one S-H-O-W so we can eat in peace?"

"No, we're having a nice family dinner." But even as I say it, I know there is no point.

"Watch show?" Spencer asks.

"How did you know what Mama just spelled? You are a genius." I say to Spencer, and then to Tiffany I mouth, "You can't use the word watch in front of him."

"Just one show. I've been dealing with this all day." Tiffany pulls out her phone and opens up the Amazon Prime app. "How about Pete the Cat?"

"Pee!" Nora agrees.

Miraculously, Spencer decides he wants to stay at the table after all and begins to stuff his mouth.

"So, if you don't like my theory, what are you thinking?" Tiffany takes advantage of the silence to restart our conversation.

"Not sure. But I guess I should probably sit in his class and see if I notice anything." Even a vetran teacher like Ms. Dunn can't catch everything going on with a class of twenty-two students.

"Yeah, that's probably a good next step." Tiffany takes a bite of turkey, dipping it in the rosemary mashed potatoes. "Hmm, you're right. The bacon is good crispy."

"So, dear, how was your day?" I ask, taking a sip of water from my glass. Although, I have a clue. A day off at home with the kids is more tiring than a day at work. The two little tv-zombies allow us to continue to talk without interruption. As much as I hate screentime at the table, it is necessary sometimes. What on earth did parents do before technology?