Ladies First!

We had a busy house today. My friend, Jessica and family, came over to pick up a few things we are getting rid of and they could us. I love to "pay it forward". Well, between their first trip and their second trip, another friend of mine, Janine and 2 of her children, came by to help me pack and to sort some Saxon Math worksheets that she was sharing with me. I was in the middle of preparing lunch and it was actually a hot lunch, spaghetti with meat sauce! "All right" is what Caleb said when I told him what we were having. Actually he asked for it, and I was initially reluctant realizing I had 2 sets of company, but it actually sounded really good to me after not having anything to eat all day. So, lunch was in the making and it was late, at least for my kids. And, Jessica and family came back to help us move a counter to our neighbor's house. A very heavy island counter. Isaac was having a melt down in the middle of the kitchen because 1 - he was tired and over due for a nap, and 2 - the food was not ready! My sweet, little Isaac arrives in the kitchen as you are cooking believing that the food should be ready and on his plate. He has no concept of preparation time! So I began to serve Isaac first in hopes it would stop the echoeing crying. Echoeing because now that the kitchen walls are packed and the island was just removed, it sounds very echoey in the house now. So, I finish serving him when my darling daughter just realized she was not served. "Hey, why aren't you getting my food?" Okay, I realize this is not the way she should speak to me and she was corrected, but I knew why she had said it. So I asked her, "why do you think you should be served first?" To which she promptly replied, "Ladies first!" It got a chuckle from our visitors and even me. You see, we've been teaching the boys etiquette and manners around other people - opening doors, waiting for others to enter or exit first, etc. Table manners are still a challenge around here. Then my friend, Janine, said to Sarah, "Then your mommy should be able to go first." You gotta love it when you're kids are listening to what you're saying/teaching even when it's not for them. :o)