61 Minute Dinner
I don't cook every night. I'm gonna say 3-4 of seven nights we get a full on home cooked mama meal. Sometimes there's cereal, sometimes frozen pizza, and occasionally hubby jumps in the kitchen. He's a great cook.....
No really he is!
But his timing is a little different than mine. Sometimes he'll start dinner at 5:00 and it's not ready until 7:30 with VERY hungry kids waiting on the sidelines. He does dishes at this pace too. Makes my skin crawl a little. Today I found myself with a migraine; the hubs said he was going to the store at 5:37pm to get fixings for tacos. Naturally my mind started wandering... calculating what might come of the following 3 hours.
As much doubt as I had, I opted for curiosity and he proved himself quite nicely. Dinner was on the table 61 minutes later and there was a full table of happy bellies. Hubby rocked the dinner scene, and then some with dishes to follow.
A few years ago this could have easily turned sour fast.
I might have been stubborn and refused his dinner offer telling kids to eat something easy.
I might have stayed grumpy all night reflecting on how much faster I am at making dinner.
I might have not eaten even when he finished dinner because I was annoyed with his process.
I'm so glad those years are over. Curiosity and LOVE served me so much better and in turn our whole family is better off.
Until the next 61 minute dinner, here's how I do the work:
Thought
Question
Action
Thought:
- "It's way to late to go to the store for dinner groceries."
Who does this thought belong to?
- The old me.
What purpose does this thought serve?
- Not much, in some cases it might protect my kids from a late dinner, but the worst that happens is that they get a little hungry and see their dad cooking in the kitchen. That's a pretty good worst case scenario.
When am I ready to release this thought?
- Now
Where do I need to put this thought next?
- Away, no need for it any more
Why am I giving this thought power?
- Habit, and a slight bit of mama bear protection.
How can my WHY and or purpose lead me to my next action?
My WHY is GROWTH.
GROWTH asks me to stay curious and choose LOVE.
GROWTH reminds me that this is not a life or death situation and there is a chance it's not a problem at all.
GROWTH says, "Believe in him and watch him shine, or watch him "fail", either way lessons will be learned."
This work is EVERYTHING.
