‘Twas the night before the Christmas break, when I found myself standing in the checkout line, admitting I’d reached a new low.
Because there was bread in my cart. And frozen lasagna.
And yes, the lasagna was every bit as bad as I imagined it might be. My children were pretty vocal about that, in case I didn’t notice that we were eating Chef Boyardee in a pan. The store-bought bread…. well. I’d resorted to that before. One resigns oneself.
But lasagna?
The thing is, I know that having family dinners is important. But unfortunately, me and quick-and-easy meals haven’t really made one another’s acquaintance yet. And so every day at 3:30, I brace myself for that inevitable question:
Hey Mom, what’s for dinner?
Most days, I don’t have a good answer.
Alas, Stouffer’s wasn’t it, either.
So now I have a new plan. I only have one New Year’s Resolution for 2013, and I’m asking for your help to make it happen:
This year, I resolve to provide my family dinner, at least five days a week, 52 weeks running. That’s 260, sit-down, eat-at-the-table meals–and I’m going to post photographic evidence to prove it. (And no, this is not going to turn into a food blog, I promise.)
If I miss, and you call me on it, I have to cook you dinner. That’s right. If I miss more than two days in any one week period, and you are the first person to call me on it, I will provide dinner for your family–even if that means I order pizza across international datelines to keep my end of the bargain.
I’m serious.
I really feel like there is no single more important thing I can do for my family at this time in their lives, and yet week after week, they end up eating way too much cold cereal. Maybe the prospect of cooking dinner for two families will motivate me to consistently do it for just one.
I’m starting tomorrow, so that means our weeks are measured Mondays from midnight until the next Monday at midnight, and I can’t count more than one meal as a sit-down dinner in any 24 hour period. Meals can, however occur at any time of day.
Just to make that clear.