The Miracle of Chicken Noodle Soup

Dinner at my house is really hard. In fact, it's my least favorite/most stressful time of the day. Here's the scene: I have two girls who depending on the day either had no naps or only one in between them, or maybe two if I'm lucky (the ideal situation is three naps, one for Evelynn and two for Eloise, but that rarely happens now). I have dinner to prepare, but it's that time of day when all the toys have been played with, all the books read, and they're bored! Can't go outside... too cold. Can't do movies.... (I have this thing with rotting my kids brain, but I always let Evelynn watch at least one a day, but that time has also passed), and Doug's not home yet. So what do I get? One child destroying the house or terrorizing her sister from boredom and the other screaming and clinging to my leg as I walk around the kitchen. Then in comes Doug, and things settle a bit, but I am still frazzled. Next is the actual dinner. I serve up the girls first so their food can cool, and then I cut it into manageable pieces. Then I get them their drinks. Then I serve myself. Eloise is a good eater. She'll stuff herself until her little belly feels like an over inflated basketball is stuck in there. But then she's done and she better as heck be let down and put to bed NOW or there will be more SCREAMING! This usually happens right about the time I finally sit down to eat. So I find something to entertain her, and go back to my food. By this time I'm shoving food in my mouth to finish as fast as I can so I can concentrate on getting Evelynn to eat her dinner. She does really well for 5 minutes, and then she's out of the chair and off doing whatever. I must call her back, get her to sit down, and finish her dinner. This takes at least 20 minutes, sometimes longer. It's not that she's picky either! She likes and eats everything I make, even things like Chicken Curry and Chili and Kielbasa. It's that she had such a hard time concentrating on getting the food from her plate to her mouth! This is the point when me frustration boils over and my nerves fray. I have Eloise screaming, Evelynn gone, not eating, and I'm hungry, wishing I could eat my dinner. After much "You need to take 2 Lion bites and 2 Bear bites and then you can get down" and some "Do not put your fork in Mommy's hair!" and also quite a bit of "Will you please SIT DOWN and EAT!" dinner finally comes to a close. I usually just sit at the table after everyone gets down and finish my dinner by myself. Doug helps me out every time so don't think he just sits there eating his dinner and then leaves, but even with two of us, dinner is a challenge.

And now, I give you the miracle of the Chicken Noodle Soup!

Last night I made Chicken Noodle Soup for dinner. It's a family favorite, but I haven't made it in a while. I served up the girls, got my bowl and dug in. About halfway through my bowl, I notice something different. No one is crying, no one is complaining, and everyone is in their chair. Upon closer inspection, I see both girls calmly eating soup. I sat back, stunned. Doug looks up from his soup and notices my expression. When he realizes why, he smiles and goes back to eating. So I look up from my shoveling and started to enjoy my meal. Evelynn finishes her ENTIRE BOWL of soup and asks for more. Then she eats most of that and asks to get down. Eloise just calmly shoves noodles into her mouth until there are no more, and then plays with her sippy cup until I'm done. It was the most relaxed family meal I have had since Evelynn was on solid foods. I told Doug I would serve Chicken Noodle Soup for dinner every night if we got these same results. He didn't object and I am sorely tempted.

What is it about Chicken Noodle Soup? It is a miracle food. There is nothing you want while or after you've been sick that tastes better. It's a low calorie food. It's great on cold days. Everyone likes it. And apparently it makes dinner time a breeze. Definitely a miracle.