The Dinner Table

I seem to be in a very strange transition, and I’m beginning to wonder if my parents weren’t right all along. The other day, my wife and I sat down for dinner, and with a baby in the not too distant future, my mind began to wonder about how our family meals will be. How much it will mean to me to have my kids at the dinner table. To watch them grow from meal to meal. To share our day together, what did they do in school and how was my wife’s day. Taking all that in, I started to remember how meals were at my house, and how quickly I tried to finish so I could go back outside and play with my friends or get back to my favorite videogame/book. What I remember most was not really caring about everyone else, but satisfying my stomach and then getting back to what I was doing. The thought crosses my mind about how different things would be if I could go back and change that knowing now what I know. “You’ll understand when you have kids of your own.” Begins to ring in my ears, and I realize that I’m beginning to understand what they meant when they said that. I thought I did, but now I’m not so sure.