My siblings and I had a funny habit of singing at the dinner table. It is probably a genetic trait from my Mo-Tab mom, who upon hearing practically any word in the English language can come up with a song to go with it. Although, she’s not entirely to blame. My dad is a closet musician. He can play a mean guitar, harmonize with the radio and even lay a tune (or twelve) on the piano.
One evening, as dinnertime rolled around, the stereo was blasting the Les Miserables soundtrack. The music must have still been ‘in our souls’ because after we sat down to eat, someone bellowed out, “Red” from the song “Red and Black.” Dad instinctively sang, “The blood of angry men.” The volley continued, all of us singing the ‘reds’ and ‘blacks’ and Dad chiming in for the main lines.
Black
The dark of ages past
Red
The world about to dawn
Black
The night that ends at laaaaaaast!
We all joined in and held the last, triumphant note. Glory, in the dining room. {uh-huh} And, even more embarrassing because, I’m pretty sure, someone had a friend over for dinner. But, I can’t, for my life, remember who it was sitting at the table in utter confusion at our shenanigans.
It might come as a surprise, then, to know that at one point Dad declared a ban on singing at the table. A new rule. An absurd rule. A rule most families wouldn’t even THINK of creating. It must have been an out-of-your-mind moment for Dad, but the rule was made, nonetheless. Followed? Well, that’s a question for another day.
I’ve been thinking of this family rule lately, because I’ve got a not-so-closet musician in my house. She’s full of song, day and night, and lately has had a hard time getting any dinner eaten because it interrupts the ‘performance’ at hand. It is cute and infuriating all at the same time. Especially if the milk gets spilled during some hand action associated with the current lyric. I’m starting to understand the wisdom in applying a no-singing-at-the-table rule.
Dang, I hate it when Dad is right!
11 comments:
Awww...I would love to see a performance by your super star!! She's adorable. :)
Adri, I love reading your blogs!! They are so heartwarming and make me smile everytime!! I can see Kate making her performance! What a cutie!
Adri, thank you for watching, I felt bad I had to get so bossy :) I love your post about singing Les Mis at the table, my family loves Les Mis too, we used to divide parts and sing together, although sitting by you at the campout, I am SURE that your family sounded better than mine :)
We had to impose the "no-singing" rule at our dinner table, too. Too often we had kids performing and staying up past bedtime just to finish a little dinner! Good luck enforcing that one. Let me know if you come up with a fool-proof plan! Love you!
Rex and Nancy had to make that rule at their house many, many years ago. Would you like to know the person that inspired the rule? I think you already do. Justin.
That sounds like my family, although we never had to ban the music. But I can see too, why your dad did it, we have those "focus on your meal" moments too...although it's usually goofing around, not lovely songs!
that's funny. we had a no-singing rule too and sometime i find myself repeating it, although every time i do i think, "why no singing?" and have to take it back.
Matt imposes a no singing rule...I too wonderred why until I realized how little food was going in when the songs came out. Great post.
This is hilarious! Good thing you have a good memory, 'cause I forget these funny times! As I read I thought you were going to write about our "Amen" barbershop routine!
Kate and Maryn should live together. They'd never eat, but they'd be quite a singing duo. Carson tries to enforce the "no singing" rule at our house to no avail!
Your summer's been busy - I was planning on calling you while you were in Utah. I was talking to Cameron one night and mentioned it and he said, "I think Chad said she's coming home tomorrow." Huh? Man, time flies. That's what happens when you don't pay attention to the calandar.
I love little Kate!! Maybe 5 bites for every line of song? You might get her to eat quite a bit if it's a long performance!
I love this story. Then I didn't mind a little spilt milk and a little dinner gone cold because NOW I miss the performances...big time!
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