I Have a Favorite Kid...for Today

Tonight we hosted a birthday dinner to celebrate Max's birthday. We celebrated with him on his actual birthday, but tonight's dinner included our extended family who lives in town. Long story short, 18 people descended upon us at 6 PM.

On each child's birthday (and celebration) they get to be the king or queen. I will make (nearly) anything they request. When I asked Max what he wanted, he said tuna steak. I agreed, but said that could not be the big family dinner because tuna for 18 is pricey. My next question was what he wanted me to make for his big dinner. "Can we have Checkers burgers and fries? Oh, and monster cookies too?"

Max, for the moment, is my favorite child. Usually a birthday dinner is the chance to request things that are so difficult or time consuming, that I rarely make it - think creme brûlée for 18 or kung pao chicken (that has individual pieces that all need to be breaded and fried). This year Max picked tuna, which other than the marinade, takes about 4-5 minutes, and burgers that could be called in ahead and picked up. 

I'm grateful that this is what he wanted today. It's going to be a very busy week and just thinking about all I have in front of me has made my mind turn off for tonight. I'm grateful it was working when everyone was here and now...it's obviously time for me to try to get to bed. I'm grateful that it's time for that too.