DInner Conversation.

We dropped the head of the house [yes, it is possible that he may actually read this] at the airport on Tuesday after school. After saying our goodbyes, we headed to music lesson for the girls. Lia’s lesson. Ten minutes of which we were using that day to introduce Gia to music lessons and see if she is ready. I’m thinking piano. And, when I walked out, Lia and Gia were both on the bench and, under the teacher’s guidance, Lia is showing Gia the middle C song -- I have lovely visions of sugar plums dancing to my darling duo’s carols on the keyboard during the coming holidays.

I come back, forty-five minutes later. Lia is seated at the piano. When she finishes her tune, which sounds pretty darn good, I hear from the other side of the large room: Mommy! bam, bam, bam, BOOM. Guess who is playing the drums? And again: bam, bam, bam, BOOM. SMILE. “She likes the drums!” Lia exclaimed. Bam, bam, bam, boom. The teacher nodded. Hmmm.

We get on the elevator and decide to go eat in the restaurant on the top floor. It is a great place, good food, nice people and convenient [as it is five and I need to feed all of us, after a quick flash to me dragging everything into the house and cooking and cleaning, on top of getting homework and everything else done alone, upstairs is a no brainer]. A little special dinner to start our week alone off right. Perfect. We will be able to have dinner and we can see planes as they approach and leave the airport.

We get all settled, food ordered, girls’ smoothie/shake ingredients resolved. After just a few sips of her smoothie and just after the food comes:

Gia: Ummmmm. Mommy, I need to go pee. I’ll be right back, okay?

Me: Go ahead, I’ll be there in a minute to help you wash your hands.

Gia: [over her shoulder, as she happily scampers away] Okay! See you in a minute.

Me: aaah, [sip, sip. Guess what that was? Just water... for now!]

I slowly walked to the bathroom. As I open the swinging door to the room:

Gia: [overly loud from the first stall] Mommy, IS THAT YOU?

Me: Yes honey.

Gia: I’m not done yet.

Me: That is okay.

Gia: Ummm, Mommy?

Me: Yes Gia.

Gia: Mommy are you pooping?

Me: No Gia. [in a very low voice - remember, the door to the ladies' room, is a swinging bar-type door]

Gia: Mommy, you are PEEING!

Me: Yes. Gia, remember we are in a restaurant. Please speak quietly.

Gia: We are not in a restaurant. We are in the RESTROOM.

         Did you just flush?

Me: Yes.

Gia: Ummm, Mommy?

         I need to poop. You can leave.

Me: I will wait and help you wash your hands. The soap dispenser is very high in here.

Gia: I don’t need your help. I can wash with just water. I don’t need soup [her speech is fine. The babysitter’s isn’t.]

Me: When you wash your hands, you should always use soap. Especially after you poop use the toilet.

Gia: Oh. Ummm, Mommy? The poop is stuck in my butt.

Me: ...

Gia: It is okay. I can push it out. uuuhhhhhh!

Me: Gia. You don’t need to push that ...

Gia: It worked Mommy! [plop. plop.}

Ummmm, Mommy?

Me: Yes Gia.

Gia: There is a fly in here.

Me: What is it doing?

Gia: I am pooping. [plop.]

Me: [I’m thinking: we need more fiber in our diets] No, Gia, what is the fly doing?

Gia: Oh, the fly. It is bugging me!

Ummmm. Mommy?

Me: Yes, Gia.

Gia: What does bugging mean? [obviously a word she learned from her sister’s frequent use]

Me: Ummmmmmm, Gia. Bugging means that it is bothering you.

Gia: Ummm, Mommy?

Me: Yes, Gia.

Gia: The fly is bothering me. Hey! There is no toilet paper in here!

Me: Hold on. [gathering toilet paper from next stall; folding and passing three usable portions under the divider to Gia]

Gia: Thank you Mommy! Ummm, Mommy?

Me: Yes, Gia.

Gia: Why did you give me three pieces?

Me: Do you need more?

Gia: No. I mean yes. This poop is SOFT!

Me: [passing more folded tissue sections - soft?]

Gia: Eeeeeeew. Okay, all done.

Me: [thinking: sip, sip, sip. Yes, later.] Okay, are you coming out?

Gia: [flushing] Man, that was FAST! Hey! The fly is gone!

Me: [assisting in the soap acquisition and water regulation]

Gia: [jumping up to high five the automatic paper towel dispenser to get another paper towel]

Ummm, Mommy?

Me: Yes, Gia.

Gia: I’m hungry now!



Gia galloped back to the table and grabbed her fork and dug in. The waitress that was sitting with Lia just smiled at me. [Could you pack this to go please? ]


Gia: Ummmm, Mommy?

Me: Yes, Gia.

Gia: Isn’t that sunset awesome? What a beautiful day. Isn’t it a beautiful day? But it is going to be night. But it is still beautiful, right?

Me: Yes, Gia it is.

Gia: Ummm, Mommy? Is that papa’s plane leaving?

Me: [nodding]

Gia: I miss papa already.

Me: Me too Gia.

Lia: Me too.

Yes, Lia was with us too. The gals there are great and know and love her and answer her questions and teach her to make smoothies and bring her extra of whatever she likes the best. She was at the table most of the time, eating and drinking her Guava milk shake and talking about the art on the wall with them. From five to six that night, it was our own personal restroom. Oh, I’m sorry, I mean restaurant. At home, after they were in bed, I poured myself a glass of vino and pulled out my french onion soup to re-heat. Oh look! She gave me foccacia to go with it. It was a beautiful day.


[In a more recent dinner time conversation, at our house this time thankfully -- "ummmmm Mommy, the poop won't come out!  It is okay though, don't worry, I can just pop it out!"]