From Soup to Nuts

Well, as many of you know, my husband has a very demanding job. He is the District Manager for Panera Bread here in the New York Area. It’s a job that he loves, and like everything he does, he gives it 100 percent. Unfortunately, some days that doesn’t leave much left over. I can’t count the number of times that I have talked to my beloved about this. I have explained, cajoled, teased, and even bribed him on one or two occasions. I have phoned, emailed and even sent a balloon bouquet once to remind him to come home for a variety of important occasions, including his own birthday.

The one thing I never tried was mother’s old adage: The way to a man’s heart. (It’s his stomach, remember?) How could I do that? After all, I worked in the city for much of our marriage. But now, after a few bizarre turns of the clock, and a few lemons into lemonade, I am working from home. (I’m writing, in case you haven’t heard.) So a lot of things in our lives have changed. One of my favorites is that I’m home to cook dinner – breakfast lunch and dinner, to be exact.

This doesn’t mean that I have a world of time to do it, however. As I remind Tommy often, the first word in working from home is still working. Preparing, cooking, eating and cleaning three meals a day for a family takes at least three hours a day – if not more – and that doesn’t include the grocery shopping. And how often do we, as wives and mothers, slave over a hot stove all day (remember that one from childhood?), only to end up eating it all alone when “he” gets stuck at work, and the kids would rather have a PB&J. And believe me, my husband could be “stuck” at work 365 days a year. It’s just that kind of job.

I’ve had a lot of great side effects from working with Debbye Cannon over the years, and her Shortcuts to Serenity Course has been no exception. I’ve discovered and reclaimed an entire store of cute and fashionable jewelry tangled up with safety pins and paper clips, I’ve replaced a horrible old “secretary” for a new corner-fit, black walnut computer desk, and I’ve organized everyone’s calendar so well that I think I can squeeze in a college course in September (a life-long dream). But my favorite “side effect” so far has been my dinner table.

You see, Debbye didn’t just teach her “students” a way to save five hours a month by grocery shopping ONCE every four weeks, and she didn’t just send forty quick-and-easy meal cards for yummy family-friendly dinners, she also provided this weekly corkboard planner that included a space on each day for the “What’s For Dinner” card.

And my husband has miraculously been home by dinnertime for five of the last seven evenings.

The first night that he called to say he would be home for supper in an hour met with shocked silence on my end of the phone. I finally said, “You will???” To which he responded by listing off everything that was on that night’s menu card, “Well, we’re having Roast Chicken, yams, spinach with feta cheese and sliced pears – aren’t we?” and so on and so on.

Now some nights we are having dinner at 9pm – after all, he still has that demanding job. But a few quiet moments with Tommy and Kathryna over a great meal will always leave me asking for seconds. (And the healthy meals my family eats are literally worth their weight in gold.)

If you have a busy life and could use a hand with organizing or coaxing your family back to the table, check out Debbye Cannon’s website: http://www.theshortcutexpert.com/.

All the best, Mary Agnes Antonopoulos, Freelance Writer and Social Networking Expert

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