It’s time to repair my relationship with my dining room.

We usually eat dinner in the kitchen, but there’s no room for a table, so it looks something like this every night:

That picture was taken pre-Number 7, so it’s even more crowded in there now.

My husband and I usually just stand somewhere in the room while the kids eat.

It kind of sucks.

We could eat in the dining room, but the table is never accessible.

It typically looks like this:

Or this (those clothes were on the table until one of the kids knocked them all off):

Or this:

Except on birthdays.

On birthdays, the laundry and whatever else has been thrown in the dining room gets cleared away so we can have a civilized meal, followed by cake.

We’ve celebrated lots of birthdays

in the

dining room.

I didn’t realize how rarely we ate in there.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday I finally reclaimed the dining room.

Every inch of it is organized.

Every. single. inch.

Number 7 was so confused by the decluttered condition of the dining room that she ran in,

pulled up a chair,

and started not just singing,

but screaming,

Happy Birthday to Yoooooou.

And then she waited.

For cake.

When I didn’t come in with one, she was pissed.

Big time.

And I thought, how sad.

What a waste!

It’s such a beautiful room, and it’s been so neglected, and so underutilized.

We’ve missed out on a lot of family dinners in that room.

So, last night, I changed that.

Number 4 and 5 set the table.

My husband came home from work. He looked in the dining room. He was confused.

“Is someone coming over?” he asked.

“No,” I answered.

“Are we eating in here tonight?” he asked.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because we can,” I answered.

And so we did.

We even used the fancy glasses.

My kids will now look back on their childhoods with fond memories of many, many dinners in that room.

Not just on birthdays.

Operation Organization.

It’s making me a better mom.

Gotta go.

My front hallway needs some TLC.