Dinner party. Our house. In laws. Mother in law, sister in law, both brother in laws plus my nephew who is a couple of years younger than my daughter (who was about 9 at the time). I cooked. It was a rather complex sea-food dish where all the components are cooked separately - then mixed into a tomato and basil sauce. This is then mixed with slightly undercooked spaghetti which absorbs the tomato sauce and, if it all goes well, is perfectly al-dente when served.
We had some starters and polite conversation but the kids got bored and wanted to go play so we let them. They went off to her room.
When the starters were done with I mixed the spaghetti with the sauce got it perfect (absolutely nailed it), decanted the lot onto a huge serving plate and placed it in the middle of the table.
We called the kids.
Turned out they weren't in her room but in ours and playing with....some unsuitable toys.
My first inkling of what had happened was when my daughter rounded the corner into the dining room wearing a somewhat odd nurses uniform. She was followed by a 7 year old blur who erupted over the table between his mother and father. He then slammed a vibrator onto his forehead with the words: "Mummy, mummy, look at me, I'm a rhinoceros!"
Then things got worse. Sadly slamming the vibrator onto his forehead like that started the vibrator, obviously something he was not expecting - so he instantly dropped it with an "ugh."
No prizes guessing where it landed. Right in the middle of the main course where it appeared to be attempting to dig its way through in front of a very startled audience.
Five hours that thing had taken me to make - no-one ate a thing. Apparently my comment; "Oh come on - its not like its going to make everything taste like fish" was not regarded as suitable.
We had some starters and polite conversation but the kids got bored and wanted to go play so we let them. They went off to her room.
When the starters were done with I mixed the spaghetti with the sauce got it perfect (absolutely nailed it), decanted the lot onto a huge serving plate and placed it in the middle of the table.
We called the kids.
Turned out they weren't in her room but in ours and playing with....some unsuitable toys.
My first inkling of what had happened was when my daughter rounded the corner into the dining room wearing a somewhat odd nurses uniform. She was followed by a 7 year old blur who erupted over the table between his mother and father. He then slammed a vibrator onto his forehead with the words: "Mummy, mummy, look at me, I'm a rhinoceros!"
Then things got worse. Sadly slamming the vibrator onto his forehead like that started the vibrator, obviously something he was not expecting - so he instantly dropped it with an "ugh."
No prizes guessing where it landed. Right in the middle of the main course where it appeared to be attempting to dig its way through in front of a very startled audience.
Five hours that thing had taken me to make - no-one ate a thing. Apparently my comment; "Oh come on - its not like its going to make everything taste like fish" was not regarded as suitable.
