At The Rabbis' Table, Again

We work to eat dinner together regularly. It gives us an opportunity to check in with the kids, and have them check in with us. When they're excited about something, they all talk past each other. Gavi and Keren tend to ignore Jesse, who plays the expert. And once Gavi gets started, he's almost impossible to stop. 

Tonight, Keren and Gavi came to the table from a video game. It's a game they play together, but each on his/her own device. They'd been playing for about 20 minutes, and although they'd logged off for the night, the conversation hadn't. It continued as they sat down (on opposite sides of the table) well into the meal. I was fascinated by their total disregard for anyone else as the entered the kitchen, sat down, took food, and began to eat. Eventually their focus shifted, as if they'd suddenly realized there were others at the table. Jesse was nonplussed. He was focused on sharing an answer to a history test from earlier in the day. He'd been sharing the idea with me, and had to reiterate it for his father. It was a design for a new Lincoln Memorial, which he was, of course, sure was better than the original. His ideas were very good, but I felt he wasn't giving the original design a fair examination. This led to a short discussion of the Washington mall in general and the Roman symbolism in the older memorials. This led to a discussion of the new-ish FDR Memorial, and his being both beloved and hated by many for his actions during WWII. Gavi and Keren joined the conversation at this point. For all three, the focus on history is all-encompassing. 

In the background, music was playing. It was a scrambled playlist of songs I love. As "We Shall Overcome" played through, Sean turned to the computer and started to laugh. The picture on the screen saver during that song was a squirrel who often stole whatever bread he could. This picture was followed by a headshot of me with a black eye. (I should never iron. Don't ask.) Anyway, the history spell was broken, but a new spell, that of family stories, was cast. No matter how many times I've told the stories, no matter what they have to leave to hear them, the kids love to hear stories about what happened to them. It always elicits smiles and laughter. It allows them to reconnect to their own memories and to each other. It doesn't happen every night, or even every week, but when it does, it's magical.

Lila tov and pleasant dreams.