Sometimes it's amazing how obvious the solution is, and you wonder how on Earth it took you so long to realize it. There was a dual meltdown today when I declined the boys' request for an "after-school" snack at 4:55 p.m. since it was too close to dinner. Daniel was coaxed from his drama with the distraction of calling Aunt Nora to wish her a happy birthday. (His greeting to her included the Happy Birthday song and a disclaimer that "Edward is too crabby to talk right now.")

When Edward was still wailing 15 minutes later, I suddenly had a revelation. Dinner time! Luckily tonight's menu was leftovers so they not only got to choose their entree but it was also ready in about three minutes. Jackpot. To say that they inhaled their dinner would be a massive understatement.

As often as we repeat the mantra "What makes us crabby? Tired, hot and hungry!" I still manage to forget from time to time how hunger reduces my children to incoherent, inconsolable messes!

Since they started dinner at about 5:15, they were taking their last bites when John got home at about 5:30. Their next plan of action was to build a "couch tent" but this always ends in disaster as couch cushions simply are not sturdy building materials. John solved the riddle with this chair/couch fort, which then enabled us to have 45 MINUTES OF UNINTERRUPTED CONVERSATION while we ate our own dinner. BLISS!

We had a lot to talk about as John is currently doing two jobs as he transitions from his eight years of employment as the editor of our local weekly business newspaper to the executive director of the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature. Congratulations have been flooding in since the announcement was made in town last week. It's an interim appointment, but I join many friends and colleagues in full confidence that he will rise to the challenge and earn the permanent position later this year.