Will and Chloe!

Tonight was our rescheduled dinner with Will, Steve's son and Ruth's stepson, and his girlfriend, Chloe. We spent much of the day cleaning the house and preparing the meal -- a capon (which Drew found on a whim a few months ago and put in the freezer for an occasion such as this), wild rice (Drew's idea, again; much lighter than the roasted potatoes I had planned on) and roasted brussels sprouts with garlic aoli. I made the brussels sprouts and the chocolate-chip cake; he made the rest and it was FABULOUS, if I do say so myself. So glad I'm married to someone who not only really enjoys cooking, but is excellent -- a real natural -- at it.

Rachel was great throughout the day; she cleaned up her room, did her regular homework and her Hebrew-school homework, and stayed out of our way the rest of the time reading. Normally, I prefer that we spend Saturdays doing cultural or outdoor activities, but the house really needed cleaning and I wanted to make sure that we made a nice meal.

Will and Chloe know just how to talk to kids; Will asked Rachel the most interesting questions at dinner, one of which was, "Who do you learn the most from -- your friends, your teacher or your parents?" "My dad," she answered instantly, saying that Drew had taught her how to wink with both eyes and a couple of other things. "What about your MOM?" I asked, and she said, "Well, I don't see you because you work!" Which is true, I work at night, and I didn't really feel badly; as long as at least one of us is teaching her things, that's fine with me.

As for Rachel, almost as soon as we sat down she asked Will and Chloe brightly, "Any marriage plans?" "RACHEL!" I yelled. Will and Chloe reassured me that her question is perfectly okay, and that when they make a decision, "You'll be the first to know." Luckily she's at the age where she's still charming enough to ask those kinds of questions and get away with it. Rachel was very talkative at dinner about her friends and her teachers, and toward the end of it, Will looked at me and said, "So, how can we guarantee that amount of precociousness in our children?" Thus we launched into a long talk about parenting and screen time, with Drew and I saying that we don't know how to parent all kids, just our own, and that Rachel isn't a huge TV watcher because we aren't. (When Will asked Rachel why she doesn't watch much TV, she said, "We're a reading family.")

We gave them some chocolate-chip cake to take home, and they said they'd have us over to dinner next time, which we are really looking forward to. They're the rare young couple who really understand kids and know how to talk to them, so we can't wait to see them again!