I came home from work the other night, tired and stressed out as usual. Found the kids lounging around with TVs on in 2 rooms of the house waiting for me to get home so they could ask, "What's for supper, Mom?"

Depending on the day I've had, my typical response runs from an unintelligible growl to "You'll know when I do."

On this particular occasion, I resisted the urge to yell, "Turn that TV off and get on your feet to give me a hand." Instead, I thought about Be There. I asked the kids , "If I play a game with you, would you turn off the TVs?" Before the question had left my lips, they both leaped up. One scrambled to turn off the idiot boxes and the other ran to his bedroom for a game. I said, "I'll have to play it from the kitchen while I'm fixing dinner, but if you set it up on the dining room table, I think we can manage." The boys were great about adapting the rules of the game so we could make it work.

We all shared some good laughs, dinner preparations went by effortlessly and after we played a couple of rounds, I asked the boys to clear the game and help me get the table set for dinner. Guess what? Instead of the usual grumpy answers I get when I ask for help (or no answer at all), my youngest son Parker said, "Sure, Mom. Which side of the plate gets the knife and which side gets the fork?" And Dennis offered to make a tossed salad to accompany the meal.