The treats continue

March is a festive month in my family because we have two March birthdays, Hana's on the 23rd and mine on the 12th. This year, the kids must be entering their "treat the parents phase," or something like that. Tala's interest in cooking seems to be growing rapidly these days. I might have all started with her being my assistant in preparing the weekend shakshooka. But they also seem to have a growing interest in setting things up, planning and all.

The kids conspired with Nicole (nanny, double agent) to treat us with a surprise dinner. They specifically wanted it done on a date that falls half way between our birthdays. That date would have been last Thursday, but Tala had a girl scouts meeting that evening, so they settled on Wednesday.

When I came home from work, Moody noticed me, and he ran inside. Then he came back out and started trying to distract me with questions about what we were going to have for dinner, etc. Then he just asked me to stay outside until Mom got home. OK! By the time Hana arrived both Moody and Tala were outside, and they finally ushered us in.

The table was completely set with a four-course dinner. Salad, shrimp, porcupine meatballs (with rice in the mix), and chocolate cake. But that wasn't all! There were flowers, and Tala introduced it as a "candle lit dinner," lol lol lol. Of course they got a lot of help from Nicole, but she let them make choices and do as much as possible on their own.

Moody added a little bit of his own creation, a dish of honey-baked shrimp. Very simple recipe: shrimp, pour some honey, top with crushed crackers, then bake. It was all gone very quickly.

We were both surprised by their ability to keep a secret for at least two weeks. Even when they made us breakfast in bed, they said nothing about the planned dinner. The week before the dinner, Tala wouldn't stop asking us. "Do you like salad?" "What's your favorite flower color?"

Most of all, we were happy to see them go to such length for the good cause of bringing happiness to someone they love. Yeah, the work was theirs (and Nicole's), the pleasure was ours, but the sense of success was shared all around.