There’s something about lockdown that makes you desperate to treat yourself. It must be the endless withholding of normalcy that makes one inclined to declare, “Strap on your masks, we’re headed down to the Woodstone Market for mint chip It’s-Its, stat. Let’s do this.”
Meanwhile, we’ve just finished two riveting seasons of Cobra Kai and are making our way through an encore of the Karate Kid trilogy. Coincidentally, the boys have developed an insatiable craving for sushi. Otherwise known as the double-edged samurai sword of takeout. On one side, our lives are infinitely better since the world of international cuisines opened back up to us. No, Panda Express does not count. On the flip side, these two little people can throw back at least a hundred bucks worth of fancy rolls in as many seconds. We’re beginning to fly right past that special dinner-out anchor point of one Benjamin.
I remember back in the day when we’d take the boys to Willow Glen and Nate was still in a high chair. It’s only been about a year since Nate stopped calling it shushi. Back then, he would just eat odds and ends and James and I had all the rolls and nigiri to ourselves. Jacob was partial to potstickers, which were quite affordable if we hit the Willow Glen post-nap app happy hour. At some point we had to ratchet up the order given Jake could knock back twelve dumplings, which left very few for our other blond meatball. I’ll never forget one early dinner when the waitress literally exclaimed in recognition, “You’re the three-potsticker family!”
This is our legacy.
As the boys have grown, so have their appetites. We’ve found the Cheers dinner at our local Kanpai has served us well over the past three years, but now we’re beginning to supplement. I recently made the mistake of trying a new sushi takeout place. As soon as I begin unpacking the various rolls and spreading them across the dinner table, the boys ask animatedly, “Where’s the Party Girl? Which one’s the Party Girl?” Note: they still have zero interest in any girl except this one.
We’re well on our way to our next sushi server exclaiming, “You’re the three-Party-Girl family!”