A balance returns to home...

Lydia has been away at kids camp this week. I knew when she left things would be different, but I didn't know how different they really would be. The ratio in our house has always been in favor of the men, 3 of us and 2 of the ladies. This may seem uneven, but you'd have to know Lydia to understand that even at 10 years old, she equals about 1.5 female. This is mostly prevelant around the dinner table. We usually eat dinner at the table at least 5 nights a week. I love that time with my family. So it's during dinner time that Lydia amazes me at being able to hold her own with my two boys. She can talk, joke and eat just as effectively as they do (although she does eat WAY less than the two horses on the left side of the table). But of course she is a girl and so she does all these dinner time activities in her own unique non-male way. So it's no wonder that this week around the dinner table, things were different. More eating, not much talking and an uneven ratio of burps to giggles. Helen, my lovely wife, misses her girl. Who can blame her? She's out numbered. So with the return of Lydia, the balance returns as well.