Schrödinger’s Dinner

(I’m thirteen and my sister is nine. Grandma has spent most of the day cooking. I arrive home with my sister, and we finish making meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, mac and cheese, and green beans. Mom arrives at 4:30 and Grandma has to head home.)

Mom: “Kids, put the food in the oven. I need to go change and relax a couple of minutes.”

Me & Sister: “Okay. We’ll watch TV until you come down.”

(At 5:00 pm I go check on mom.)

Mom: “I’ll be down in fifteen. Stop bugging me. Don’t eat before I come down. I want a nice family dinner.”

(I relay this message to my sister, who hasn’t eaten since noon. At 5:30, my sister checks on mom, and gets yelled at for bothering her, plus a repeat of not eating until she comes down. At 7:00 pm, my sister has food: crackers and a sandwich. At 7:00 am the next day, we get told off for not waking mom from her nap to eat dinner, then told off for not eating. For the rest of our lives, until we moved out, we ate dinner with Grandma.)