Chewing

A number of things have happened recently: Amos left for preseason, we had to find a new nanny who we realized was allergic to cats but then figured out zyrtec helped and is now an important part of our family in two short weeks, my mom was here and just left which means I am very weepy and can't face anyone I feel any sort of emotional connection to because I'll start to cry, we had a huge snowstorm and, five days later, it was 60 degrees, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's which I knew would happen someday, I still have cankles.


But this was the most important occurrence. LJ, EC and I went to my friend's house for dinner. She had a baby 5 weeks ago and both our husbands were out of town, so the girls and I picked up dinner from a local favorite. This friend, Lori, is a DC friend from Chicago who I met when I was newly pregnant. Within a couple months of knowing each other I knew she was a kindred spirit. She is one of those aforementioned friends who I can't talk to without crying if I'm feeling emotional. She's also a good democrat, a Midwesterner, and a woman's woman. I love her dearly and her wonderful daughter.


We were eating a frantic dinner, LJ the source of the frenetic energy. But as LJ and Isabella were eating their quesadillas, Louisa turned to Is and said gently, "can you do this?" and she chewed very deliberately with her mouth closed. I was slightly stunned. The Tuttles are known to loathe open-mouth chewing and loud drinking, I find it absolutely unacceptable and wonder where parents were when these people were learning to chew, BUT, I tolerate it from children, particularly tiny children. Plus, Is wasn't chewing or drinking obnoxiously, she was chewing quietly but with her mouth open (I only realized after LJ pointed it out). So Is ignored LJ, probably not understanding what she was requesting, and LJ repeated, "can you please chew with your mouth closed?" I explained to Louisa that people chew differently and Is is a little girl so we have to cut her some slack. But then Louisa grew frustrated and demanded that chewing loudly or with your mouth open is bad manners and Is must stop!


Of course, being a demanding guest is uncool but, on a Tuttle level, I appreciated LJ's frustration (although I wished she had confided this frustration to me later instead of telling Is directly to do something every child at the age of 2.5 does). Omi would be so proud that her offspring doesn't stand for bad table manners. So if you chew loudly or slurp your drink, be prepared, Louisa will scold you.