Same But Different by Holly Robinson Peete

Author:Holly Robinson Peete [Robinson Peete, Holly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2016-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

DINNERTIME CAN GO ONE OF TWO WAYS—OKAY OR HORRIBLE.

When Charlie and I get home from school, he seems good—happy, and not totally exhausted or frustrated by his day.

Step One to an Okay Dinner.

We finish our homework without a lot of drama, even though Dad and Charlie have their nightly tug-of-war about him doing his homework with music on. This evening, there’s an added argument about Charlie’s English paper when Dad tells Charlie to “think about what you’re saying” in his essay.

Charlie shoots back, “No, no, no!”

And we’ve now dropped to Step Negative One to an Okay Dinner. If Dad pushes too much, Charlie will melt down into a tantrum. He’ll bring his melted-down self to the dinner table, and I can forget about enjoying my food since we’ll all be trying to calm you-know-who.

Will Dad ever learn that English is torture for Charlie, and that if it was as simple as “think about what you’re saying,” Charlie wouldn’t be the kid he is?

But okay, the argument doesn’t escalate, and we’re good for the moment.

Back on Step One to an Okay Dinner. Charlie’s calm. I’m calm. Please, God, make it last.

Mom calls us to eat. When we get downstairs, no one looks up from what they’re doing. Cole and Chris are huddled over their textbooks. My parents are in the kitchen, pulling together the dinner fixings before we all sit down.

As soon as I see that we’re having homemade pizza, and that each of us will get to pick our toppings, we’re onto Step Two to an Okay Dinner: Serve something Charlie loves.

Since we’re now gluten free (GF, as we call it), Mom has set out the GF pizza dough, which I can tolerate when it’s covered with our favorite toppings. We have an assembly line of goodies to put on our pizzas, which takes us up to Step Two and a Half to an Okay Dinner.

No complaints from anyone, because we can all pick what we want. Pizza dinner night is also fun because we make it into a game to see who can remember which toppings everyone’s chosen. Charlie and I always make the exact same concoction—pepperoni, banana pepper, and bell pepper special, with tons of cheese. Mom, Dad, and our brothers always choose something different, so part of the game involves having a good memory.

As soon as our crusts are piled high with what we love, Charlie is happy and smiling, and kidding around with me, Chris, and Cole. That takes us up all the way to Step Four to an Okay Dinner.

Soon it’s time for the game. Who can remember all the toppings for each person? The winner gets the first serving of dessert. We don’t even bother getting a pen and paper—Charlie can always remember all of the toppings! He’s like a pizza encyclopedia.

But tonight, Dad and Charlie are neck and neck with their pizza-toppings memory. I can see Charlie getting agitated. He hates to lose this game. Oh no, here it comes, I think. Meltdown central.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.