Our Twitchit Family

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Our tall grandsons struggle to keep their legs and feet out of each other’s way at the dining table. It’s even worse on the porch where the table is narrow. They manage well while sitting straight to eat, but when we relax and chat, the fun begins. I noticed a year or so ago that the boys and John would begin to twitch a bit. Their poker faces projected the message that nothing was going on. Under the straight faces, shoulders might move slightly or muscles would contract a bit. I’ve learned to spot this subtle activity before anyone asks, “And where do you think your feet are going?”

They have perfected the art of non-verbal teasing. Most of the time they keep the conversation going, despite the foot-sparring. We were in a restaurant where we five squeezed around a table that would have been tight for four. I stood up to get a photo of the others to remind myself what a good time we’d had there. You can see how we were seated.

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The twitching began as they waited for me to finish eating. Kate was giggling, but I didn’t realize what she was doing. She slipped out her phone and took a picture of the feet under the table. Her legs were clad in blue, and her feet were together. David’s black slacks seem to be hugging her feet. And the black shoes pushing against the wall? Nathaniel’s!

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I hope I’m there to see it if they ever tie themselves in knots and can’t stand up.

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

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31 thoughts on “Our Twitchit Family”

    1. The boys can and do talk. They didn’t go through any of the sulky stages of teen-hood. David is likely to talk about trains with John, and Nathaniel talks food with me. They both keep up with current events and go to church regularly. We are so very blessed to have them.

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      1. Not I. I’m the shorty I’m afraid. My grandson’s are over 6′ (son in laws around 6’4 or better) and my grand daughters are over 5’8″ or thereabouts. And they are the short ones. When my daughter married, we all looked like dwarfs around her husbands Nebraska family and friends. Even the women came in tall sizes. I overheard one of them refer to one of our friends as the family of “little people” (my size) which did not endear me to them. They were all lawyers too, so they had two strikes against them right off the bat. lol

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      1. Oh, the many times the boys could barely contain their anticipation through dinner and even dessert, because I’d bribe them with quarters for the arcade AFTER dinner as long as they waited until I excused them from the table. Then they’d trip over themselves getting up from the table.

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    1. We are enjoying our grandsons. Until we moved away, we saw them on a regular basis. Now we have them for the whole summer. I can see that you would understand the space problem. It’s amazing how you tall people have to fold yourselves in spaces more suited to the rest of us.

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      1. Yes, and I am not even as tall as they are … just 5′ 9″ tall, but most of it is legs. My knees get sore from sitting long periods of time and I have to get up and stretch my legs.

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