In my house, Thursday night is Pasta Night.  If the kids don't see pasta and meatballs on their plates for Thursday dinner, I hear about it.  I could offer them filet mignon or lobster on a Thursday, and they'd probably still complain that it wasn't meatballs.

One of the highlights of Pasta Night, to Mr. Third Grader, is the opportunity to go down to the pantry in the basement and choose a new box of pasta for that night's dinner.  For the past nineteen years I have regretted the day that I let my children know that pasta comes in more than one shape.  Because of this, they expect a Pasta Buffet, and there is no end to the arguing about what type of pasta we should eat on any given Thursday.

I'm a fan of linguine, myself--or what my kids call "line spaghetti."  Unfortunately, it's really hard for nine-year-olds to eat "line spaghetti" with anything resembling neatness, let alone decent table manners.  I have to keep reminding him that spaghetti is not a finger food.  If I can't have linguine (or can't stomach the idea of watching my younger son eat it) and no one else is home to lobby for their favorite variety of pasta, I'll serve medium shells.

My daughter prefers rotini (or is it rotelle?  I can't tell them apart), while her older brother lobbies for penne.   Mr. Third Grader, however, is the master at choosing the most inappropriate pasta for the meal at hand.  He always wants wagon wheels, tiny shells or mini farfalle.  He doesn't care that those are not necessarily the best pasta choice for tomato sauce with meatballs--those are his favorites and that is that.

The only one without a favorite pasta is my husband, who is not a fan of pasta in any form.  And that's probably why he's late for dinner almost every Thursday.  This way he misses the argument and the meal.

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