I never did update you - well that day it poured cats & dogs & we ended up having pizza at home before we left. We decided not to spend the day walking around the city so we just rushed through in the rain making all the pit stops before & after the show - the American Girl store, Build a Bear, Saks window, the Rockefeller tree, etc. all in record time & then on the way home we picked up dirty water dogs, pretzels & chestnuts on the ride home. Not as we planned but it was kinda cool anyway & very NY!!!! Michie

Fun, did you have more than one living space growing up? We had a formal living room and a family room so the family room is where our toys were kept. However, we didn't have nearly the same amount of toys as kids do nowadays! The way our family room was laid out, there was a corner where all the toys were kept. I shared an average size room with my sister, so we didn't have much room for playing in there. I'm sure we did a bit but for the most part, we were in the family room when we were young or outside. I also can't imagine having kids' toys in every room. That would drive me nuts! Most of the houses around here have basements or more than one living area so the basements store the bulk of the toys and then the family room, which is typically open to or next to the kitchen is where the main floor toys are stashed. Having four kids has relaxed my anal tendencies but I still go a little nuts with crap laying around. The peninsula in my kitchen becomes the drop zone but I can't stand having that clutter. And dh is the worst b/c he will leave his stuff there and never come back for it but then get annoyed if I move it or ask him to. He's used to clutter from his childhood. I used to have complete order in the house b/f I went to bed, but now I'm so exhausted by then that I have slacked off a bit and then get all stressed when I come downstairs the next morning to clutter and have to clean up b/f I can function. I'm like that with cooking too - I can't start cooking unless the counters are clear, no dirty dishes out, etc. DH looks at me like I have two heads. Am I the only weird one like that? Oops, sorry, I have a habit off going off on a tangent!

We also eat in our family room chairs, but I guess that is not so good a thing to teach the kiddos, huh? There are probably the lift-up coffee tables available at times at thrift or second-hand stores. I almost got one a few years back. Here is a source for the mechanism if you want to make one yourself. It would give two people sitting on your couch an eating surface, which would be good in your sized home for the odd get-together if not for every day. http://woodworker.com/coffee-table-top-lift-mechanism-l-r-mssu-164-228.asp?gclid=CjwKEAjw6_q5BRCOp-Hj-IfHwncSJABMtDaiwuFq_E-O8Tt2tvGtgIm0ue8hjOppr8QYC2w6gA73wBoCptPw_wcB Or here are a bunch on eBay. The other thing to keep in mind is that this item would also give the kids a place to do homework or anybody a place to pay bills, right in the center of action, not tucked away in a corner of a bedroom or basement. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/281621336698?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true Another thing you could be on the watch for is the console dining set. I saw one from the 1930s that had beautiful wood work. Many look like hall tables or buffets, but the insides are hiding the dining table leafs. Sometimes folding chairs fit into the space that looks like it is a buffet storage area. Sometimes that area is full of 6 or 8 feet of real wood dining table. In that case, you end up scattering dining chairs around the house. One in each bedroom, one next to the front door, one in the kitchen.... wherever you can fit one! No, it is not convenient for daily dining. "Okay kids, go wash your hands for dinner and get your chairs!" Another option is to make your couch area in the living room into very comfortable buffet seating, so that it does double duty as couch and dining room seating. Where is the table? I don't know the layout, so I can't tell you where to hide it! One option is a ottoman that "grows" to table height and then the top turns over and is a hard laminated surface instead of a plush top. It is a bit tricky, as you have to have the ottoman make room for feet and legs, but I bet there is one out there or that one could be designed. The table top almost has to be 12 inches bigger than the ottoman top on at least two sides to make that extra leg room, though. I guess you hide the chairs for the other side of the table in the bedrooms in this case, too. I have tried using a portable island for dining, and if there is not adequate leg room, it is no good. I believe 12 inches is minimum and 15 comfortable. We have 14" overhang for our island seating in the kitchen and our knees do not bang on the back at all. I have used a tea cart pulled up to my family room chair and it is okay for two, inadequate for three, and I cannot see it for four. Only two people will have the fold-up top part to sit at, the others will have no place to put their legs. I have also used a fold-up table that I got from the drugstore. It is about 48" x 18" and it seats 3 for dinner if you fill your plates in the kitchen and carry them to the table.

I've got 4 kids, the oldest is 10. The only times they have eaten in a store while I was shopping has been in the last few years when my local grocery store started offering a free snack size piece of fruit (apple, banana or orange) to kids. Prior to that; as babies in carriers to toddlers sitting in the basket to preschoolers walking along side; I never brought food for them and I didn't give them anything in the store either. If I knew I was going to be shopping and they would be hungry, I would feed them before hand or give them a snack in the car afterwards but not in a store. None of my kids have any medical conditions that necessitate an immediate dietary requirement that can't wait until we leave the store. Maybe I would feel differently if one if them did.