Dinner-A High-Stakes Hostage Negotiation

Dinner-A High-Stakes Hostage Negotiation

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

Dinner at our house has started to feel less like a family meal and more like a high-stakes hostage negotiation.

The other night, I made one of Timmy’s favorite meals: macaroni and cheese. You’d think I had just placed a pile of rocks in front of him.

He poked at it with his fork like it might suddenly jump off the plate and attack him. I re…