I have always felt that Easter is a very dignified holiday. Christmas has become so commercial and so hectic that my goal is just to get through it with no major disasters. Thanksgiving has become more about the shopping than being thankful. Unless, of course, you are being thankful for finding a parking place or the perfect bargain. Halloween has always been crazy. Easter, on the other hand, has a more decorous and thoughtful time about it. It has always been a special time for us with church services, family and friends.
It was a tradition that we have a big Easter dinner after church with all the aunts, uncles and cousins. Sometimes it meant that I had to get up at the crack of dawn to get dinner started before leaving for Sunday School and church. Then after church it was hectic trying to finish up everything and get it on the table before the kids started chewing on the table legs. After dinner we would have an Easter egg hunt in the yard for the kids (while the dads slept dinner off scattered around the house on various beds, couches and chairs.)
Time passed. The kids grew up and married and moved away or started their own traditions with new families. The grandparents are no longer with us and the aunts and uncles are now grandparents attending Easter dinner with their kids. Some years we tried just having a cook-out, but somehow it wasn't the same. Our grandkids were mostly small and we just didn't do as much and the tradition faded away.
Then my son came to me this year with a request. He wanted to have our old traditional Easter dinner. So for the past few days I have been digging out the linens and napkins. Polishing the silver and getting out all the china and serving pieces. I firmly believe that children need to be taught to appreciate and understand dressing up and using your best manners. So our Easter dinners have always meant getting out the best and setting the table in the dining room. Yes, we have had a few disasters. There was the year my nephew tried to blow out the candles with a mouth full of mashed potatoes. There have been spills and stains but all in all it has been worth it.
I wondered sometimes if it was worth all the trouble. The cooking, cleaning, decorating and especially digging everything out and putting it up. However, when I see the table set with mother's sterling flatware, my good china, grandmother's candlesticks, and the table centerpiece with the carefully decorated blown eggshells that the kids made all those years ago, I know it is worth the work. But it's when your children tell you that it is one of their favorite memories, that you know it is definitely worth it.
So I'll get back to work making sure everything is perfect for tomorrow. I just hope no one starts a food fight.
Showing posts with label family values. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family values. Show all posts
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Friday, October 1, 2010
Coming Home
My daughter and her two daughters, who are 2 1/2 and 5, are in visiting for 10 days. We have looked forward to this visit for quiet a while. It isn't often that she can come for an extended visit with the girls. Her husband is a farmer in Iowa and couldn't be with her this trip since they are trying to harvest their corn. While we miss having him here we are enjoying a rare visit when we can just enjoy having her home to ourselves.
As usually happens when you anticipate something so strongly, it isn't working out quite like we expected. My son, who lives in our community has been here most nights after work to visit with his 2, 4 and 12 year old boys. It's wonderful to see the little ones enjoy running and playing on the farm. However, I forgot how wild it is trying to cook for 5-10 people while dodging two 2 year olds, a 4 year old and a 5 year old. The kitchen, which seemed spacious becomes an obstacle course of toys, kids, and dog. Grandma finds herself hurdling from counter to counter, while calculating portions and amounts frantically in her head. See, the other thing I've forgotten is how much food it takes for a crowd. Especially a crowd that seems to fluctuate continually. As friends of the kids hear about our daughters visit, they all want to come by and see her. Of course, they do usually come at dinner time. About the time I get the hang of this again, she'll go back home!
In my mind I visualized laughing visits in a clean house with happy children playing peacefully. In reality, the house is a wreck, the dishwasher hasn't stopped running and there is always at least one child either out of sorts or with an "owwie". What we did get right was the part about laughing visits. We have laughed, giggled, snorted, and chuckled. The stories have just flowed out and everyone is talking over everyone else. It's wonderful! The kids have been bandaged, hugged, rocked, kissed, or corrected by whichever adult was handy. The house has never looked more perfect with people, clutter, clothes and shoes everywhere.
It's not perfect, but it is perfectly wonderful.
As usually happens when you anticipate something so strongly, it isn't working out quite like we expected. My son, who lives in our community has been here most nights after work to visit with his 2, 4 and 12 year old boys. It's wonderful to see the little ones enjoy running and playing on the farm. However, I forgot how wild it is trying to cook for 5-10 people while dodging two 2 year olds, a 4 year old and a 5 year old. The kitchen, which seemed spacious becomes an obstacle course of toys, kids, and dog. Grandma finds herself hurdling from counter to counter, while calculating portions and amounts frantically in her head. See, the other thing I've forgotten is how much food it takes for a crowd. Especially a crowd that seems to fluctuate continually. As friends of the kids hear about our daughters visit, they all want to come by and see her. Of course, they do usually come at dinner time. About the time I get the hang of this again, she'll go back home!
In my mind I visualized laughing visits in a clean house with happy children playing peacefully. In reality, the house is a wreck, the dishwasher hasn't stopped running and there is always at least one child either out of sorts or with an "owwie". What we did get right was the part about laughing visits. We have laughed, giggled, snorted, and chuckled. The stories have just flowed out and everyone is talking over everyone else. It's wonderful! The kids have been bandaged, hugged, rocked, kissed, or corrected by whichever adult was handy. The house has never looked more perfect with people, clutter, clothes and shoes everywhere.
It's not perfect, but it is perfectly wonderful.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Grandma's Silver
Times were hard when Grandma and Grandpa married. They set up housekeeping on the farm and she went to work teaching music in the local school. They worked hard and made ends meet, but there wasn't much left over for extras.
Their main entertainment was visiting in other couples homes. They would gather and enjoy refreshments prepared by the hostess. Then Grandma would play the piano while everyone would dance or sing. From hearing her talk about those times, I know she enjoyed every minute of it. She used to laugh and say she would always be invited to every party because she was the piano player!
She was a wonderful cook and when it was her turn to be hostess it was her time to shine. I can visualize the spread would include country ham they had cured, homemade bread, salads, vegetables and her wonderful desserts. However, she always had one regret. She had lovely linens, handmade by her mother, and her mother's blue china, but she didn't have any silver. This was a time when every young bride collected her silver flatware as wedding gifts. They had eloped and settled quietly into marriage with lovely, useful gifts from family and friends. Still, she wanted that silverware to go with her dishes when it was her turn to be hostess.
When she would go to town she would dream up an excuse to pass the window of the jewelry store to gaze at the patterns of silver displayed there. She would linger longingly over them when she took her watch in for repairs. Finally, the owner caught on that she really wanted that silver. Now, he had a daughter whom he wanted to have piano lessons and the deal was struck. Grandma would give lessons and he would pay in pieces of silver.
Grandma would teach all day and then go to the jeweler's house to give lessons to the daughter. It soon became evident that a career in music wasn't in the child's future. However, they both struggled on. Grandma would scour her books for songs that might tempt the young lady, then rewrite them in a simple score that she could play. She went to music stores and found current hits and rewrote them for her student. She even made up songs, but nothing seemed to work. Grandma struggled on some more. She kept at it until both were dreading the lessons. They endured until Grandma had that last piece of silver, then the lessons were over! She said later that she didn't know who was happier that day, her or the daughter!
That silver became a prized possession. It was brought out only for special occasions, Christmas, Thanksgiving, visiting preachers, and when she was hostess for their friends. She treasured that silver and never forgot the hard work and patience that was required to obtain it. She also never forgot the little girl who received diligent piano lessons whether she wanted them or not!
Their main entertainment was visiting in other couples homes. They would gather and enjoy refreshments prepared by the hostess. Then Grandma would play the piano while everyone would dance or sing. From hearing her talk about those times, I know she enjoyed every minute of it. She used to laugh and say she would always be invited to every party because she was the piano player!
She was a wonderful cook and when it was her turn to be hostess it was her time to shine. I can visualize the spread would include country ham they had cured, homemade bread, salads, vegetables and her wonderful desserts. However, she always had one regret. She had lovely linens, handmade by her mother, and her mother's blue china, but she didn't have any silver. This was a time when every young bride collected her silver flatware as wedding gifts. They had eloped and settled quietly into marriage with lovely, useful gifts from family and friends. Still, she wanted that silverware to go with her dishes when it was her turn to be hostess.
When she would go to town she would dream up an excuse to pass the window of the jewelry store to gaze at the patterns of silver displayed there. She would linger longingly over them when she took her watch in for repairs. Finally, the owner caught on that she really wanted that silver. Now, he had a daughter whom he wanted to have piano lessons and the deal was struck. Grandma would give lessons and he would pay in pieces of silver.
Grandma would teach all day and then go to the jeweler's house to give lessons to the daughter. It soon became evident that a career in music wasn't in the child's future. However, they both struggled on. Grandma would scour her books for songs that might tempt the young lady, then rewrite them in a simple score that she could play. She went to music stores and found current hits and rewrote them for her student. She even made up songs, but nothing seemed to work. Grandma struggled on some more. She kept at it until both were dreading the lessons. They endured until Grandma had that last piece of silver, then the lessons were over! She said later that she didn't know who was happier that day, her or the daughter!
That silver became a prized possession. It was brought out only for special occasions, Christmas, Thanksgiving, visiting preachers, and when she was hostess for their friends. She treasured that silver and never forgot the hard work and patience that was required to obtain it. She also never forgot the little girl who received diligent piano lessons whether she wanted them or not!
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