35:52 the table at mealtime

 project 52

the table at mealtime

I have worried and wondered this post nearly crazy.
I've dug through photos in a box in a trunk because I had an idea.
Then I skipped it and went with just one photo.
It's nearly Friday morning and here I am changing it again ...
because otherwise I will probably never share these with you.
And I want to share them.

This is the table where I grew up enjoying mealtime.

Mealtime was spent with everyone at one table and each of us had our assigned seats.

Quite obviously .... on this occasion we had visitors

which was a common occurrence in our home.

Take a wee walk through this photo with me ... just for fun.

Each person has a glass of tomato juice.

The dinner plates are china rimmed with silver trim.

The drinking glasses without the tomato juice ... Tupperware.

I was rather surprised to see milk in a 1/2 gallon container. 

That was not a typical site in our home for much of my childhood.

Dad is sitting at the wrong end of the table.

That wasn't his spot.

Then there are the guests.

I remember being teased by one in particular.

I remember being instructed on what length song to pick for church services by another.

My daughter is the godmother of another's great grand daughter.

If you can name the dinner guests  .... leave me a comment.

This still isn't a typical picture of our childhood dinner table, but a bit more so than the first photo.

My spot was the middle spot at the table on the left side of the photo.

Our dinner was served at the table.

"Please pass the ....", "please pass the ....", "please pass the ....."

I passed and I passed and I passed.

I'm still claustrophobic sitting in the middle of the bench.

Tupperware glasses. I think those things were indestructible!

No china on this day. At first I thought they were paper plates, but on further inspection ...

I think not.

Mom was a cake decorator and we all had very fun birthday cakes. 

I'm not sure whose birthday was being celebrated here, but quite obviously it was one of the boys.

Extra big bonus points if you can name all these little people!

Okay ... you don't need to name all of them.

How about 5 of them?

I'm not sure my kids know how to say "please pass the ...." because I moved to a different 

style of feeding as soon as I had a counter to do so.

Buffet style is how I feed my guests and my family.

Doesn't matter if it is a birthday party ....

or a holiday. There is one tradition though that I share with my mom.

I don't have Tupperware glasses, but I do have her china.

We don't wait for special occasions to use it but we do use it on special occasions.

Fast forward a few years to our table at mealtime.

Only a few blinks ago, these benches were filled with people ...

on a daily basis.

I was cutting meat, attaching bibs, pouring milk,

wiping up milk, pouring more milk, coaxing someone to eat

just one more spoonful.

There was a high chair being banged with a spoon.

A plate being thrown by a toddler who wanted no more.

Someone invariably trying to pull a 

"yuck, I don't like that!"

Then while I wasn't looking, 

the benches became filled with adult size bodies.

Chairs were placed at both ends of the table 

so that we could all fit at the table.

Now here we are today, where often there are two of us dining.

Jari in his spot and I in mine.

Or days like this where three of us enjoy some very lively conversation.

For some reason, this is not a day I ever imagined

would be a part of my reality.

Check out Marcy's table at mealtime!

I promise only one photo next week.