Ordinary Time

As we continue with our plan of children each cooking dinner one night a week, I realize there is an important idea that I need to share if anyone is thinking about doing something similar. And that idea is being flexible. We all know that sometimes things don't go together as quickly or as smoothly as one would like. I've lost count of the number of times we are later than usual because everything just took longer. Younger me used to hate this and feel as though I had failed somehow. Older me? Well, I can't bother to work up anything other than to say, "It happens, we all ate."  If this is true for experienced cooks, then it is doubly true for those still honing their skills. And then if you add in a new skill to learn... Well, sometimes you just eat a bit later than usual. Not getting upset by this or making your child feel badly or anxious is really important if you want your child to enjoy the process. Tonight's menu was turkey pot pie to use up the Thanks...

I have nothing to show you, so instead I wanted to talk about something else craft-related. There are a lot of memes and such going around that essentially say that having 5-10 different craft projects in progress at one time is actually healthy. This way you always have something to work on that fits your current mood and energy level.  I'm not disputing this at all, but my first reaction is just 5-10? Amateurs! I actually did a quick count of the projects I have started and are hanging around the studio in various states and I think I reached 18 without having to work too hard. There's probably more if I went and rummaged. This number also doesn't include the not-yet-begun projects that float around in my head waiting to see the light of day.  A few of those projects are Christmas related. The trouble I have with Christmas projects is that I only want to work on Christmas projects during the Christmas season. I have very little interest in any of them the rest of the year...

Since today was the first Sunday of Advent, we lit our Advent candle and after dinner had our traditional carol sing around the piano. I have always loved this family tradition. What I possibly love even more is that my children love it and we're looking forward to it. They have even lobbied to do some carol singing at our tree trimming party on Saturday because they think it's even more fun with their older brothers and sisters joining in.  And I have to add, that after years of carol singing, often doing all the verses, I am pretty impressed with how many they know from memory. I actually had no idea they all knew all five verses of Good King Wenceslas.