The dining table

I hope your dining table is as integral to your family is ours is to us.

This weekend, I made a new tablecloth for the dining table.  I'm way too cheap to buy really nice table cloths and they don't last forever, so I make them when I can.  I've made some really fun ones.  I machine embroidered one a couple years ago that we dropped gravy on the first time we used it.  So, that kind of explains why I won't spend a lot on them.  And, don't let me fool you, I'm the worst.  I dropped blackberry jelly on the edge of the last one...but fortunately, Rob got it out, so that one isn't a loss. 

It looks like a solid blue, but it's not.  There's a pattern of light and dark in it.  I bought a piece of extra wide quilt backing and it worked out perfect.  I plan to try that again.  I need a cloth that's 60" wide, so I bought 1 2/3 yard or 60" of backing, thinking I wouldn't care about the few inches I lost to a hem, but I didn't think about the fact the cutter at the fabric store couldn't possibly cut four layers of fabric in a perfectly straight line.  I had a hard enough time doing it with a rotary cutter and she was having to use scissors.  Next time, I'll buy 1 3/4 yards.  And, from one end, I got a nice piece of quilt fabric to add to the stash that's about 26x60".

Before Sydney came, Rob and I ate at TV trays in the living room.  It was our habit.  But, when we got Sydney, we started eating all our meals at the dining table.  We laughed and argued and taught and talked and discussed school and work.  In the mornings, Sydney and I would eat breakfast there.  At dinner it was the three of us.  Now, when Sydney is gone, Rob and I still eat there out of habit.  He sets the table, I bring the food.  I'm glad we picked up that tradition.  And, I hope we keep it. 

Sydney has been out of school all summer.  You can't convince her it's a mistake.  But, that means she doesn't have anything to do during the day.  So, on one day a week, when she isn't working, she has to cook dinner.  Now, you'd think that would be easy, right?  But, no.  It took a couple weeks to convince her it was really a thing and that she was actually expected to cook.  And, then, she cooked one week and thought she was done and didn't add anything to the grocery list, so she had to cook something I chose the next week.  She really didn't like that, but despite the argument, the food was good.  But, this week, she was back with a vengeance and made some grilled chicken breasts with a stick of rosemary, wrapped in bacon.  It was delicious!

This is a repeated behavior with Syd, bless her li'l pea pickin' heart.  She thinks if she doesn't participate in things that she doesn't want to do, they'll go away.  I don't know where she got that.  I mean, twice, we've dragged her weeping butt through an art museum because she thought refusing to participate would mean we would give up.  I just stood far enough away that people didn't know I was with that crying child.  And, that's not the only time we've shown her that she's not the only person that gets to control the situation. 

Of course, that has meant that when we've made a plan to do something she wanted, we've had to make dang sure it actually happened like it was supposed to.  Because there are two sides to teaching that lesson and I don't think we would have made much impact if we'd only taught her that she had to do what we wanted and not the other way around. 

Unfortunately, we all know someone that went too far the other way and now they have a kid that controls EVERYTHING! 

Anyway, now, like every time it's ever happened, once she finally buckles down and accepts that she's not in control, she finds her place in the interaction and has fun with it.  We sat the other night and talked about recipes that she's thinking of making and flavors and learning to cook more complex dishes, and practicing on her dads.  The other night, Rob asked why she was making something complex?  why couldn't it just be something simple?  And, I couldn't fault her for that.  I'd have wanted to spread my wings too, if I was in her position. 

In fact, I did, making unusual things out of unused cookbooks that my family had to eat.  And, now, I'm a really good cook. 

Life goes on around the dining table. 

Everybody have a great Thursday!  Lane