A Kinder, Gentler Artjournaler

It's after 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday night and I am done with the prep cooking. I've made the cranberry sauce, gingerbread and vanilla pudding for the pumpkin trifle, cupcakes, and two apple pies. I was ably assisted by The Princess, The Little One, and my niece, Laura. We were all having fun, taking turns at the cutting board, helping to clean up, and generally getting the jobs done.

Now this is how I remember Thanksgiving when I was a teen ager at home, with all 4 of us girls in the kitchen, helping my Mom, setting the table, polishing the silver.

Of course, my mother probably remembers more the fights over whose turn it was to do the dishes and my grandmother and my aunt scolding us for not helping.

Yeah, we were a horrid lot at times. Five girls=a lot of hormones, tempers, and hurt feelings. We would rather fight for hours, cry, hide in our rooms, and scream at each other than take a turn at the sink when it was out of rotation. Each fork, knife, and spoon was counted  in terms of how much we were each washing, drying, and putting away during marathon holiday wash ups. We never had a dishwasher because my father said he had five daughters, thus five dishwashers. What can I say, it was a different generation.

But at our house tonight, all the girls were pitching in. The Princess may even have to give up her moniker because she could not have been more helpful. The Little One made a cornucopia out of crescent rolls, and Mystery Man made a last minute run to the grocery store.

As my sister, Marietta, says, we all seem to bond over vanilla extract. Or was that in a movie?

Have a great day, whether you are cooking or eating out, crowded with friends and family, or eating alone and writing your novel. May your day be scented with sage and filled with carbohydrates and sugar, and of course, love.