Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Happy Lobster Mashed Potato Day



Normally, I spend the day before Thanksgiving cooking up a storm.  Roasting pumpkins, making dough, cookies and pie; saying nice things to my turkey before I cook him and setting the table with cute place cards made by my children.  I learned early on to set the table the night before a festive occasion.  My mother taught me that.  Of course she usually set the table a few days before a festive occasion which made my sister and I walk very carefully through the house as not to disturb the perfectly positioned table scenery.  But I have cats so they tend to want to walk and sniff anything new I have in the house, so the night before is good enough for me.  

The “good” dishes and accouterments come out; the pretty bowls which are older than me, the china from my parents wedding (I wanted theirs instead of registering for my own because nothing is cooler than my parent’s wedding china.  Plus, it’s like fifty years old now so they are now considered antiques.  My parents are going to hate that I am pretty much calling them “antiques” but hey, antiques have more value than when you say something is just old.), the Nambe service pieces that I reserve for such occasions and my Nanna’s silver flatware which is to be hand-washed only, damit.  I love cooking for Thanksgiving.  I love feeding people I love and making them eat seconds and then take left-overs home.  I love Thanksgiving.  Seriously.

This year, however, my friend Julie talked me into NOT cooking and instead, taking our kids to a restaurant.  I am torn by this.  It will be nice to have a clean kitchen and not have to scrape stuffing off of the floor and it will be nice not to spend hours on my feet making sure that everything is perfect.  I guess.  The care-taker in me thinks this to be peculiar.  The single-mother/teacher who is exhausted is kinda psyched about the whole thing.  Plus, there is an interactive cookie decorating area for the kids tomorrow which, let’s face it, THEY are psyched about.  I’ve seen the menu too and there will be lobster mashed potatoes and truffle mac and cheese.  Although, just the thought of lobster mashed potatoes and truffle mac and cheese will keep me on the treadmill for an hour after I take my Zumba class on Saturday just to work it all off my ass.

So, here’s the thing: I actually get to relax on my mini-vaca and enjoy dining rather than enjoy cooking.  I get to have a facial tonight and then sleep in and then get all dressed up and not have to clean one single dish.  Hmm…nice but still weird. 

But I digress. 

My favorite part of Thanksgiving, besides explaining to my children that Columbus didn't actually “discover” anything because one cannot discover a place that already exists (that would be like me saying I “discovered” Loehmann's) is The Grateful List.  My friend Terri (favorite vet in the whole wide world) gave my sister, my mother and me these beautiful bracelets called “Blessings Bracelets”.  They have four little thingies on them and every time you look down at  the bracelet you are supposed to count four blessings in your life.  My children and I already had a dinnertime ritual of saying the things we were grateful for during the day (an idea from my friend Hersh) and now we pass around the Blessings Bracelet at dinner and that way we just do four and then of course, we get to play with the cool bracelet.  I love what my children are grateful for.  They always say me, and that makes my heart melt each time, but then they add in things like Ninjas, Pillow Pets, and Legos.  Things like their imagination and sometimes even school (teacher’s kids) and of course, hedgehogs.  Yes, they are actually grateful for hedgehogs.  My oldest son has two stuffed animal hedgehogs, one named Lloyd and one name Lloyd Junior.  Because, ya know, if you are a hedgehog, well, you need a strong name, like…Lloyd.  I suggested Bob, but nope.  I do have a stuffed cow named Bob.  I won him at Legoland.  Very proud of Bob.  My children try to steal him, but I won him, damit, so he’s mine.

But I digress.  Again.

One of my favorite things about being a teacher (besides the great pay and the total respect of my students) is that on the day before Thanksgiving I ask what they, my dear students, are grateful for.  They come up with the greatest grateful lists ever.  They don’t hesitate about what they are grateful for either.  They mention their families and friends; One Direction and Justin Bieber (there was also a shout out for Led Zeppelin this year); Hello Kitty and the new Twilight movie; not wearing uniforms on the weekends and of course their favorite English teacher.  Yah, that last one usually is from the kids who are sucking up for a good grade.  They mention things like “I’m grateful for living with my mom again” and “I’m grateful for my dad being home” and then I read between the lines and realize how grateful I am for hearing that from them.  Maybe because it puts my life into perspective or maybe because I am just grateful that they are safe and happy today. Either way, I love hearing their lists.

Personally, I am grateful for my new school.  I miss my kids from my last school and some of the teachers there, but in this one, my classroom is huge, I have laptops for all of my kids, the staff is wonderful, and the principal actually likes me.  I am grateful for my kids, but if you read my blogs, you know that should go without saying.  They are the best part of me.  I am grateful that they still want to snuggle because they are growing up way too fast and soon they will not only not want to snuggle but make me drop them off a block away from their friend’s house on a playdate, which will no longer be called a playdate and just be called “hanging out” or yikes, a…date.  Oh, seriously, yikes.

Grateful, yes.  Restaurant with Lobster mashed potatoes, truffle mac and cheese and an awesome seafood platter, yes.  Writing my blog after way too long, yes.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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