Friday, November 23, 2007

Thankfulness - Part 3

This turkey hand is courtesy of Stephanie. The sentiments from the turkey are in no way meant to represent her real feelings about eating turkey. She loves turkey!

This Thanksgiving we decided to get the kids more involved in the preparations. Last weekend when we shopped for the feast, Stephanie was in charge of the list, Greg pushed the cart, and Heather deposited items in the cart (after an organizing lesson from me). Folks, don't try this at home if you are in a hurry. Letting a five year old put items in the cart (plus remembering to hand them to her instead of quickly putting them in the cart yourself) is no quick task. Stephanie has been in charge of the list on previous trips, but this trip was a full participation event!

The kids also helped some with the meal preparation. In chorus they declared how disgusting it was when I rinsed our fine feathered friend and stuffed her body cavity with apples and oranges. When I pulled the skin back to insert the sage they were sent over the edge of grossness. Later in the day, they donned their kid-size aprons and set about their cooking tasks.



Stephanie was in charge of making green bean casserole (with Daddy's supervision). She was very proud of her culinary skills!




After the casserole she was in charge of peeling potatoes. She was kinda slow at this task and enlisted the help of Aunt Wendy and Uncle Tony. They huddled over the trash can (yes, Danny, the trash can) and got to work. Wendy and Tony said they'd had so much practice peeling potatoes as a kid that this was an easy chore. Maybe that's why kids end up peeling so many potatoes in life. It's one of the first jobs a mom feels like they can handle in the kitchen.


Heather was on celery dicing duty. She complained when I handed her the butter knife about not being able to use a real knife. Then the knife slipped out of her hand and landed on the floor. Greg declared that's why she was using a butter knife. Looks like I need to show her the proper finger curling technique for her non-chopping hand!

The kids were thrilled to be part of the process. They really felt a sense of pride and ownership when we sat down to eat. 


Just look at this beautiful bird!  It was just as delicious as it was good looking.

So today, I am thankful for helpers in the kitchen -- both big and small. I usually feel the need to be in control of everything. But today it was nice to let go, to let my children understand they are important.

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