Our Mommyhood

By Natalie, Contributor, Mommy of a Monster and Infant Twins (@mommyofamonster)

Fall is finally here! As I get older, I love the fall more and more every year. I love to see the oranges, yellows, browns, and fiery reds of the leaves as they prepare to leave the trees they clung on to throughout the summer. I love the smells of fires burning in fireplaces, of a dreary and cold afternoon, of pumpkin scented candles. I love snuggling up in socks and sweaters and blankets. And I love Thanksgiving; it is by far my favorite holiday of the year.

Most families have Thanksgiving Day traditions; they range from small, barely thought about things like who carves the turkey or that dinner is always at Grandma’s house to big ones that are passed down from generation to generation. Maybe those big ones consist of secret family recipes or a special prayer. Big or small, they are all important. Many of us look forward to Thanksgiving so that we can honor those once-a-year traditions.

One of our longest running family traditions is the kid table. Because our extended family is so big, it’s impossible to get us all around one table. It’s actually impossible to get us all around even two tables. So to try to make the meal somewhat enjoyable for the adults, we throw all the kids that are old enough to eat by themselves (or with the help of an older brother or sister or cousin) at the kid table.

Did your family have a kid table? Do you remember the kid table? In case you don’t know how the kid table worked, here’s the run down: All the moms would get in the food line first in order to prepare all of the kids’ plates. They’d cut up the turkey into bite size pieces and butter the bread. They skipped the stuff that we hated like green bean casserole, then they’d get us all sat down at a table with plastic silverware and no cups so that we wouldn’t/couldn’t stab or cut each other or spill anything.

Anyway, it’s no secret that all kids hate the kid table. Especially the older ones. They want to sit at the adult table. They feel like they are missing out on something if they aren’t at that table, and it’s true; they usually are. The “adults only” gossip and stories unsuitable for kids’ ears are usually exchanged during the meal at the adult table when wine is being generously poured and the kids are busy stabbing each other eating at the kid table. But this year will be a sad year at the adult table.

Since July 2009, both my sisters and one of my brothers had a baby (well he didn’t, his girlfriend did) and I had two babies. So at the adult table this year? 5 babies. All at the age where they still like to throw food around, smear it in their eyes, ears, nose and hair, and are so demanding that eating a plate of your own food is nearly impossible! To top it off, I’ll have one of the little food throwers on either side of me.

Feeding the twins is similar to feeding wild animals that haven’t eaten in weeks. I’m thinking that this year I’m either going to A) feed the twins first and pay one of my nieces to watch them so I can eat and drink wine and enjoy the gossip B) sit at the kid table and try not to get stabbed or C) pretend that I drank too much wine so that my husband has to deal with them and I can eat in peace.

Hmmmm…which one should I choose?

Do you the kids in your family have a kids’ table? Do you have other Thanksgiving traditions that you uphold each year? Stop by the Our Mommyhood forum to tell us about them!

Natalie is a SAHM to three children three and under; a 3 year old son and 1 year old twin girls. She spends her day chasing the three of them in three different directions, usually all at the same time. She blogs about her day-to-day life and the chaos that comes with raising children. She occasionally blogs about her struggles with infertility as well as her battle with depression. In her free time, which she rarely has anymore, she enjoys writing, reading, gardening, cooking, and wine.

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