Please, Dad, may I be excused? Why? To finish my homework.
No, you can’t put your little brother in the oven! You can’t shovel the sidewalk as it’s July and there’s no snow. Excuses went on and on and got sillier and when I started laughing, I’d be allowed to leave the table and finish my homework.
Family time. Too many families don’t have it anymore. They don’t sit down together for a home-cooked meal. We talked politics, work, school, arts, whatever and it was always the focal point of my day. I made it a point to come home with a story from school because we went around the table and as the eldest child, I was expected to come up with something that would teach the younger ones to do so as well.
I also learned which fork to use, and to ask permission to leave the table and when granted I would say farewell to any guests. Also to fold my napkin nicely and place fork and knife in the correct way to assure I was done with dinner. Then I’d take my dish and silverware to the sink and rinse it.
Drying dishes was always a part, until we got a dishwasher. Etiquette was utmost in our Teutonic family, but family time came first. I wore Mary Janes and lace anklets and a skirt and blouse to my first country birthday party where we made hay forts and stepped in cow patties. I think we went shopping for pants shortly afterward but we still had to wear skirts to school. With half-slips. I haven’t seen one of those in a few decades!
Yes, I do remember Walter Cronkite giving the body count in Vietnam every night on our first color TV, courtesy of Papa who spent the summer with us every year. Our first week he bought 150′ of heavy rope and tied it every foot. got out of his wheelchair (he had one leg) and scrabbled 15 feet down the hill and tied it to a tree. At 100′ after tying we had a safe way down to the creek 150′ down. And a quick route up after Mom blew the car horn three times. That meant get up here, wash up because Dad’s on his way for dinner. You have fifteen minutes, girls!
Ah, the good old days. Today I framed a couple of photos of her family, which will be ready in about a week. Forget about a home-cooked meal, which I do nearly every day, just sit down and talk over take-out pizza. Joke around and find out if kids/parents are OK.
May I please be excused? No? There’s a flood in the basement that needs me right now. I need to get the hurricane kit so we have food and water for the next few days. You keep eating that meat loaf, I’ve gotta go. Dee
Cooking with Dee 