What I miss
I miss it when family or friends came to visit and we didn't sit in the living room but we sat around the large table, usually placed in a large kitchen or in a space we now call a dining room. Only there was not a door between the kitchen and dining area. Think like an old farmhouse kitchen. That table was in use from the time someone woke up, until the last person went to bed.
We didn't grab a piece of fruit or a grain bar as we dashed out the door. We sat down, even if all we were eating was a piece of toast with a glass of milk. We took a few minutes, and planned out what our day was going to include. As kids, we let Mom know if we were going to a friend's house after school od ifvthere was a reason to stay after school. Maybe to work on a project, or ask a teacher a question or help to straighten the classroom by cleaning the chalkboards banging the erasers together to knock the chalk dust out of them. Or take out the yrash. Mostly the ones who lived close enough to walk home did these little chores and for most it was not a punishment but a privilege. You may have even earned a piece of candy. But you did tell a parentn if you were going to stay after.
Most of my weekday breakfasts were Oatmeal, made with raisins in it sweetened with sugar and fresh milk poured over it. If we were lucky we has a piece of buttered toast and a glass of either Apple juice or Orange juice with it. Sometimes it may be corn grits, or cracked wheat instead of oats.
We would eat quicklyn be told what we were expected to do after school and before my Mom got home from work. She usually got home aroundv5v30n so we had about 2 1/2 hours.
That table was cleared off before we left for school except for a work list and, if my older brother had to go to thecstorecaftercschool a list and a few dollars were placed under the ashtray. A salt and peppershaker next to it. We did not keep a table cloth on the during thecweek.
My brothers were to take care of feeding any pets. And keeping their water bowls clean and filled take out the trash and keep their room picked up. Of course we each had homework. Done either at the table or in our room. Not at the coffee table in front of the couch in the living room. I had to wash up breakfast dishes and peel potatoes and or carrots if that is what was going to be our supper. We usually had one of four things as the starch for Supper. Mostly it was potatoes. Followed by rice, noodles then corn. Every supper had to gave at least three things a Starch, at least one cegetavke and meat. The cegetable was almost always a home canned quart jar of something we had put up. Green beans, tomatoes, peas, or something grown in a garden. If we had a phone Mom would call and let who ever answered the phone, usually my older brother which jarred food to get off the shelf .
At least once a week
I pucked through a large bag of a pinto beans, aon that table. They would be cooked later. I would do that either on Wednesday or Thursday, and they were set to cook on the back of the stive, on Saturday morning, while we all cleaned the house and the laundry was done. The beans were usually cookrd on the weekend, and leftover beans were put in the fridge for another meal later in the week. Mom did baking on Sundays. Noodles, biscuits, cookies were all made on that table.
After Supper, I had to wash the dishes, every night. To this day I still don't like washing dishes but it is a chore that has to be done. Not just the dishes, but wiping off the table, counters fridge doors and stoverop, plus sweeping the floors. After all that was done. The table was again a gathering place. Mom checked homework on the three of us. Then, if there was a craft we were working on, we xould bring it to the table and work on it. My brothers worked on model cars or airplanes my older brother worked on a couple of radios. My younger brother did things like Log cabins, LEGO blocks, or erector sets. With girders, gears and levers. They took up most of the table. Mom and I would knit or do embroidery in the livingroom. Or we would all be reading.
But, if we had company n everyone sat at that table, not in the luvingroom. Unless it was a stranger and not a family friend. At rhat table would be ashtrays and cups of coffee. Card games were played at the table, dresses were cut out of material and pinned together there. Holiday decorations made theren cookies laid out to cool on kitchen towels as well as rolls and several.liafa if brean and biscuits. The kitchen and especially that table, was the hub of the house.
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