Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a great holiday. The primary focus is to be thankful and to eat. What a great combinations that is. My parents are coming for a few days and we are having Thanksgiving Dinner at our house. Sometimes we drive an hour or so away and spend the day with other relatives. This year I have to work all weekend and so we've decided to stay in Huntsville. We will be having the traditional Thanksgiving meal that I have grown up with:

Chicken and Dressing
Turkey
Cranberry Sauce
Green Beans
Fruit Salad
Sweet Potato Casserole
Rolls
Pecan Pie

If you are unfamiliar with the dish, chicken and dressing, allow me to educate you. In most southern families the Turkey if prepared at all is roasted without any sort of "stuffing". Instead we serve dressing. Dressing is a mixture of breads (both white and corn) cream of chicken soup, spices, onions, and chicken baked until golden brown. The recipes and preparation vary from family to family. We tend to eat ours a little soupier than some. We usually serve it with a gravy made from cream of chicken soup. We also traditionally eat dressing at Christmas time and on occasion at Easter. When my Mama was alive and we had Thanksgiving dinner at her house she would make several large pans. There was usually enough for everyone to take home as leftovers. She made the most wonderful dressing and my mother after many years of practice is able to duplicate the recipe. We're not having a whole turkey this year for such a small gathering. Mother bought a Turkey breast from the Honeybaked Ham store. I am not that big a fan of the traditional roasted and usually dried-out bird.

Years ago while I was in college my parents moved to Pennsylvania for a few years. I flew up to join them for Thanksgiving that first year. We drove the four hours to my brother's in laws house in Olney, Maryland. Their Thanksgiving meal was quite different from ours. But the overall tradition of sitting down together for a family meal and being thankful for God's blessings on our lives remains the same regardless of the food served.

Thanksgiving at our house is a wonderful time of fellowship and family time with lots of eating. Regardless of your families traditions I wish all of you a wonderful holiday.

Princess Confessions

Mom101 wrote a post on April 16 about Barbie Confessions (I can't seem to link to the actual post). I thought about how I didn't want my daughter playing with Barbie's either. ( I wrongly assumed with my infant daughter that I would have some say in the matter.) I think I was really disillusioned as a child by the whole Cinderella myth. I mean I really did keep waiting for my Prince in college. He finally did come around but not til I was 23. But I digress.

I grew up a tomboy. I have an older brother but I don't think that he is entirely to blame. I grew up in the country in a rural area. I proudly wore my brother's hand-me-downs until I was old enough to know better. I climbed trees and played a lot in the woods. I was a Girl Scout. I wore jeans everywhere but to church. I was a tomboy. When other girls started carrying purses and wearing lipstick in 5th grade I was like, "Why?" I still wear jeans most of the places I go. I carry a small pocketbook. I wear sneaker's everywhere too. See this post for more details.

So imagine my surprise when instead of another tomboy I beget a "girlie girl". Sometimes I don't know what to do with her. I think though that it must skip a generation. My mother paints B's nails because I don't own any nail polish. B loves dresses. She loves to shop. I remember when we were looking for a Halloween costume a few years ago she asked if she could have new shoes to go along with it.

I had some pretty naive ideas about the differences in the sexes and how much of their environment influences a child's personality. I wanted my children to be intellectuals. To grow up believing women could do anything and men could, too. My son started to play with cars at age 2 and I believe it is still (at age 8) one of his favorites. My daughter loves dolls, and dress-up, and barbies, and Lord Please Forgive me - Princesses. All this despite any environmental influences I tried to make.

But I hope that instead of finding out that the dream of Cinderella is just a dream and being somehow negatively influenced by the body image of Barbie, my daughter will take away other lessons. I hope she will see that her mother is a strong independent woman who balances career and family. I hope my son will see how much his father respects and loves his wife and how much he contributes to raising a family.

And so if my daughter wants to grow up and be a stay-at-home mother like her grandmother I think I can accept that. (Of course she will still be required to complete her degree first.) Just as long as she doesn't want to grow up and be a princess.