My 26 days of Thanksgiving continues:18. I am thankful for daily routines, living simply and family traditions.
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I can really be quite boring when I think about it. I love routines, probably because they give me time to think, pray and ponder about things while using my hands. Examples would be a day in the life of a mom--laundry, dishes, cleaning and re-cleaning, paying bills, running errands. I've got these things down so I'm quite efficient at each, usually multi-tasking them all. Since they serve a greater goal--managing a household and helping my family. I have lots of clothes in my closet but prefer to wear many of the same classic items over and over again. I could eat Cheerios or fruit smoothies for every breakfast, have a nice hot soup and sandwich every lunch, and have a little variety at dinner (I get new recipes from AllRecipes.com or cookbooks I have on hand). I am perfectly satisfied with this. Simple things are low-stress and hassle-free. As I've gotten older I appreciate this more and more in everything I do.
Family traditions are similar in that way. I think I would have a mutiny on my hands if I served fish instead of turkey for Thanksgiving, or didn't have green bean casserole, oyster dressing and pumpkin and key lime pies. I always sneak in a new dish every year just to see the reactions and generally it gets tasted, but not consumed like everything else. :) We usually decorate our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving with plenty of cookies and/or Starbucks (now that the kids are older) to go around. We go to church on Christmas Eve and Christmas stockings are always opened first on Christmas morning with just the immediate family and everything else when other relatives arrive or get up if they are staying with us. The afternoon of Christmas Day is often either with friends or at a family movie with plenty of leftovers later.
Don't get me wrong. I love surprises, meeting new people, hanging out with friends and enjoying new things, but these are even more special when occasional and sometimes spontaneous. I traveled for five years with my work when I was younger and single, eating out at different restaurants for every meal, staying in hotels during the week and in my home city on the weekends where I never slowed down until Sunday night because there was so much to see and do. I was so thankful when I changed jobs to be in my own home each evening. Vacations offer plenty of time for me to "see the world" and I have done much of that.
One of my favorite authors is Sarah Susanka who wrote the Not So Big House and its sequels. There is also one written by her titled The Not So Big Life which my husband and I are reading now about choosing what is simple and important that you really want to spend your time on, new possibilities with your life. We are so easily distracted from what is important.
People say that variety is the spice of life and I certainly agree, but too spicy of a life can be tiring and overwhelming, too, making one conditioned to something new and different on a constant basis. Traditions and routines amplify stability and home in any family where you really always want some things to never change. There are always additions (marriag
es, new babies) and losses (kids moving out, deaths in the family) in all families but if asked, most people will sincerely say they love going home simply for the comfortableness and familiarity of it. Dorothy had it right: There's no place like home.
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