The past 6 weeks have been filled with a parade of celebrations, starting with 2 May birthdays and Mother’s Day, culminating this past week with 2 middle school graduations and a high school graduation. In between we celebrated the completion of my son’s Eagle Scout project, enjoyed a mini prom, wrapped up his high school baseball career . . . and so on. When things quieted down a bit this past weekend, I found myself needing to adjust – I was no longer on constant alert as to what the next event was, and the house was just a bit quieter.
With the end of the school year, summer season has officially arrived around here. And that means it is time to transition the what, how and where we eat. Because our schedules have all changed, and our young adult family means we’re all off on different adventures, our food needs are in constant flux. To help me with this summer transition, I find myself revisiting the Four Pillars process – Planning, Purchasing, Preparing and Partaking, to help me readjust to my current needs.
That’s why when the summer months arrive, I transition into making several visits to the grocery throughout the week. For instance, this week, It was just me and the twins at home for several days, and we took to deciding each day what it was we wanted to make for dinner. Now, as we ready for a family trip, its all about carefully Planning meals and deciding on portion sizes , so that by the time we leave, we won’t have perishables lying around.
And Soon, We’ll be 5
The other thing that is ‘eating’ at me, is my boy. He’s on his first of two post-graduation trips, and I know that I have limited time with him here at home before he heads across the country to start his freshman year at University of Miami this August.
I’m getting a bit weepy about the thought of an empty seat that will be at the dinner table. Through the years, we have been diligent in making sure the family gathers around the table. Even as they grew, and their interests in sports and other activities made it more difficult to have a family meal every evening, we persisted and continued to gather together several times throughout the week. Now that I’m realizing that the days of all 6 of us together for dinner are numbered, I’m getting a bit introspective. I look back and hope that all my efforts to teach him about the importance of food has sunk in. Eat good food. Eat a variety. Make your own meals when you can. Keep sweets and snacks at a minimum. And slow down, eat together with family (or friends), and enjoy the time gathering around the table.
I’ve about 8 weeks left to get this summer schedule in order, and to relish the remaining time we all have together until delivering my boy to Miami. In that time, I think I’ll be preparing some of Grayson’s favorites.
