Finally, Vindicated by the Schools
I know there are many problems your children can cause at mealtime. Some kiddies won't eat their vegetables, some won't eat anything at all, some are ridiculously messy, some are ridiculously gross. My children do not have these problems.
They are unable to sit in their chairs. It's not that they run around during meals, usually they stand right next to their chairs. Sometimes they have one foot on the chair and the other foot on the ground. Either way, I find this situation rather irritating because I don't really consider it an unreasonable request to sit in a chair for the 12 minutes it takes to eat dinner.
On a regular basis I tell them that they would make great pilgrims. Their response is usually a rather eloquent "Huh?" Then I explain that the pilgrim children had to stand at dinner because there weren't enough chairs. Their response is usually a super inquisitive "Can I have some more milk?" (that they have no intention of drinking but that is a nerve plucking to explore in another post).
Aislinn has been in school since she was three, and Lauren since she was three and a half. At no time during these 6-plus years of schooling has any teacher or any book about Thanksgiving mentioned this little bit of pilgrim child trivia. I was beginning to suspect that I had been fed bad information in my childhood. Until today, when Lauren was giving me a rundown on the hardships of the pilgrim children: they had to wear the same clothes every day; they had to do jobs that grown ups do; and (drumroll) they had to stand at the table during dinner.
Although I was hoping to have the newly (all things are relative friends) painted bench all polyurethaned up for Thanksgiving, now I'm thinking maybe I'll have the children stand through dinner. They seem to enjoy it, and it would make the whole thing much more authentic (up until the point where we eat the pumpkin-pecan semifreddo for dessert).
They are unable to sit in their chairs. It's not that they run around during meals, usually they stand right next to their chairs. Sometimes they have one foot on the chair and the other foot on the ground. Either way, I find this situation rather irritating because I don't really consider it an unreasonable request to sit in a chair for the 12 minutes it takes to eat dinner.
On a regular basis I tell them that they would make great pilgrims. Their response is usually a rather eloquent "Huh?" Then I explain that the pilgrim children had to stand at dinner because there weren't enough chairs. Their response is usually a super inquisitive "Can I have some more milk?" (that they have no intention of drinking but that is a nerve plucking to explore in another post).
Aislinn has been in school since she was three, and Lauren since she was three and a half. At no time during these 6-plus years of schooling has any teacher or any book about Thanksgiving mentioned this little bit of pilgrim child trivia. I was beginning to suspect that I had been fed bad information in my childhood. Until today, when Lauren was giving me a rundown on the hardships of the pilgrim children: they had to wear the same clothes every day; they had to do jobs that grown ups do; and (drumroll) they had to stand at the table during dinner.
Although I was hoping to have the newly (all things are relative friends) painted bench all polyurethaned up for Thanksgiving, now I'm thinking maybe I'll have the children stand through dinner. They seem to enjoy it, and it would make the whole thing much more authentic (up until the point where we eat the pumpkin-pecan semifreddo for dessert).
posted by Shannon at 9:51 PM
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