Some mothers seem to have been born with a gene that enables them to take ordinary moments and create special memories. Unfortunately, it’s missing from my DNA. I tend to focus on getting things done as quickly as possible, with as little mess as possible.
On Saturday night, however, my husband was away and I had a refrigerator shelf full of leftovers that needed to be eaten. My typical mode of heating the food and putting it on my daughters’ plates wouldn’t exactly have been remarkable!
I decided on setting up a buffet, knowing that my daughters would enjoy serving themselves as much – or as little -as they wanted. I pulled out some rarely-used trays for our food and my large blue goblets for our drinks.
Eating by candlelight is a frequent (though not always granted) request, so I closed the blinds and lit some candles in the dining room. I reheated the various foods, each in its own container, lining them up along the kitchen counter. Half a carton of cherry tomatoes went into a pretty glass bowl, a sliced peach lay neatly on a small cutting board.
The girls had been playing outside at a neighbor’s house; once all was ready, I called them inside. When my seven-year-old saw what I had arranged for our meal, her “Thank you, Mommy, oh, thank you!” made the few minutes spent tending to details and washing extra dishes totally worth it.
How do you turn the ordinary into something extraordinary?
Find others sharing special moments at Tuesdays Unwrapped hosted by Chatting at the Sky.
How very neat, Tracey!! I love how simple little touches can make things so special! My goal this year is to be really enthusiastic with my kiddos about what we are learning. I've found that if I'm excited about whatever it is that we are doing, it makes all the difference in the world from making something ordinary into extraordinary. Just a glimpse of joy and excitement can make a really mundane activity seem like a great adventure!! I have failed miserably in this area ~ thus it being my goal for this year! We'll see how it goes! Neat post!
such a cute idea. we usually do leftovers on sunday evening, so i might give this a try!! love it!
"Unfortunately, it's missing from my DNA." Me, too! What a lovely gift you gave them!
That is a wonderful idea! There is something special about dimly lit dinners, flickering candlelight, and choices. This is all sadly absent in the summertime as the sun continues to shine well past suppertime – but I think I like your idea – with twist. I haven't children at home but I love to spoil my husband.
Perhaps I will set a dessert buffet, in the evening dim by candlelight and lots of choices; Thursday night while he is out for a meeting.
So glad I dropped in for Tuesday Unwrapped to discover this wonderful idea. I think I'll pair it with ideas from my post from last Friday for some added fireworks.
I have so many times that it is not in my DNA either. Such a great idea, I am sure they loved it!