Meal Time!

This year for Thanksgiving we had dinner at my mom's parent's house. When we have Thanksgiving there, we gather at the same place in the house every time. My grandparents set up a little card table just to the side of the bigger dining table. The grandchildren and adults know exactly where they sit each time because it is always the same. My place in the family for the grandchildren is in the middle with three other cousins. We sit at the card table. We are not allowed at the adult table or the kid table. It's just how it is. No matter how old we get we will be at the card table. The adults take the dining table, and the kids take the bar. The kitchen where the tables are located is open and welcoming. It is big enough for all of the family to fit and small enough that it still feels cozy with everyone in the same room. My grandma loves red so she puts red tablecloths on each table.

Chips and Salsa before every meal is tradition!

I talked to my cousin while eating our Thanksgiving meal and he told me about a couple of his memories and experiences while eating at Grandma's. He talked about how every time we visit we have an ice cream sandwich, no matter what the occasion. It wouldn't be the same if we didn't have one. We laugh because it's always original and never any other flavor. I asked if he liked the routine that happens when we gather at my grandparents. He liked it because it makes it the way it is. It wouldn't feel right if all of a sudden we did things differently. It's interesting how I feel the same way. I asked him why he thought we had the same routine. He answered by saying that it's been like that since before he was born and why would it change now? He said that we have a way of doing things and that defines who are as a family and how we like to do things.

Part of my family :)

I love my family very much, and I am grateful for the routine that we have each time. It doesn't seem repetitive to me because my cousin is right in the sense that it makes our family who we are. This goes along with how I think of family because we all gather together and we know exactly where our spot is in the family. We know how we like things and it brings us together.