Symbols
When I was a kid, there were certain things that seemed like symbols of being "normal." My family didn't necessarily have a lot of money, nor did we have the fanciest house. I remember going to my Grammie's and she had a formal living room, fancy silver on the buffet in the dining room, matching fancy dishes as well as everyday dishes. Don't get me wrong, we lived just fine, but in my mind we did not hold with lots of the trappings of finery.
Two Christmases ago I mentioned to Bob that I loved Christmas villages, and that in my mind a Christmas village was a symbol of..... what exactly I can't describe. Gentility? Manners? Civility? Class? I think it was just part of my picture of the Norman Rockwell holiday scene. Bob got me the start of village, and I've been getting pieces ever since. For Mother's Day, I got Downton Abbey; how cool is that? I absolutely love my Christmas village and setting it up last year with Jed was truly about perfect.
The other symbol of having a "real house" has also been realized at the Hadaways. My new kitchen includes room for the garbage can to be under the kitchen sink. Out of sight. As a kid, the garbage can was in the corner and the garbage would pile up until it overflowed. Eventually someone would pull the bag out and seal it, but kids would argue over who should take it out and it would sit. Remember the Shel Silverstein poem about "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout" who would not take the garbage out? That was my house growing up. (Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the picture.)
So in addition to a real door on the bathroom, and the washer/dryer out of the kitchen, the Hadaways have finally made it. A holiday village and trash under the sink. Pretty darn cool.
Two Christmases ago I mentioned to Bob that I loved Christmas villages, and that in my mind a Christmas village was a symbol of..... what exactly I can't describe. Gentility? Manners? Civility? Class? I think it was just part of my picture of the Norman Rockwell holiday scene. Bob got me the start of village, and I've been getting pieces ever since. For Mother's Day, I got Downton Abbey; how cool is that? I absolutely love my Christmas village and setting it up last year with Jed was truly about perfect.
The other symbol of having a "real house" has also been realized at the Hadaways. My new kitchen includes room for the garbage can to be under the kitchen sink. Out of sight. As a kid, the garbage can was in the corner and the garbage would pile up until it overflowed. Eventually someone would pull the bag out and seal it, but kids would argue over who should take it out and it would sit. Remember the Shel Silverstein poem about "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout" who would not take the garbage out? That was my house growing up. (Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the picture.)
So in addition to a real door on the bathroom, and the washer/dryer out of the kitchen, the Hadaways have finally made it. A holiday village and trash under the sink. Pretty darn cool.
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