It's the Little Things

I forget that we are a real, genuine family sometimes. That might sound weird . . . but I just go about doing all I do for Meg and Kate, and I forget sometimes that we are all one (growing) family.

Little things remind me.

Like, the rare occasion when we go out to dinner. "Table for 4 please." FOUR. There are four of us now.

When we go visiting . . . be it a playdate or a dinner with family . . . I feel like we are a whole gaggle of people showing up. Mom, dad, big sister, little sister. Not this quaint little package we once were.

This weekend, we did a little thing we've talked about doing for a while now . . . we added a leaf to our breakfast table. That little thing -- just about 15 extra inches of space -- really hit me and made me realize how much of a family we truly are.

Our round, white pedestal table has sat in the bay window of our kitchen since we bought our first house. Four cute, white chairs surround it. A piece of glass on top, to make it easy to clean. It's been very good us, that table . . . cozy and friendly and perfect for our family dinners over the past 5 years.

Two chairs used to sit empty. Just me and Jim at there, nobody else. Plenty of space for a husband and his wife.

Then Meg came along and joined us in her booster/high chair. We were three around the table then, with one chair left to welcome visitors and friends that stopped by for a meal.

Now that Kate is rapidly approaching 6 months, we've started feeding her a little bit of cereal . . . and that little bit of cereal (she's had it twice now) has changed so much about that pretty little table of ours. Jim and I in two chairs, Meg in her new booster, and Kate in the booster/high chair that Meg once enjoyed. Our little white pedestal table has become too small . . . no extra seats, barely enough room for all of us.

So, we added the table leaf. We grew our table to fit our growing family. We bought two more chairs . . . the don't match exactly, but they are white and sit at the head of our now oblong table, so it looks just fine. Now the table seats six. We'll have to get a new piece of glass made in a oval shape. The table has changed a lot.

Jim and I made all the adjustments during nap time on Sunday. We did a lot of other household things that afternoon . . . Christmas tree, unpacking from Thanksgiving, etc. We bustled around all afternoon . . . and when dinner time came around, I stood back and looked at our new table. It made me feel different. The whole kitchen felt different. It was strange for something so little to effect me so much.

I said to Jim, "Wow, look at that table. It makes me feel like we have such a big family." I just stood there and stared at it for a few minutes, thinking about how things change so fast. I felt happy . . . happy to be where we are, happy to have my wonderful family that requires a bigger table.

Little things. The little things sneak up on you. Our little table is no more . . . now we seat six, and someday we'll only have one empty chair. I've been admiring the table all week and trying to think about other little things that make me feel so good.