Ohhh Applesauce...

Ahhh, childhood.  Have you ever thought that the reason why God formed families the way He has, is so the parents get the gift of reliving their OWN childhood?  You get this fantastic second chance to re-do all the WONDERFUL things that you remember from your own youth and in doing so, teach your child the lessons you learned from that experience.  Sharing your memories, your feelings that you felt, explaining what life was like when you were younger; your children eat it up!  They get a glimpse of what was like “so very long ago” (HA!)  and you get to experience the joy of whatever it is you are sharing with them and seeing the happiness the same event brings them.  I guess this is how “traditions” are formed.  You also get the chance to evaluate the negative experiences from your younger life and choose how to filter THOSE lessons to your kids and pray they never experience the painful part of it, only reap the benefits of the lesson.  You get a “do-over” if you will.  Children give us the adult pass to be childlike again, just by being in their presence if you allow yourself to embrace it.
Every time I take the occasion to spend this kind of time with my kids (which is usually in the kitchen) I promise myself that I will do it far more often because of the happiness & positive experience it brings to us all.  Yet, I fall short.  I try & blame today's busy schedules, filled with technology & outside distractions.  All the time we spend on a computer, watching TV and playing video games...it's too easy to look up from your "device" to notice, the day is done and realize I barely saw my kids (in the next room) today.
I spent about 40 minutes with my five year old today trying our hand at making homemade applesauce.  We laughed and talked about when I was a little girl & use to make “homemade” yummy things with his “Nanny” (my Mom).  He talked about some of his friends from school & how making this yummy apple recipe makes him want to grow up & plant his own apple trees & have his own apple stand where he can sell apple delights like what we were making and decided we would give some jars of it to some of our friends.  All of this led him to ask me to show him pictures of when I was his age.  It was a small part of our day that made us both so happy!  A little nugget that was SO far better than being on the computer or doing laundry.  While we peeled apples together, my mind went back, vividly, to when I when I was a little girl and sat across a kitchen table helping my own Mother, knead dough to make bread.  I make the same recipe now with my own kids, a project we usually save for bad weather days.  As the future is upon us with all the technology and advanced lifestyles we lead today, a few small exercises bring us back to a past generation and HOPEFULLY will be carried forward with my own children and their future families with stories of Grandma and childhoods and the times we made applesauce together…maybe we’ve started a new fall tradition birthed out memories from my own past that will one day be enjoyed by my grandkids!!.  Maybe memories of afternoons with all the windows open and fresh fall breezes with yummy smells billowing from the kitchen & all the surprise & excitement of opening the oven door to our newest creations will entice the next generation to spend time with one another.  These days won’t last forever.  There will come the time when other things will occupy their time & cooking or baking with Mom (& Dad too) will become passé as it did in my own youth BUT, I believe it always comes full circle.  Watching my son help me measure & steadily (with both hands) spill the ingredients into the large pot as he shared with me all his ideas & thoughts for the day…priceless and I just got to step back into a fond time of my childhood & do it all again with the boy I love.  Until the next time friends!