A few days ago I needed to cut up a languishing cantaloupe and I decided to go crazy and use my melon baller...which I thought would make the pieces easier for my girl to pick up. Plus it makes the fruit look prettier. But it takes longer, so as I'm doing it I'm thinking to myself "This is taking forever, is it a good use of my time? LJ probably wouldn't care if it was cubed and chopped randomly..." But then I thought of Sarah Edwards. There's this great picture of her homemaking touch in a chapter of Elizabeth Dodds' biography on her (Marriage to a Difficult Man). Dodds talks about how Sarah took the extra effort to make things special for her family. She dragged herself out of bed on cold New England mornings and tied up her hair to look pretty for her husband. She added a dash of spice or herb to a meal that some would leave plain. She decorated tastefully and simply, but beautifully. And people noticed. And loved her home. And felt welcome there. I think Sarah would have used a melon baller. It's the kind of thing that takes a few extra minutes, but can make a difference to your family. A pretty fruit salad doesn't taste different...but it feels different.
Now, let's note that Lily was hungry for some breakfast...
...really hungry....
...to the point of melting down over her hunger! :o) Okay, so my babies aren't going to notice my special touches yet, but I guess being in the practice of taking the extra time to make things special is a good thing! (Grandmas, note the 7th tooth popping in on the bottom here!)
Also, as an aside: *APPARENTLY* Miss Lily isn't a huge fan of cantaloupe. Go figure. Each time I served it to her she picked all the grapes out first and then kind of looked at the melon...looked at me...looked bored...wanted to be done. Good grief, kid! I melon balled those suckers just for you! :o) She did let me feed them to her. Maybe they were too hard to pick up? ;o)
A few days ago I needed to cut up a languishing cantaloupe and I decided to go crazy and use my melon baller...which I thought would make the pieces easier for my girl to pick up. Plus it makes the fruit look prettier. But it takes longer, so as I'm doing it I'm thinking to myself "This is taking forever, is it a good use of my time? LJ probably wouldn't care if it was cubed and chopped randomly..." But then I thought of Sarah Edwards. There's this great picture of her homemaking touch in a chapter of Elizabeth Dodds' biography on her (Marriage to a Difficult Man). Dodds talks about how Sarah took the extra effort to make things special for her family. She dragged herself out of bed on cold New England mornings and tied up her hair to look pretty for her husband. She added a dash of spice or herb to a meal that some would leave plain. She decorated tastefully and simply, but beautifully. And people noticed. And loved her home. And felt welcome there. I think Sarah would have used a melon baller. It's the kind of thing that takes a few extra minutes, but can make a difference to your family. A pretty fruit salad doesn't taste different...but it feels different. 
Now, let's note that Lily was hungry for some breakfast...
...really hungry....
...to the point of melting down over her hunger! :o) Okay, so my babies aren't going to notice my special touches yet, but I guess being in the practice of taking the extra time to make things special is a good thing! (Grandmas, note the 7th tooth popping in on the bottom here!) 
Also, as an aside: *APPARENTLY* Miss Lily isn't a huge fan of cantaloupe. Go figure. Each time I served it to her she picked all the grapes out first and then kind of looked at the melon...looked at me...looked bored...wanted to be done. Good grief, kid! I melon balled those suckers just for you! :o) She did let me feed them to her. Maybe they were too hard to pick up? ;o)
You have to watch out for those languishing cantaloupe. :)
ReplyDeleteYou know it! They cause all kinds of trouble!
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