So, this is going to be interesting ...
And by "going to be," I likely mean "already has been." Because, thanks the magic of deadlines, I'm talking about something that has already happened by the time you get a chance to read this. Kind of like one of those "by the time you read this" notes. Except, probably not that serious or dramatic. At least to you.
This year, for the first time in some time, we tried something a little different. An experiment of sorts, or a path forward to a somewhat different future.
We're not having Thanksgiving at Grandma's house.
And by "Grandma's house," I mean the house the Lovely Mrs. Smith and I own together as we march through life. Except, the words of the song aren't "over the river and through the woods to our grandparent's house except Grandma does all the cooking and Grandpa just kind of gets in the way and takes out trash."
I would say that was potentially implied in the original version, but I hate to put words in someone else's mouth or song.
Anyway, by the time you read this, we will be charting a somewhat new course. Instead of everyone descending on us for a three-hour turkey-a-ganza, followed by prolonged napping on the sofas and chairs, we're all heading to my oldest son's house.
God help him. He has no idea.
I personally have been pushing for this radical realignment of responsibilities for some time now. I mean, time for someone else to haul out those bulging bags of former poultry. But, tradition and motherly instincts being what they are, that idea hasn't gotten the legs it might under other circumstances. It has gotten a somewhat icy death stare, so I kind of opted to drop it.
This year, however, the cold, hard reality of our current family size has added weight to my suggestion. And, definitely numbers.
For one, my youngest son is bringing two friends home with him from his current assignment. So, there's going to be a lot more space (and likely everything else) eaten at the Thanksgiving table.
In addition, our children have sort of gone above and beyond in the "having babies" category this year. In the space of a few months we added three, so we're up to five. Which means the baby carrier parking zone is starting to look like the Port of Los Angeles, only cuter and louder. And periodically a little smellier. Yeah, I'd kind of forgotten about that. Or blocked it out.
Add to that my oldest son's in-laws, who will happily be included this year, and, well, the phrase "full house" won't just apply to poker. We did a quick walk-through of the dining area and decided we could hold everyone, but there wouldn't be any place for them to sit, since all the furniture would have to be out in the yard.
So, for the first time in some time, the turkey won't be coming out of the oven at our house. Which, of course doesn't mean the Lovely Mrs. Smith won't be knee deep in decorations and preparation. It's just that transportation and logistics enter into the equation now.
All of which means that, after at least a few years of suggesting it – mostly while carrying in large numbers of folding chairs – my wish has come true. And, I'm not so sure.
I mean, yeah, time to share the wealth when it comes to post-dinner cleanup. And while I don't think it's going to be less work, just different work, it is probably time to throttle back some of that on our part.
But, that comes at a bit of a cost. Already our children are forging their own paths, creating their own lives and traditions and families. For most of that time, and to a large extent still, we were at the center of it. Now, as tends to and likely should happen, that might not be the case. Cheap joke to say now we're off-center, but that's been true for some time now.
It's novel now, but in years to come, it's going to be the case (or natural progression) that the events we for years carefully orchestrated for our family will find us observing. We're not the center of their universe anymore. They're actual grownups now.
It will be fun. It will be loud. It will be frantic. It will be festive. It will be, for me at least, a little sad.
And it will definitely be interesting.