After a lovely morning of revelry and joy, all four of us chipped in to prepare a feast for several friends who also find themselves far from family this holiday season.
I have made it a point to teach my boys how to cook, clean, show hospitality, and engage in other homely activities. The past few years I have enjoyed the first-fruits of my labor and no longer spend holidays by myself in the kitchen. Instead, everyone takes responsibility for some part of the meal and some of the chores that need doing. Then we all get in and get it done.
As with all group projects, it is easy to get in one another's way, have conflicting ideas of how things should be done, and generally irritate and be irritated. In an effort to minimize the effects of this dynamic on this lovely Christmas morning, I instituted a new rule: The Snot Not Rule. And I gave everyone permission to give kind reminders of the Snot Not Rule to those in violation.
Put simply, we agreed not to get snotty with one another (to snot not) and to heed the reminders of others to not snot.
I could not have invented a more perfect rule had I tried. In the end, we had a grand feast for which all of us enjoyed sharing credit, a clean home to invite our friends into, and calm and joyful spirits with which to welcome them.
To Snot Not just seems to work better with boys anyway, as opposed to 'Be Nice' or something else that doesn't stick. Like snot.
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a grand time. You have always been so incredibly generous. ox
Thanks, Lisa. We did have a good time! Good friends make home a warmer place. And all the leftovers have been welcome during my post-holiday illness.
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