You know that feeling you get right before you step onto an elephant’s back to go for a ride? You know, definitely intrigued and excited but tinged with trepidation? That’s how I felt at the beginning of Thanksgiving break. I was waiting to hop on the back of the break, which was to be myself and five teenagers riding through 10 days of possibly beautiful, possibly choppy waters.
In the end, Kevin was unexpectedly able to come home and then our household doubled in size overnight. Usually it’s just Clara and Finn and myself humming along through our days relatively quietly (unless Shaggy is playing loudly, which does happen, especially when we do dishes), but all of a sudden three people became seven. Kevin arrived from Delhi and Tatum arrived at Dulles via shuttle, with two friends in tow. Daniela and Roberto are exchange students from Guatemala enrolled at Tatum’s school.
We had a fun week. We tried to mix in various kinds of cultural events, which includes attending a bluegrass concert at the Kennedy Center, visiting George Washington’s Mount Vernon, a service at the National Cathedral, and going to the mall, as in, shopping mall – what is cultural all depends on your perspective. One distinctively cultural moment occurred on the highway by Tyson’s Corner, normally 15 minutes from our house, where we sat without moving for an hour as a result of Black Friday mania. We never did get to the mall but while trying to crawl back home, we picked up another friend from school and navigated a Free Palestine protest. There was a lot of time for bonding and comparing playlists.
As far as food, we dined out, ate home-cooked meals, dined at Poppy’s and Grams’, wait our turn at Comet Pizza, had brunches, and made pumpkin pecan pie and GOP bars. And, to our delight, we also had a home-cooked Guatemalan meal thanks to Daniela and Roberto, and with special thanks to Daniela‘s mother on the phone from Guatemala. (Is this a good time to share that I still call my mom for help with cooking?)
A big part of the blessing of any holiday is just having a break from normal life, and I think all the kids, Finn and Clara included, were happy to not be in class, to live in pajamas, stay up late, watch movies on TV, play ping-pong, and sleep in. We also trotted with the Hathways for the Turkey Trot. And despite all the educational efforts, like visiting monuments and bookshops, a highlight named by most of the kids was just hanging out with Bali the dog. Nothing like free fur therapy.
We had extra friends over for Thanksgiving dinner, Rochelle and her boys, and we all shared cooking opportunities. I made most of the sides like garlic mashed potatoes, my mother’s stuffing, green bean casserole, hot rolls, and so forth, and Tatum made a delicious, sweet potato soufflé. Kevin mastered the meat: turkey in the Traeger. His favorite and now well-used word is “spatchcocked.”
I was thankful to have all the Tomlinsons in one place, at one table. The metaphorical elephant in the river of Thanksgiving break gave us a pretty smooth ride, and a beautiful view of some very cool young people. And no one fell asleep on the elephant, not even Finn—just on the sofa after football, as we’d hope.
P.S. Speaking of rides, Tatum is getting in her driving hours in now that she has her learner’s permit. I would say, passengers beware, but she’s super cautious. So far so good!
@theterrace 