The Tray


The other day I went to get a tray from the kitchen to transport some food. As I went to grab it I paused and reflected and had a little smile for this piece of wood.
I vividly remember purchasing this tray at Target, of course. My boyfriend and I would often eat in his basement & we needed a way to bring our dinners downstairs. I can still picture us now, two twenty-somethings with the world at their feet eating dinner off the tray. That tray saw us fall in love.
Fast forward several years and the tray was now being used for a different reason, bringing me food & drink as I nursed our baby. Like Pavlov’s dog I would get excited when I saw the tray with water & a snack. It nourished me as I nourished our baby.
For a while in our family the tray was known as the Sick Tray. When our kiddos got sick we would bring them food & drink on it while they sat on the couch & watched a movie. That Sick Tray saw our kids through many an illness through the years.
Through the last many years the tray has been the party tray. When the kids have friends over we use the tray to carry snacks downstairs to them in the basement. Junk food and drinks have taken over the tray lately.
And then the other day happened. For the first time, the tray brought breakfast to my oldest child as he studied for a high school final. I’m sure the tray will provide nourishment to all of our kiddos as they get older and are doing some last minute studying. Maybe now it can be called the Smart Tray.
If the tray could talk I would love to hear its memories. Until then I will continue to notice the milestones that it has endured with our family.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If you Give a Mouse a Cookie – Homeowner Style . . . I have lived in my house for over 10 years now. Anyone with a house this age understands that updates are necessary to keep you house up to the standards of the new builds that are popping up all around you. So, occasionally I’ll update certain parts of my home to keep up with the Jones’s, I mean times, and not let my home look outdated or shabby. When updating our home, have you ever noticed that it’s like a domino effect? You update one area that creates another area needing updating and then another and another. It can be never ending! We all know, you’re never completely finished with upgrades and changes to your home. I don’t know one single person who’s ever said, ‘I just added new floors and then the house is completely finished! We won’t need anything else at all in our home ever!’ Nope. Just doesn’t happen. The home improvement effect reminds me of the book 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.' If you haven’t read...
Read more

A Roundabout Way of Thinking

Since moving to the Carmel/Westfield area I've falllen in love . . . . with roundabouts! Being the mom that I am who is always running late, I love every extra minute I save on my way to take my kids to practice or home from the grocery store. Even if I only save 30 seconds, I am still excited. I love that I can travel down Springmill Road from 161st Street to 96th Street without stopping.  I love every opportunity not to stop and look around at all of the others at the four-way intersection and see who is going to go first. I love that at a roundabout  I don't have to worry about the courtesy wave, or annoyed flip of the wrist that has to occur for some of us to go again after we've had to stop.  But as in every love relationship, not everything is perfect. Here is the only problem with my current love. When giving other east side, south or west side mamas directions to my house, I cannot figure out how to tell them to 'turn left' at a roundabout. If ...
Read more

The Difference Between Moms and Dads

It's true there is a big distinction between mothers and fathers. Be it good or bad, we are wired differently and are going to be different parents for that reason. There are many parenting situations that a mothers will handle differently than a father. Here are a few: Bed Time: It is late and mother decides she is going to go to bed. She first picks up toys in the living room, folds the blanket and places it neatly on the couch, goes into the kitchen and starts the dishwasher, sets the coffee pot to brew in the morning, wipes the counter off, puts the laundry into the dryer and puts out the kids clothes to wear in the morning. She finally makes it to her own bathroom where she spends 15 minutes on her pre-bedtime routine before finally lying down. A dad decides that he is going to go to bed. He gets up, brushes his teeth and goes to bed. Going to the Park: Moms pack some sweet snacks, some salty snacks, some healthy snacks, water, sunscreen and a jacket. Before leaving, th...
Read more