It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

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Lisa Welsh

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By Lisa D. Welsh

www.CHEERMaD.com
Tonight my this cheer mom and her family will sit at the dinner table to eat.
Together.
Yes, it’s one of three weeks a year when there will be no technique clinique, tumble classes, camps or practices. The last time this happened was when coaches took teams to Worlds and the remainder of the gym lived a week without cheering. The third week will occur when our gym closes in August so that some of the cheerleaders can take a field trip of sorts to a “sleepover” cheer camp.
Truth be told, my girls don’t know what to do with themselves when the gym is closed and I realize just how restless they would be if this condition was permanent.

Jim welcoming Becky (with a hug) and Rachel back to the dinner table after a long season. Sister-in-law Nancy in background.
But that’s for another blog.
While my children insist that none of their friends ever eat dinner anyplace else but in front of the television my husband insists a little louder that our family sits down together at the dinner table.
In his defense, the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that “As often as possible, all family members should eat together at the dinner table, without the distraction of television or radio.”
Except that it’s a rare evening when everyone in the family is home all at once (which the AAP recognizes with its “As often as possible” disclaimer).
Thanks to crockpots and quick cook recipes, food is served alright, but not everyone eats at the same time. There are potentially six of us who come to the dinner table and a sum of that number, in one of a multiple of variations shows up (come to think of it, it’s my husband who is the lone, regular participant).

Becky, in wiglet circa 2003, amusing herself as we make the three-hour ride to a competition.
Before Becky had her license, I was the one driving the 25 minutes two to three times a week to practice or clinics. South on I-290 to I-395 and when she changed gyms five years later,exactly the same length on the interstate but this time we were going north. It was considered an interruption at the dinner table at first, but became the time when Becky and I developed the close relationship we enjoy today. Not many parents can say they have their child’s undivided attention for two (or more) hours a week.​

John (the tall one in the viking hat) at one of his plays
And cheerleading isn’t the only activity that keeps the family from the dinner table.
Depending on age and season my son could be at football, basketball or baseball practices/games, drama club or a tiger/wolf/cub scout meeting. This was when my husband and I developed the art of tag-team parenting.
When my father-in-law got sick and stayed in the nursing home, my mother-in-law began joining us for dinner. I learned that she was only eating toast in the afternoon so that she could go up to the Alzheimer’s unit and feed Jim’s father his dinner. By the time visiting hours were over and she returned home, she was too tired to cook for herself. So we moved dinner up to 4 p.m. I was happy that we had that routine established so that when she was permanently left alone, we knew we’d see her every day. Thinking back on that period, I don’t know how we managed, except that Jim worked in construction and was able to get home in the afternoon to cook.
Now my sister-in-law eats dinner with us, a pattern established when she moved home to take care of my late mother-in-law when a second diagnosis of Alzheimer’s struck the family. Once a week my father will join us for a visit but my mother and step-father are limited to holidays and vacations as they live out-of-state.
I know we’re not the only family that juggles children’s activities with responsibilities for extended family. Taking care of our kids’ best interest, working full-time to pay for those interests and caring for aging parents is a new consortium of responsibilities. Trying to keep the “ties that bind” a family together these days is a challenge and there are no fast and steady rules. Despite what the experts and my husband think, variety is the norm.
At the Welsh dinner table, there’s at least one adult and one child each night but we manage to get a majority count once a week in case we want to vote someone off the island. It’s usually the one who doesn’t put their dishes away.
In celebration of CHEERMaD’s one year anniversary on June 19, we’re posting fan favorite blogs like this one. Original post date was July 5, 2011.
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