Getting Dinner On – A story from Seeing the Everyday
By Seeing the Everyday | January 19, 2012
The stories in Seeing the Everyday magazine are intended to teach, cultivate, guide, bring awareness to, and validate fathers and mothers in their ever-present responsibility to their family. Each story is a personal experience shared by a son or daughter whose parents recognized their vital role to nurture and deliberately build their children, young and old. In reading their stories we see that we influence relationships in all we do and that nothing is routine in the development of a person.
In Seeing the Everyday issue number twelve, Chad Cannon recounts a story from his family that reminds us of the role of humor in our relationships. In response to a common mishap, Chad’s father and mother showed how making the most of a potentially disappointing situation can build a family instead of hinder growth. We share their experience with you here.
A favorite story in our family was the time when Mom needed extra help in the kitchen. She was finishing up some other tasks and asked Dad if he could set the table and get dinner on. With the casserole in the oven Dad said he would take care of things, allowing Mom to finish what she had started. After a short time passed, an amazing crash came from the kitchen. Naturally, Mom responded with, “That better not have been the casserole!” There was no answer.
Minutes later when Mom entered the dining room, she noticed the table wasn’t set and, thinking of the crash, marched into the kitchen to see what had happened. There, sloshed all across the floor was the casserole. Surrounding the disaster were carefully placed plates and cups and spoons — Dad had set the floor so dinner could be served.
Mom fell apart laughing, and Dad suggested we pick up pizza for a late supper. Humor has been an important ingredient in our family dynamic as we have grown together day by day.
- Chad Cannon, Seeing the Everyday, issue number 12
Topics: Stories | 1 Comment »
Call for Story Submissions
By Seeing the Everyday | January 10, 2012
As we consider the value of work, we reflect on its role in both personal and interpersonal development. As has been shared by one of our readers, “Daily morning and evening jobs not only gave each member the opportunity to contribute to the needs of the family but also provided essential time and space for interaction and learning.”
We invite you to reflect on your own experiences working with your father or mother, whether at home or elsewhere, and how they shaped your character. We appreciate your reflections and look forward to hearing from you.
Submissions will be considered for the spring 2012 issue and will be accepted through Monday, January 30, 2012. Click here for story submission guidelines.
Topics: News Releases, Stories | No Comments »
Preview the winter 2012 issue
By Seeing the Everyday | January 6, 2012
The winter 2012 issue number 16 is in transit, and subscribers should be receiving their copies shortly if they haven’t already.
A few things you’ll find in issue 16:
- Editor’s letter comparing the historic context of mealtime to today.
- Mealtime topics: a calendar of historical individuals and events that can be discussed at mealtime.
- More than Food: Personal stories of how conscious efforts to create meaningful experiences during meals promoted healthy physical, emotional, academic, and social development in our readers.
- Mealtime Matters: an academic article discussing the importance of family mealtime and suggestions for making it more meaningful.
All new subscriptions ordered by January 30, 2012 will receive number 16 as the first issue.
Topics: News Releases | No Comments »
‘Tis the Season
By Seeing the Everyday | December 28, 2011
Season’s Greetings from all of us at Seeing the Everyday. We hope you continue to enjoy the Christmas season and wish you a Happy New Year. Thank you for your support this year and for all you do to bless those nearest you. What you do every day in your homes makes a difference. Please enjoy one of our favorite thoughts about the Christmas season:
“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.”
-Hamilton Wright Mabi
Topics: Quotations | 1 Comment »
Teaching by Tradition – a story from Seeing the Everyday
By Seeing the Everyday | December 2, 2011
The stories in Seeing the Everyday magazine are intended to teach, cultivate, guide, bring awareness to, and validate fathers and mothers in their ever-present responsibility to their family. Each story is a personal experience shared by a son or daughter whose parents recognized their vital role to nurture and deliberately build their children, young and old. In reading their stories we see that we influence relationships in all we do and that nothing is routine in the development of a person.
In Seeing the Everyday issue number three, Janalee Marriott shared how her parents encouraged a spirit of giving and intentionally thinking of others. Their family tradition gave each family member an opportunity to secretly focus on someone else for the month of December—to gain a greater sense of selflessness and love. The thoughtfulness, laughter, and appreciation experienced through their simple yet purposeful tradition led to increased genuine care that bonded them to one another, teaching them to look outward. We share her experience with you here.
Is there anything quite like Christmas morning? The twinkling lights on the tree, the smell of pine as we walk up the stairs, familiar music playing, and the dancing fire in the fireplace. It’s a morning different from any other the entire year. But even with all its magic, my favorite part of Christmas isn’t Christmas morning. My favorite part is Christmas Eve, before Santa ever comes down the chimney.
We’ve had a tradition in our family for as long as I can remember called Secret Pals. The tradition begins the night of Thanksgiving when we put all of our names in a bowl. Then one by one we take turns drawing the name of that special person, our Secret Pal. Then on Christmas Eve we give our Secret Pal a gift. The rule is that the gift given must be handmade (not purchased), created from our imagination and personalized for that secret someone.
As children, we would often find materials to create the gift from Mom’s endless cupboard of fabric or in Dad’s skyscraper of a woodpile. We took many trips to the local craft stores, and on nearly every bedroom door hung signs that read, “Do not come in. I’m working on my Secret Pal gift!”
For one entire month my thoughts were focused on the person whose name I had drawn out of the bowl, and for that one month I felt completely drawn to that person. I always wanted to sit by him or her at the dinner table or kneel by him or her at prayer time, which would innocently expose my secret prematurely. As I got older, I learned to disguise my obvious bias for one member of my family until that brilliant night before Christmas. More than any Christmas wish list, all my thoughts rested on the gift I was about to give.
There was never a wrong or bad gift as long as it was made from the heart and created by the individual. Anything and everything was accepted. There were gingerbread houses, homemade pillowcases, handwritten poems, unrecognizable pieces of wood nailed together, basketball hoops, freshly painted piggy banks, and photos and t-shirts of memorable moments. There was never a dull moment on the night of the exchange. Unexpected emotions—from roars of laughter to streams of tears—led to pure exhaustion, a sure recipe for a good night’s sleep. The overall feeling was a closeness and love unique to anything I had ever felt.
Now with my own children I am trying to recreate that magic, that love, by carrying on the tradition of Secret Pals so that my children will find joy in giving and experiencing the process of becoming a lifelong “secret giver.”
Topics: Stories | 3 Comments »
New: Online Subscriber Accounts
By Seeing the Everyday | November 8, 2011
You can now access your account in our new online subscription pages. You can now:
- Renew your subscription for 1 to 3 years
- Change your address or update your account information
- Order new gift subscriptions
- Check your account status to see how many issues are left in your subscription
- Notify us of a missing issue
- Send an email with any subscription-related questions
Visit our new new online subscriber services and let us know what you think — we hope you find the new pages useful, and we welcome any suggestions.
Topics: News Releases | No Comments »
Fall issue images
By Seeing the Everyday | November 4, 2011
We hope you enjoy a few more images from the fall issue:
Topics: Reader Responses | 1 Comment »
Call for Story Submissions
By Seeing the Everyday | October 20, 2011
We have all seen the value of mealtime and how much can be learned and experienced together as we gather and create important moments of teaching, listening, sharing, connecting. We invite you to send your stories of experiences with your parents–we would like to hear how time spent with them preparing and eating meals together influenced you.
Submissions are for the winter 2012 issue and will be accepted through Friday, November 4, 2011.
See our writing guidelines here.
Topics: Reader Responses | No Comments »
Fall 2011
By Seeing the Everyday | October 10, 2011
The fall issue is here, introducing our new design!
Current subscribers should receive their copy over the next two weeks.
Topics: News Releases | 1 Comment »
Don’t get mad. Get the camera!
By Seeing the Everyday | September 13, 2011
Before I had children I didn’t realize how many times I myself would walk into a room, let out a short gasp, close my eyes, and utter, “Don’t get mad. Get the camera!”
–Katie Miller, from her story in Seeing the Everyday Issue Number 2.
Topics: Quotations | No Comments »