By Brenda Boykin
Alderson
The Kitchen
You enter my house through the kitchen, much to my regret at times. The first things you come to in the kitchen are a counter directly in front of you and the kitchen table just to the side. It seems everyone that comes in puts whatever is in their hands down on one or the other.
My kitchen has limited counter space so I really fuss at my son about putting everything on the counter. When it’s time to cook, I hate to have to prep the kitchen before I can even begin prepping the food. My son on the other hand couldn’t care less. The other day he came up on the porch with mud all over his shoes. Thinking I was ahead of him for a change, I met him at the door insisting he take his shoes off before he came into the house because I did not want the mud tracked in. For a change, he didn’t even fuss and starting taking them off. Feeling I had accomplished something, I went about my business in another room. When I returned to the kitchen, the shoes, wet mud and all, were on my counter.
It is a rare sight to see the kitchen table uncluttered. It is common for it to have my son’s books and papers on it because that is as far as they get when he comes home from school, plus he puts his book bag, which has other books and papers, in a kitchen chair. Of course you can also find his books and papers in the living room, my work room, and his room. I have even found them on my bed. Regardless of where they end up, they begin their journey at the kitchen table. I have tried to insist he not put the books down until he reaches his room but it does not work out since he goes to the bathroom first. After all, he says it is his house and he practices what he preaches.
I am as guilty as anyone to be honest. When I have to go somewhere in the car and be in the public, I usually dress a little better than when I am staying home. When I return home, I make it as far as a kitchen chair where I regroup and sometimes take off my shoes to let my feet spread again. It was very hot in the car the other day and when I returned and landed in the kitchen chair, not only did my shoes come off, so did my bra. As luck would have it, a young man that is a friend of the family came up a few moments later and had a rude awakening when he saw my bra on the table.
I guess I should learn to practice what I preach.