Kathryn Mayer • Writing Out Loud
I write stuff down. writer • humorist • activist
Little known secret: I never ever cried on first days of pre-school when I had to peel my kid’s arms off my legs and leave them sobbing with tear-streaked faces, reaching for me desperately from the kind arms of their nursery school teacher. I never looked back. When the kindergarten bus arrived to scoop my kids up and take them away for a few short hours, I didn’t cry. I was thrilled for a
For much of my life, I have avoided Black Friday shopping. In fact, I avoid most shopping, opting only to go to the mall under extreme distress, or when the pants don’t fit anymore. For almost all of my 50 some odd years, the Friday after Thanksgiving was for putting the house back together, hiking, and eating, maybe catching a movie, but never, ever the promised discounts for early bird shoppers.
My job here might be done. Not the pie baking, but kid making. Actually, the kid making is long done, so I guess I mean kid growing, because the youngest gave me the best Thanksgiving ultimatum ever, so I may now claim, my job here is done. Here’s how the pie making went down: Every Thanksgiving Eve, Boy is the pie-maker, taking over from his grandma when she stopped making the over the river and
It started as a way to get out and get muddy, before sitting down with the grown-ups for Thanksgiving. A couple of families met at the town green usually populated with more geese than people, and a battle for the flag began. That was maybe 10-15 years ago, but we didn’t keep track, so not quite sure. How we do keep track is with how big the kids are getting
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday since inheriting hosting from my parents years ago, before I knew I was gonna be it forever and would need a Thanksgiving grocery list in order to survive. Thanksgiving at our house is amazing. We host an all day celebration, starting with a local Newtown Turkey Trot 5k, then our famous family Capture-the-Flag game (more about that tomorrow), then back home for the Macy’s Parade and
The first Thanksgiving I ever hosted was as a young newly married lass – same rather attractive husband – but it was about 30 pounds, 4 kids, 2 dogs, and 3 minivans ago. I loved it. Had 8 people for dinner, and it was the largest dinner I ever prepared and never had such a good time playing susie homemaker in my entire life. Little did I know that after
Social Media, Thanksgiving Style When I packed up my dining room (aka home office) and moved everything out for Thanksgiving, the laptop and cell were shut down as well. And apparently my family, even the two with cell phones surgically implanted in their asses, and the Grammy more tech savvy on her iPhone than anyone else in the house, did the same because aside from a couple rogue teens tapping
I’m usually not your usual crunchy, airy-fairy, pollyanna, sock ‘n sandals, peace, love, & granola type of do-unto-others self. In fact, I hated Eat, Pray, Love so much, I wanted to hit the author in the head with a shovel. But that’s just me. However, something extraordinary happened in the midst of the Thanksgiving rush that took my breath away. Swamped with a cart heaping with cheese, fruit, butter, eggs,
An irreverent storyteller with a foul mouth and big heart, Kathryn Mayer (aka Kathy and/or Kate) is a writer, humorist, and (former) activist writing out loud with humor and grace about little life moments with big ripples, including the space between parenting and aging parents, social issues, angsty reflections of midlife, and, sigh, gun humpers. Still. Sometimes a big deal, sometimes not Mayer is a national award-winning columnist, according to the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and her essays have been recognized as Voice of … Read More Here...
kate[at]kathrynmayer[dot]com
xo Kate