Kettle and Cup

How Tea Changed My Life in One Easy Step

by Marye on August 5th, 2008

Many years ago, as a harried homeschooling mom and perfect wife…and before I became an exhausted cookbook author and blogger person….I felt that I needed a break.

I felt that I got up at the crack of dawn, rushed through my Bible reading, mumbled a few sleepy prayers through a mouthful of toothpaste…tossed some porcelain beige foundation in the general direction of my face, tried not to stab myself in the eye with the mascara as I applied it while wiping the spots off the bathroom mirror with my other hand…Leaping downstairs as I buttoned up my jeans, and I was always hopeful that I had my shirt on…Then…

Breakfast…tidying up…school….lunch…tiding up…whew!

It was a constant treadmill that never seemed to stop. It wasn’t good for me, and it wasn’t good for the kids. I was always encouraging them to hurry up. work faster, get done…move on.

It was no way for them to grow up, and I felt like a drill sergeant.

So, one day I decided that we were going to have tea. Teacups, cookies, and little sandwiches…some days it was fancier than others, some days we had just graham crackers with it but we always went by the “rules”. Best behavior, no mean talking..we listened to classical music and talked about what we had learned during the day. We relaxed.

Sometimes I read aloud from Shakespeare or Longfellow, from Walden, or Leaves of Grass.

I joke sometimes about how my kids are tea snobs. They have each developed an opinion on tea. They know what they like. They are willing to try new things. They have been known to discuss tea choices and suggest teas with perfect strangers in stores…
and I have to laugh as the people walk away with dazed looks.

They know about flow blue, and blue transferware. They appreciate the differences between depression glass and EAPG. Even the boys can discuss these things intelligently and give fact based, well thought out opinions.

I am not so much saying how great my kids are as I am saying that this small ritual, 30 minutes a day 5 days a week, changed our lives. It made a difference. I brought them into my world and allowed them to learn to enjoy it.

So often we step down into the world of our children. We cheer at their soccer games, and have pretend tea parties with play dough cookies and tepid water poured from plastic pots. Yet we rarely bring them into our own realm, thinking that they are too immature, too childlike, too uninterested.

And an added benefit? I have teen boys that are very masculine. They have enough testosterone to blow the doors off of Fort Knox…they like hunting, fishing, and girls. But…they are secure enough to be o.k. drinking tea from an antique china cup. They are o.k. with scones and devonshire cream, and knowing that you use milk and not cream in most teas.

A well rounded parent owes it to their children to give them the opportunity to be well rounded, and I believe tea goes a long way toward doing just that. :)

Thoughts? Do you have a ritual of some sort that allows your children to be part of your world?

Image: MaryeAudet

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POSTED IN: Beautiful Things, Tea