The Dining Room Table

It’s just a few simple pieces of wood; mostly flat, the legs slightly curved. It changes from hour to hour. On Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is covered with a white tablecloth, and adorned with fine plates, cloth napkins, and decorations the kids made. The floor below it is perfectly vacuumed, and there is no clutter around.

The next day, it might be covered with legos, creations to cool to take down at night, which will be played with again in the morning. Sometimes, it is surrounded by playgroup mom’s, drinking coffee and eating muffins, while the kids play near by, stopping by every once in a while for a snack.

On Tuesday nights, it hosts Cub Scout meetings. The Den Flag stands close by, and the boys have their Wolf books, and projects. There are more chairs than usual around the table, and we crowd in, with parents standing behind the kids.

After dinner, it becomes the homework table. Math, spelling, and writing, are thought over, and written, and checked. Questions are asked and corrections are made. Backpacks are packed.

On Saturday mornings, the table holds casual plates, with eggs and toast, or maybe pancakes. Some crumbs may fall to the floor. They might stay there till after lunch, when some more will fall, then they will be vacuumed away.

Occasionally, when the babies are sleeping, the table will be taken over by scrap booking. There will be colorful papers spread all around the table. For an hour or two, Mom will sift and sort through it all, till some pages are made. Then it will get all cleaned up, and the little papers that fall to the floor will disappear. It will look as though she had never been there.

In between it all, the table will get wiped. Toys that gather around it will be put away. The lights will be turned off. The shutters will be opened and shut, depending on the time of day. But the dining room table will not be left alone for long. It will sit quietly, watched only by the pictures on the wall, and proudly wait for the next event. Then it will come to life again.