I don’t think my parents stayed with Kurt and me until we had an extra bedroom with a real bed in it. My relationship with my older daughter and her boyfriend, who are 23, is more comfortable than ours was.
We travel with an air bed and camp in their apartment. It’s a nice, casual way to visit. Also, it reminds me where I’ve been. In my college and young adult days, we always traveled without worrying about where to stay, taking last minute road trips and camping on couches or dorm room floors. Somewhere along the way, adults lose touch with that, moving first to motels, then on up to hotel rooms, until that’s what you need. It’s no longer a luxury, but a necessity.
We really don’t require all that much. In fact, none of us are materialistic. It makes it hard to buy gifts, but I think that’s a good thing. One of my sisters-in-law showed up with reusable grocery bags for everyone, filled with a variety of foods she had made and little bits of other things. We got things like chex mix and pound cake, along with a card game and a slinky and dish towels. We all got a different mix of things, and she bought the grocery bags at Target and Dollar Tree, s they were red or green. It was a fun idea.
I really like Kurt’s side of the family, and everybody showed up. This was nice, as it doesn’t always happen. People often have too many Chistmases to go to. His mother didn’t host Thanksgiving this year. She sent out an email about it, along with the message that she expected to see everyone at Christmas. It was a good idea, as it turned out, better than people showing up for one holiday or the other.
Back to staying with the (adult) kids. I’m glad I can be comfortable visiting them. We enjoy each others company, and I try to make sure we aren’t overwhelming guests. We usually cook a meal and pick up the tab for food we bring in. I’m still Mom, after all.
I wanted to make some sort of muffins to bring for breakfast. Meanwhile, my younger daughter came home from college wanting to make gingerbread. I handed her the muffin pans along with the recipe, and instructions for changing the cooking time (about 20 minutes). They came out great.
Gingerbread
1 10” cakes, 350˚, 45 min.
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
orange zest (optional)
1 1/2 t ground ginger
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup honey
1 cup hot water
Put first batch of ingredients in mixer. Beat. Mix second and third batches
in separate bowls. Add alternately to mixer. Grease and line pan.
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