Tables. I love tables. Living takes place at tables. We gather at a table to eat, to nourish our bodies and our spirits (except for those dinner hours in which a 3-year-old attempts to climb on the table, or say, the ones in which a 1-year-old throws food from her high chair perch…these do not nourish spirits very well at all!). We sit at the table with our laptops. Perhaps with pen and paper. We journal, write letters or type emails, spend time in Bible study…we play games, celebrate holidays, light Advent candles. Much happens at the table. My daughter (10) draws endlessly, and creates stories…at the table. Another daughter (the afore-mentioned 3-year-old) brings her collection of tiny toys to the table to play. My son (7) drives his cars across the table (which accounts for the scratches and tiny dents from the car crashes). My almost-toddling 1-year-old reaches as high as she can, to hold the table edge as she walks along…or, she strains to reach some prize she has spied, and to pull it off its tabletop perch. From my table, I plan our menus, plan our days, plan our school. Some mornings, after a particularly sleepless night, I sit and sip tea, begging my body to wake fully; I may deeply desire sleep, yet I must begin our day instead. And it begins here, at the table.
We still own “our first table”. Actually, it was *my* first table; purchased for my first apartment. An antique oak table. It had been refinished when I bought it, but its surface is now fairly marred from many meals, many playtimes, many…many…many-everything-we-do-at-the-table activities. I still love it though. It is almost square when closed, but includes 2 leaves which lengthen it considerably. This does me little good, for I only have the 4 chairs it came with! I remember setting this table with the linens we received at our wedding. Arranging silk flowers in a crystal vase, for the table’s centerpiece. Setting the table with our wedding china, on our first few Anniversaries.
Then babies began to arrive, and we were ever-thankful! Along with them, another 2nd-hand table, this one with 6 chairs, and a more sturdy center! But that center is quickly falling victim to the “living” as well. And so our first table went to the garage for awhile. It appeared again, in the playroom, awhile back, which hastened some minor destruction to its surface. L And I recently decided that I should move it to a safer place. Yet I didn’t want to return it to storage. After all, can a house have too many tables? I think not!
I’ve noticed that in a room, it is easy to gather at the table. A place for your drink, your elbows, your paperwork, your toys, your snack, your game…and in our home, the table is frequently used. We are outgrowing our house, but moving is not an option, and so we must look at our space and our family, and make the space work for us, for the way we live. As I've watched our family, I noticed, we use tables! I could almost set a goal of having a table in every room.
So anyway, my children were systematically destroying that beloved “first table” I mentioned, because it was down in the playroom. Although I like having a table down there, I didn't like my favored table being destroyed! And, the room is small, and narrow...so I'll have to figure out something else. Our table now has a new space, and it is already well-received in that new place. In front of the living room windows, I placed this table. The afternoon sun pours across it’s surface; soon a bird feeder will be hanging just outside the window. I hope that our children can watch birds, sketch them, or simply learn about them, as they sit at this table. We have bird guides, bird sticker books, and Nature Journals. Just waiting for the opportunity to be used. A small basket of card games sits on the table, waiting to be played. Another basket holding our Art book and materials is nearby. Along with a vinyl tablecloth.
Sometimes a small change can breathe new life into a room. If you doubt this, simply add a table. And see what happens.
