A Pennsylvania Dutch New Year

New Years Day in my family is a day of overeating! Most people start out the first day of a new year with some kind of resolution to eat better and get in shape. In my family we wait until second day of the New Year. I grew up in Pennsylvania, and according to my Dad it was considered good luck by the Pennsylvania Dutch to eat sauerkraut on the first day of the New Year. Every New Years Day my family planned a day of eating around sauerkraut. In the early years my mom would prepare a crock pot of pork and sauerkraut and let it simmer throughout the day while my family lounged around watching football. Mashed potatoes and corn were also part of the menu. This was the only time of the year where I could pile sauerkraut on top of my mashed potatoes, one of my favorite combinations.

Over the years, as my Dad became less fond of pork, the menu switched to hot dogs and sauerkraut in the crock pot. Mashed potatoes were exchanged with cut up Muenster cheese and pretzels. One thing that always stayed the same was the sauerkraut. There was no set time to eat; we ate throughout the day in between catnaps and football games. It was a lazy day for my family, like a wind down from all the excitement of the previous holidays. Although I am not Pennsylvania Dutch myself, the tradition of sauerkraut on New Years day has been a tradition I still follow many years later with my own family. In fact, my husband has become so hooked to sauerkraut on New Years Day that he is usually the one to remind me to plan the meal!

What's Your Community?

The 45th Drive NE cul-de-sac Moms is a community that is held together by friendship. Moms crave companionship outside their home, someone to make them feel normal and to share the ups and downs of life. We are held together by that need for friendship. We are drawn to each other and each other’s experiences, anxiously waiting for moments when we can all meet up outside and talk about life. We great relationships with our husband’s, but we know that our husbands can not understand us the way we understand each other.

Belonging to this community has many advantages. We have common interests that we share outside of being a mom. One mom has been my running partner for the past seven years. Another mom and I share the struggle of making it on one income. All of us fight the daily battle of weight, always talking about better ways to be healthier and sharing new tips that we have learned. We count on each other emotionally, to support one another when times are tuff. It’s a constant cycle of one of us needing a shoulder to cry on or listening ear. Family is our number one priority and we can always count on one another for support with our children. We are a community that truly needs one another. I don’t know where I would be emotionally if I had never become part of this community.

One of the only tensions my community may have is difference in parenting. Everyone respects each others decisions, but it is only natural to disagree with another parent’s decisions or lack of discipline at times. There have been arguments, but we have always worked through them. We realize that relationships aren’t perfect.

I fit in with this community for several reasons. First, I live here. Anyone, with or without kids, in our cul-de-sac is welcomed to spend time with us. Second, I need the friendship. Being a stay home mom, my cul-de-sac is one of the few places I can get out and talk to other people. I don’t go to work and don’t have many other options. Last, it is wonderful to be able to let your children play and have someone to talk to during that time. I couldn’t imagine not being part of this community. It’s not just a community to me, but a family.

My Wallet

I sat down this afternoon with my wallet, and for the first time, I really looked at it. In the past, I ignored my wallet when I needed it only grabbing from it the things that I needed at the moment. Attempting to look at the wallet as though I had never seen it before, I tried to imagine what image a stranger would create in response to the items of my wallet.

In a stranger’s thoughts:

The wallet is a women’s brown in color. It is worn and has a silver decorative piece on the front. This woman probably does not put the quality of a wallet on the top of her priority list. I would guess she does not buy new wallets very often. When I open the wallet the first thing I see is a checkbook. This woman still uses checks, which mean she hasn’t completely given in to technology.

The next thing I come to are the pictures. The very first picture is of two children; both children are probably under the age of six. The similarities in their features make me think that they are brother and sister. Many more pictures of these two children at different ages follow the first one. They are most likely this woman’s children. More pictures follow, a picture of a couple at their wedding, most likely her and her husband. Her age could be somewhere in her thirties or forties. There are some pictures of some other small children who bear no resemblance. They are probably nieces or a close friend’s children. Paging through the pictures I find an updated insurance card, which tells me she is not one of the many people who drive without insurance.

As I pass the pictures I come to her driver’s license and the section of the wallet that houses the plastic cards. Looking at the driver’s license I see that she is in her thirties. She lives in Arlington, and either grew up there or prefers to live in small communities.

This woman has a lot of cards in her wallet. Most of them she probably forgot were even there. There is a debit card and one credit card, she isn’t completely against having debt, but maybe a little scared to have too much. There are many different cards from Everett Community College, she might be a student. The presence of a CPR card gives me the idea that she could be a student in healthcare. A casino club card and a tattoo parlor card may indicate she likes a little adventure in her life. On the other hand a Costco card says she still has a family to take care of.

From what I see in this wallet, I would say this woman is an average married woman with kids.

My thoughts:

Looking at my wallet, I couldn’t imagine how anyone could really know my identity. Yes, it may tell someone that I’m married and have kids. It may give someone an idea of the things I like to do for fun. These things are only a small part of who I am. It doesn’t tell you that I’m a wonderful mother and wife. It doesn’t tell you that I love to be outdoors and crave the sunshine everyday! It doesn’t tell you that I grew up on the east coast and that I served time in the military. I could go on and on about the things my wallet doesn’t tell someone. I believe the contents of a wallet only scrape the surface of who we are.

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Just a test:)