Saturday, February 2, 2008

Taking Time for "Tea Time"

Tea Time

The other day I was about to fix myself some afternoon coffee (instant decaf with lots of sugar and milk) when an idea popped into my head, "I wonder if the kids would like a tea party". Then I looked at the clock. It was already getting late in the afternoon. I didn't feel like dealing with the whole "tea party" thing...but quickly talked myself into it, "no time like the present" as they say. So I hollered to the kids..."Do you want some tea?" They answered "Yes!" and "Can I have it in that Chinese cup?"

When I was a little girl, my mom would set up tea parties for my sisters and I...I remember a little, real china, tea set that was blue and white patterned...or did it have little red rosebuds all over it??? I can picture two different patterns in my mind...Mom?

I was allowed to sometimes drink coffee and tea - much to the shock of my friend. I'm sure the coffee/tea we had was very milked and sugared up, so it was probably more milk that anything with caffeine. No growth was stunted.

My kids like to drink (shudder) black coffee. My dh will get himself a cup of coffee and the kids will come with straws (???) and have some very hot sips.

Anyway - I put an old tea cloth on the table that was made and embroidered by my great-grandma, "Momo". I got out the "Chinese" (actually they are made in Japan - but in the boy's eyes - close enough) cups for the kids and a tea cup for myself.

Ds drinking his tea from the "Chinese" cup...I found the cup/saucers at the thrift store and love them!

There is something about drinking tea in a proper tea cup that slows you down. You can't really drink from a tea cup while you are moving about the kitchen. You don't take a tea cup outside and work on the car...or take the car for a drive. A good opportunity to work on the children's manners.

Dd adding a little more sugar.

Watching British TV shows, always makes me want to run and start a pot of tea! And if I can scrounge up a muffin to go with it - all the better.

I have good tea cup drinking memories...my mom would usually buy sugar cubes for our tea drinking. She told us how her Swedish grandfather (she called him "Moofa") would pour his tea into the saucer and drink it that way.

From the time that I was 8, my paternal grandma lived down the street from us. Pretty much every time I'd go over there - she'd get the tea kettle a-boiling. She had some beautiful tea cups and I had fun picking out the cup I wanted to drink from that time. We'd sit at the kitchen table and drink tea and have a little snack and "visit".

How about taking some time for "tea time" today? Do you have any "tea time" rituals or memories you'd care to share?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for visitng my site. :-)

I love your tea idea. In fact, it inspired me to put on the kettle. I'll invite my roomie to have a cuppa with me.

ikkinlala said...

I used to skip classes in high school (yeah, yeah, I know, but my grades were good anyway) and go visit a friend. She always gave me tea and cookies, and we talked about books and she told me stories about her childhood in Scotland.

The Correspondent said...

My three girls and I used to have Tea Time everyday (~ 4 p.m.) after Rest Time (1-3 p.m.). It was a great way to spend time together, to read a little poetry together, and to stave off blood sugar drops during Acid Hour (that hour or two before dinner/supper).

We've gotten away from it in recent years, I'm sorry to say. But maybe this post will encourage me to reinstate it again ... at least once or twice a week!