Singing With Spaghetti in the Pot

My mother used to sing while she cooked. Sometimes she'd dance, too, keeping rhythm with the spatula in her hand.

Yes, every afternoon at five o'clock, she'd go to the pantry and pull out one of her homemade cooking aprons with the little kitchen towel attached at the waist. Do you remember those? Every self-respecting homemaker before 1971 had at least an apron hook on the pantry door, with several well worn every day aprons, and a couple of fancy organdy ones for serving dinner on special occasions.

Well, once the apron was securely tied in a bow at the back, Mama would pour a glass of wine into a jelly jar, and get busy cooking dinner. As she chopped the onions, she'd start to hum her favorite lullaby, Birmingham Jail. (I don't know why but she claimed that was her favorite lullabye.) Before you know it, the smell of dinner had wafted into every room of our little house. By then, Mama would be singing the words of Birmingham Jail, slightly off key, just for effect. It was very entertaining.

Those were different times, that's for sure. Moms usually stayed home doing domestic things and caring for the kids. They did wear aprons and bake cookies and bread. I always wanted to be a housewife and a mom. Not that I loved house cleaning, because I don't. (However, being home is convenient for a woman who loves to paint and write.)

I couldn't understand why any woman would ever want to leave such an idealistic lifestyle and go to work in a man's world. The Women's Liberation movement of the 1960's left me completely bewildered. It seemed more like bondage than liberation, and I had no qualms about telling people how I felt about it.

Though my mother was an RN who "had" to stay home because of us, she never managed to convey the loss of her career to a kid like me. Maybe it was because of her beautiful vegetable garden outside. Maybe it was because she was there when I was sick or to bake cookies for PTA, or to teach me to sew my own Easter dresses. I was just glad to have her home.

My cooking habits have always been a lot like Mama's. Of course, I only sing Birmingham Jail if I'm showing the kids how Mama did it. And I don't wear aprons as often as I should. But I do enjoy a jelly glass of wine while singing old songs and dancing in the kitchen. Yes, I dance in the kitchen once in a while. Of course, I like it best if Bill is dancing with me, but I'll dance alone if I have to.

So whether you are a homemaker or a career woman, a house daddy or the guy who is the family chef, I hope you are making your own music while dinner's cooking on the stove. It's a good thing to do. It's very entertaining...even when you're all alone.