Good Humans and Devonshire Cream

As a parent you pour yourself into the lives of your children and pray that you are teaching them all the things they will need to know. You hope that when the day comes they will make the right decisions and not have to learn EVERYTHING the hard way.

After 20 plus years and several children, you often wonder which lessons you taught which kid, but you hope they each learned all of them somewhere along the way. It becomes a blur after awhile. What you do know is that the list is long on what you hope they remember and what you hope they are able to achieve. You want them to excel in school, sports, arts, friendships, understand the importance of hard work, and have the confidence to conquer the world.

At some point, we all want to sit in the audience and watch our kid play their sport, perform their art or be honored for their achievements and smile. We want to soak in their hard work and if we are honest we want to be able to say, “that’s my kid.”

As parents, we have been fortunate enough to sit in the audience many times. We have certainly felt the pride of seeing our kids do their sport and receive many achievements over the years. We have also sat in the stands and watched our kids sit the bench or come up short. It’s a totally different experience, but there is still pride in watching how your kid deals with the disappointment of not having things go their way.

Then there are the moments that have nothing to do with outward success. These are the moments with your kids that spill over with warmth, joy, love, kindness and happiness and you know deep in your soul that regardless of grades, test scores, jobs, promotions — all the things in which the world judges our worth— isn’t EVERYTHING. These are the moments we want to soak in and carry with us always.

We had a string of these moments a few weeks ago. Family and friends gathered to celebrate our middle daughter’s bridal shower. When Sydney told us months prior that she wanted to have a tea party for her shower it was fitting. Our girls have been having tea parties since they could sit in a chair and hold a cup. They had a little toddler table and chairs that sat in the family room for years. They would sometimes use tea, but more often than not, they stood on the stool in the bathroom filling their tea pots with water. It was always about the experience even back then. As they got older we took them to tea houses for morning tea, high tea and Christmas tea. They learned to love the experience and everything that goes along with having tea.

We considered hosting her shower at a tea house, but decided there was something special about doing it at home. Alex set out to create a bridal tea with all the details we have grown to love, right down to the Devonshire cream.

She bought garland and flowers for every table and we scoured antique stores for tea cups and saucers, Reese baked cookies, made lemon curd and assembled gift bags for everyone. There were so many amazing touches like linens handed down from great-grandmothers, tea cups passed down through generations, hats and baked goods from the grandmothers and teapots from special friends. Alex and Reese worked for hours the morning of the shower to set up tables and chairs, cut fabric, hang photos, decorate and add all of the last-minute details. They thought of everything.

As we sat down to tea with Sydney, our family, friends and her future in-laws, it was magical. Both girls sat with Sydney and my heart spilled over for everything they had done to make this day so special.

These are the moments that as parents we tuck away for a rainy day. These are the moments that we know, regardless of any outward achievements, you have raised good, kind, loving humans and what more could a parent want?

Sunshine & Sarcasm,
Lowi & G

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