As I get further into nursing school, one thing is for certain: the workload of school is increasing. While there may have been the same number of hours in classes in the first semester, the academic demands of the third semester (out of four total) are three to four times greater. No longer can I do an hour here, and hour there, and then a few hours on one day to keep up. It's two to four hours per day, every day.
Which means that is two to four hours per day that I cannot take care of things around the house.
This thought popped when thinking about Thanksgiving. We have 8 people coming over, so having dinner for 12. I'm going to make turkey, stuffing (okay - dressing,) mashed potatoes, and mac 'n' cheese. I was also going to make pumpkin pie and gravy. All from scratch. Okay, I wouldn't make the the bread for the stuffing from scratch. But, I would chop everything, use gizzards for the gravy, and make chicken stock from chicken bones and mirepoix, make the pie crust from scratch, and make the filling from scratch (like, roast the pumpkin and sweet potatoes) and so on.
However, in the next three weeks of school, I have a major project, several smaller projects, and a couple hundred pages to read (and comprehend and be able to make healthcare decisions based on.)
So now I get to make a choice: do homemade, or semi-homemade.
I think that the choice is simple, but it rips my heart out.
I think we all have a craft that can be replaced by today's automation and prefabrication. I don't want to say that it's a shame, exactly - it enables people to use their time for the pursuits of their fancy.
Of course, a whole discussion could be made about the choices that people make. For example, better to learn to cook, sew, or build, or to binge watch Netflix and scroll through social media?
So, as I make my list, I think I'm going to have to choose which thing I make from scratch. I'm pretty sure that I'll stick to turkey, that unforgiving protein that is so easily ruined (and so often,) mac 'n' cheese (which is primarily made by my younger child,) and mashed potatoes (because that's really easy and forgiving.) Stuffing: you're coming out of a box. Stock: box. Whipped cream: can. Gravy: can.
I recently heard someone say (I wish I could cite the source right now) that you don't know when it is that you'll do something for the last time. It could be getting picked up and held by your parent, picking up and holding your child, or seeing a friend. For a homemaker, there will be a last time that I walk a child to school. A last time that I yell at a child for failing to do a chore or for talking back. There will be a last time that I clean up a child's mess. A last time that the child walks through the door after school, home safe and with something new to tell me. There is a last time.
Perhaps last year was the last time that I will have made everything from scratch. Will I miss it? I just don't know.
