Appliances
After a Divorce, Who Gets the KitchenAid?
Stand mixers aren't just appliances; they're talismans for a certain kind of adulthood. What do you do with them when your life goes in a different direction?
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19 Comments
Just last night, I pulled them out. I wiped down the Kitchenaid. I discovered it was too painful to look at -- this unmistakable symbol of domesticity and stability and what "married life" is supposed to be. For now, I found a spot for it in my small, unfamiliar rental kitchen, but it's in the back of a cabinet, not proudly displayed on the counter. Hopefully one day I'll start to associate it with the future and not the past, but for right now, it feels like a glaring reminder of the life I had envisioned, and how far we have come from that point. Thank you for this beautiful and timely article that encompasses so much of what I feel right now.
I'ma stop you right there. Your KitchenAid has zero to do with marriage or domesticity. Your KitchenAid represents possibility, growth, and the maturing of your cooking chops. Your KitchenAid does not require you have a spouse, it requires you have a mouth. Strip away the dank filter of your painful past and admire your KitchenAid through hopeful eyes.
My daughter is 2 years older than you and has been an addict for over half her life. I know that pain. Let 2023 be a year of rediscovery for you. Remember who you are. Remember what made you excited to have the KitchenAid in the first place and light that creative fuse. You have no limits. Read that again. You. Have. No. Limits.
I love this article and it’s very well written. I hope you find just the right one to set you on your new path!
As we approach a season of family, whatever family means to each of us, I found the article title shocking and inappropriate. The article content did not necessarily demand that title. The article content might even be interesting, but I am so angry about the title that I can't be fair to the content.
FWIW, I have been divorced 3x - not something that I am proud of. None of the "stuff" has ever mattered in the process. No children. Pets, which I claimed and thankfully no disagreements over them. And ... I have a Kenwood mixer purchased by me, for me after a lot of research. If I ever upgrade, it will be an Ankarsrum.
After my divorce, I gave our large, sturdy, white KitchenAid mixer to a friend to use to mix their ceramic glazes. A few years later, I bought a smaller ice blue stand mixer that fits beautifully in MY kitchen and is the perfect size for my family. Thanks for sharing your story, Eve.
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