Food for Thought

Another old piece.

Summer is wonderful. We’ve been enjoying a slightly more relaxed lifestyle now that the school buses are parked. I don’t know what you had for breakfast this morning, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t what I had.

As a mom, I try to be gracious when presented with surprises, though sleep deprivation often keeps grace in a box on the shelf. And most days actually finding that box or even remembering which shelf it’s on is out of the question.

Last night I stayed up late watching Mexico beat Croatia in the World Cup of soccer. For those who are not soccer nuts the World Cup is the biggest men’s sporting event in the universe – though it’s called the World Cup because none of the competing teams are from another planet. It was a good game, though Croatia was not always playing politely (something a Mom notices – even if she is half-Croatian) but I digress.

I woke up tired and didn’t leap out of bed to make breakfast. And my husband didn’t leap out of bed to make breakfast either – which he nearly always does. So the five-year-old made breakfast. To truly appreciate this story you have to know the five-year-old is usually the reason we’re sleep deprived. But lately she’s sleeping through the night and incredibly energized by 6:30 am. So this morning she applied her energies to breakfast. She decided that my breakfast would be served in a bowl. My husband’s cereal was served in a red “You are Special Today” plate. She later told me “it was his turn because you had it last time”.

As a mom I have tried to teach my children the benefits of a balanced diet. I would like to think that is why this morning my cereal bowl was filled with half Harris Teeter Toasted Oats and half La Choy Chow Mein noodles. Admittedly I was still tired when I made it to my cereal bowl. But I managed a cheery “Thank you!” and “what a great breakfast”, added a large helping of blueberries with my soymilk and ate it all up. Then I explained that it was such a special breakfast that I could probably not eat it everyday. The five-year-old looked pleased with herself when she walked away. Then I hid the Chow Mein noodles.

Food for Thought © 2002
Janice Arrowood