Hearing Gen. Powell last week was truly inspirational. I think everyone has such a "list" - a set of rules that has gotten them where they are today. Some of us clearly have a more thoughtful, consistent approach to formulating these rules, but nonetheless, I took a moment to consider my list. I was going to just read off a few from under the glass on my desk (okay - those of you who know me know that there is a lot of...basically crap...on my desk and no glass and no list but a girl can dream, can't she?).
So what if I don't have a wonderfully neat and organized desk from which to draw these pearls of wisdom? I got me a BLOG!!!!
So here goes! And since I haven't an original thought of my own, I will try to give credit where credit is due (if I can remember that far back)! Please keep in mind that like me, these are random thoughts and in no particular order of importance.
Terri's Rule #1: Breakfast really IS the most important meal of the day!
[learned from your mother]
Well it had to be YOUR mother...it wouldn't have been MY mother. Eleanor was not especially knowledgeable about nutrition. That I imagine comes from having six brothers who, along with their father and even the girls, worked a produce farm in eastern Montana. My grandfather was from the old country (Ireland) and from all accounts the clear head of the McDonagh tribe raising ten kids in post-Depression fashion. Meals, though simple, were noisy, necessary events where there would be some kind of meat (often game and always over-cooked), vegetables (those came directly from the farm) and bread - white bread, homemade (until the store could do it cheaper).
Meals growing up in my mom's house were similarly constructed, though no particular emphasis was given to breakfast (unless it was Sunday - that always involved breakfast out, usually at a buffet). During the week, we (my younger sister and I) were on our own.
Once I married, breakfast with the hubby just became how we started our day. Initially, in the honeymoon phase, it usually quite the fare. Kids come, kids now gone, and Gerry and I still start our day each morning with breakfast together. Most days it's just a bowl of oatmeal (Gerry has his with cranberry sauce...yeah, the stuff you have at Thanksgiving...while I like mine with a bit of brown sugar and golden raisins, thank you very much!) In the summer, oatmeal will give way to a bowl of Cheerios with some granola (I do make a mean granola!) and on weekends, we work together in the kitchen to whip up something a bit more special like eggs or scones. It's how we start each day and surprisingly, or maybe not so much, just that simple meal, grounds me. It gets my day off to it's orderly start and quite literally fuels me for whatever the day is going to throw at me.
My other sister (Dona - I hate calling her my older sister because as the years pass we seem to be getting closer in age. I don't know if that's good for her....or bad for me?), is a librarian at an elementary school. Her husband (Roger) was also an educator. Even I did a brief stint at an elementary school (I highly recommend it!). Without much trouble, you'd be able to identify those kids who came to school without breakfast. Surprisingly (to me anyway) these kids are not always the "free & reduced lunch" kids - the ones who qualify for assistance but most schools only have lunch programs available. In our area, our school was filled with kids from the "MOR" (Middle-of-the-Road income-wise) families - often with mom at home. And still they come to school, not having a thing since last night's dinner.
Ah, Terri, (I hear you say)...no time. Really? Have you tried making oatmeal (even the instant kind - though it's not really as good for you as you might think and regular old fashioned oatmeal takes only 5 minutes and is incredibly cheap!) Or even just cereal (though your kids' teachers would probably prefer them to be sluggish from no breakfast as opposed to bouncing off the walls from chocolatey-sugary-pop cereal)?
But Terri, I try (you say) and they won't eat. I bet they would if you sit down for 5 minutes with them (funny how kids say they don't want to be like their parents and yet they will definitely "do as you do").
Stop making excuses! Give it a try - for a month.
And that's Terri's Rule #1 - simple and yet so effective. Now go make some oatmeal!
~later, tw
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