A RealFamilies RealFun Blog

Jul 22 2008

Eggs or Bread?

Category: Come and Get It

There are two different kinds of breakfast people -- egg people and bread people. Egg people love eggs in all its forms for breakfast -- scrambled, poached, in omelets, fried, and so on. Bread people love pastries, toast, donuts, oatmeal, cereal, breakfast bars, and rolls for the first meal of the day.

Granted there are hybrid people who like a combination of both eggs and bread. They eat egg burritos, eggs Benedict, or a fried egg on their pancakes. My family -- both the one I grew up with and the one I created -- is equally divided between egg people and bread people.

My mom, Nathan, and Paul are egg people. Lucie, my sister, and I are bread people. My dad was a reformed egg person. When I was small he'd have two soft boiled eggs every morning. By the time I was in high school, he switched over to oatmeal, multi-grained toast, and yogurt.

All throughout my childhood, my mother's favorite breakfast was a large cheese omelet. Still, I'll never forget her attempts at eating oatmeal. She thought oatmeal was food for horses, not people. Nevertheless she gave it a try on recommendation from her doctor. Her attempts to disguise the taste and texture -- cream, butter, and sugar -- defeated the purpose of trying to lower her cholesterol, so she quickly gave it up.

Nathan and Paul love their eggs. Nathan's always on some egg food jag or another. For two weeks he ate mashed up hard boiled eggs with salt and pepper for his school lunch. (He'd have his teacher heat it up in the microwave.) Also, he's always begging Paul to make him an egg burrito on the weekends, or for me to cook him up what we call an egg pocket, a folded over fried egg with cheese in the middle.

Paul is a master omelet maker -- crab, fancy cheeses, avocado, shrimp, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Mmmmm...even I'll go over to the egg side occasionally for one of his fabulous creations. But ultimately, I'm a bread person, preferring a bowl of oatmeal or a toasted bagel with cream cheese. Lately, I totally agree with Lucie's breakfast philosophy. When I ask her what she wants for breakfast, she says, "Mama, I want toast with butter and jam. Toast is good. It makes you feel better."

 

Jul 21 2008

It's nice to share...not!

Category: At Home

It's inevitable that when we all sit down to drink a soda, Lucie will say something like, "Let's share!" But when asked to share a toy with Nathan, she refuses and starts yelling "Mine!"

Maybe I should learn to use my words, too.

 

Jul 18 2008

Girls rule

Category: Just Me

I love hanging around the house when it's just Lucie and me. That's usually the case when Nathan's in school and Paul's at work. Unfortunately, I always have a full day of working on the computer or around the house. Sometimes we have a full day of errands to run. Then before I know it, it's time to pick up Nathan and boys invade our girls-only world.

It's rare to have a whole day to ourselves without the boys. It's nice on so many levels. First, it's much quieter around here without the children fighting over everything from stickers to parental attention. Then Paul's not here to turn the kitchen into a combination brewery, greasy spoon, plant nursery, and aquarium cleaning service. It's not that I don't love Paul and Nathan's company. However, it's rather soothing to get away from their male energy and its associated smells, noise and mess.

With the boys away fishing, Lucie and I spent the morning in bed eating the chocolates Paul brought back from his business trip to Europe, watching cartoons, and reading. We didn't get out of our jammies until well past noon. It was a glorious, relaxing day.

It's good to be a girl.