My Journey to Becoming a Domestic Goddess: Breakfast

I have a confession. I don't eat breakfast. I haven't for so long, I can't eat too early now without getting sick. That also means I never really developed the skills for making breakfast foods beyond a bowl of cereal. I can make a few of the basics, like bacon (great for cheeseburgers) and hard boiled eggs (for the potato salad to go with said burgers). But when it comes to things like pancakes, mine were never very good.

Then I married my husband, and started getting spoiled. When he was a teen, he got a job working in a diner--the kind that makes breakfast all day. He learned how to make all of those diner-breakfast kind of foods, and put those skills to use for me. Breakfast in bed for Mother's day, or sometimes just because he felt like it. He made breakfast for my family when we were visiting on summer vacation. It's something he's good at and loves to do.

But when I started re-evaluating my parenting skills, I became very unsatisfied with the kids eating cold cereal on a frigid winter morning to then be thrust out of the house to trudge to school. I didn't want to ask my hubby to get up early to make them a hot breakfast, and in the middle of last winter he switched jobs and was working weekday mornings all through training; so all of the sudden, there I was, hugely pregnant, waking up much earlier than I had been to get my oldest up and ready for school. The more she ate cold cereal each morning, the more I would think about my wonderful second mom.

My mom teaches parenting classes (along with divorced parents classes, law classes, and divorce classes) and one of the things she tells her students is to find ways to motivate your kids. We all know how hard it is to get kids out of bed in the morning, especially teenagers. So her tip for motivating them is to make breakfast in the morning. The aromas will draw the kids out of their rooms. And they'll likely get a more well rounded breakfast too. This little tip has always stuck with me, even though my oldest is a natural morning person and rarely has a hard time getting up in the morning. I feel it's important to note that I don't mind the cold cereal every once in a while. It's a good reminder to them of just how wonderful it is to get a hot breakfast. Which brings me back to my lack of breakfast cooking skills.

Over the summer, I've been slowly learning the things I need to know about cooking breakfast foods. I've gotten advice from my husband, and online. And I'm starting to get it all down. My eggs still stick to the pan a bit. But my pancakes, those once dreaded pancakes, now turn out a beautiful golden brown on the outside, and tender in the middle.

Now, my middle child is starting kindergarten. In fact, today is her first day! She's not as much of a morning person, though she does wake up in a good mood when I wake her. This morning, I made pancakes--from scratch! I mixed up the ingredients--wet and dry separately last night, mixed them together this morning as the griddle was heating--and had the kind of breakfast I could be proud of. The best part, the kids loved them! And with all that whole grain goodness, I know they're getting the best possible start to their day.

My house is still a wreck. My laundry needs to be folded. And there are always dishes in my sink. But my kids get a hot, nutritious breakfast, and I didn't even have to get up any earlier to make it. I'm not a perfect mom, but maybe someday I will be. It's all in the journey.