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Breakfast Lessons From My Son

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 17, 2008

Breakfast with one of the children is always a treat now that they all have homes of their own. On a quick and unexpected visit from his home in Michigan, our son Paul was spending several days with us and breakfast suddenly became hot coffee and whatever.

"Whatever" is a big deal when one of our children comes home. Our normal simple meal of dry cereal, half a bagel and coffee becomes considerably more elaborate. We drag out the smoked salmon, tomatoes, onions and cream cheese. Peanut butter goes on the table to melt on the hot toasted bagels along with butter and a variety of cheeses. Scrambled eggs with spring onions and feta cheese are whipped up. Flavored coffee is brewed, and when Paul is visiting there is always orange juice - vast quantities of the stuff (with pulp).

It's not that my children are picky or even demanding. It's just that I have a reputation to uphold. I want to be remembered by them for my breakfasts. Really great ones have leftover birthday cake. Ones planned in advance have muffins. And the piece de resistance ones have freshly made fruit salads.

So on this particular morning, I began to spread the feast on the tableclothed kitchen table (we usually eat on bare wood). The meal grew until the table was full.

Timing the eggs just right, to be made when the coffee was hot, I breathed a sigh of relief and brought the steaming plates and glass mugs to the table.

My final act before sitting down was to grab the morning's vitamins and bring them to the table. My husband's vitamins are in a blue plastic container and mine are in pink. We keep the pills divided into weekly amounts to make retrieval quick and efficient. We can look at each little divided space and know that if only three are left, we have taken today's recommended daily allowance. And sprinkled among the multiple vitamin, the vitamin C, the calcium, the garlic, the fish oil and the glucosamine, are several pills for high blood pressure and one for cholesterol.

I sat down with satisfaction, pleased once again to have risen to the occasion. Paul surveyed the groaning table and his eyes stopped and rested on the pink and blue containers. Eying them suspiciously, he tilted his head to one side and looked at us with a glance that held just a hint of seriousness.

"Mom...Dad," he intoned with mock concern and the patience of someone trying out a new role. "How many times do I have to tell you to 'just say no to drugs?'"

Laughter exploded around the table. The juxtaposition of years and responsibility was so ludicrous, so ironic and so perfectly timed that we spent the entire breakfast chuckling over the transition.

It is a moments such as these - when our children let us know that they heard our admonitions, understood them and the reason for them, and appreciated our interest in their lives - that they return the favor.

And as we age into the possibility that they may at some time move from caring about us to caring for us as well, it is very reassuring to feel those moments of camaraderie and commitment.

Judy Kramer can be reached by e-mail at JudyandOz@tampabay.rr.com.

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