Our family has a conflicted relationship to oatmeal. I loathed oatmeal when I was a child and would eat the tiniest portion I could get away with for breakfast. For many years, when I was old enough to choose my own breakfasts, I chose things other than oatmeal. Then when I was all grown up with
children, David started making oatmeal for us, and I discovered that with apples and dried fruits and nuts and milk, I actually like oatmeal. Maybe even love it.
So I felt the tiniest bit of sympathy when our second son decided he hated oatmeal, but I also felt sure that if he just added the right stuff, he would eventually love it too. This was not true. He still hates oatmeal. He's moved away from home now, but his attitude has slowly drifted down to the other kids. Every time I make oatmeal more and more is left in the pot until, recently, David and I are the only ones who eat more than a spoonful.
I'm not ready to give up oatmeal as a breakfast option, so I decided bold steps were in order. A couple of weeks ago, I announced that the next morning we were going to have Apple Crisp in a Bowl for breakfast. I made oatmeal as usual, including the cut-up apples I usually put in it, and I stirred in sugar and cinnamon and nuts and dried cranberries, instead of putting them on the table separately. I also put our can of whipped cream on the table. Isaac was enthusiastic from the start and ate two huge bowlfuls topped by tufts of whipping cream. Eleanor was dubious. "Isn't this just oatmeal?" she asked suspiciously. But she ended up having seconds too. Only Emma Lucy remains unmoved.
And last week Isaac was the one to suggest we have Apple Crisp in a Bowl for breakfast.
3 comments:
I love it! It's the same with "Mike's skillet supper", which the kids turn their noses up at, but could also go by the name "Paella" and they would think it was gourmet!
That looks yummy .... my kids adore oatmeal and will eat more than I will most mornings -- I'm afraid what would happen if I add all of that yummy stuff to make *me* like it more :)
On another note, I would love to read about what brought you to all the different countries -- have you already written a post about that? Could you send me the link?
Laura,
I posted a bit about what we've travelled with at the post called "Kitchen Stuff" and "Travelling with Stuff" and "Maybe Six Months?" (sorry I don't know how to do html links in my comment; you can put the title in the search engine at the top of the page and it should show up).
The short answer is, that when an employer is willing to ship our stuff, we happily bring all the household goods they let us. We have decided not to let the absence of that shipping allowance keep us from great opportunities, though, so we've also travelled with just what we can bring in our suitcases on the airplane.
A scary amount of weight is always taken up by books. More than anything else, we miss books in English (and libraries!) when we're abroad. We bought a e-reader for this trip, and it's helped the big people, but we've only found one kid's book we were looking for available in that format. :(
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