Dread and the Art of Pancake Making

So, I used to be really terrible at pancake making. Like, really terrible. So terrible that Lee used to hover over me in the kitchen, wringing his hands at the thought of what breakfast travesty was about to befall him. For a while, he just took over the breakfasting himself. Ah, those were the days.

Actually we used to not eat breakfast together at all. When I worked, he was still asleep when I left for school. When I quit working, we took turns eating our clif bars [him] and oatmeal [me] in front of the computer, so we could each read the news. Nevermind that we could have turned on the television and just watched the news together.  Somehow, the possibility never crossed our minds.

We didn't really start eating breakfast together daily until the girl started eating breakfast with us. So breakfast has become a major meal in our house--in fact, the only meal where the entire family is present and accounted for.

[Sorry. That got kind of long, didn't it?]

Anyway, Mary Bullock loves pancakes. She only weighs 19 pounds, but the Little can put down three pancakes alongside her yogurt and milk cup in the morning.  So when I woke up this morning filled with dread about leaving her this weekend, my first thought was: pancakes.

Luckily, I have significantly improved my pancake making skills recently. Lee still tries to hover, but even he admits that my pancakes are superior. Today I even gave MB her first lesson in waiting for the bubbles, and then waiting for the smoke signal, and then waiting for the edges to get the look when you know it's time to flip. She is a very observant pupil, but if she's anything like me, the waiting will always be the hard part [and thus, the best lesson pancake making has to teach].

Nevermind the fact that I was so intent on pancake perfection that I forgot the bacon and subsequently microwaved it to within an inch of its life. I'll save multi-tasking for my next lesson in mommyhood. Now that I've conquered the chapter on Pancakes, I'm working on Learning to Let Go of My Baby.

Yeah, so I might be burning the bacon for the next few...decades.