A (French) Toast to My Mom

One of the grandest things I have discovered about the blessed summer holiday teachers are granted is the amount of time one has to reflect and cook.

This morning I did both, simultaneously. I woke up craving my favorite of mom's breakfast treats - one that usually was served at dinner time instead of sunrise - french toast. I realized it had been a while since my last attempt to recreate her masterpiece. If my children are to understand my love for the most important meal of the day, I had better get cooking, finding some way, any way, to make it closer to as good as mom's.

In what I think is typical mommy fashion, I prepared Sundae's food before my own, though my tummy growled as she ate and she growled when she was done, knowing something better was in store for me. Sundae is becoming more like her parents everyday, pointing for the jellies and powdered sugar rather than the yet-to-be-sweetened egg-soaked bread. I imagine her covered in the sweet stuff and laugh. It's moments like these, I bet, that make hunger bearable for busy wives and mothers. Now I know why mom really waited until the whole batch was done to set the table and serve everyone; what a frustrating mess we would have made from the delightful condiments.

Flipping the last slice, not far from my mind, in the dream I think every new mom has to be a wonderful mother, are all the Hollywood breakfasts, scripted with jolly language, cute pajamas and enough room on the table for an open newspaper and four servings of milk, oj, pancakes and dad's choice of meat. This struck me as hysterical when I placed the frying pan and egg bowl in the sink. How many women out there are actually whipping up Denny's Grand Slams daily for their husband and children, who, if they are anything like my students, probably give themselves very little time to enjoy such cuisine? And surely in these hard economic times a magic dish fairy is hard to keep up with, so super-moms who answered joyfully, "I do!" to my first question, how do you do it???

During the wait for an honest answer, a new part of my heart will belong to the cereal, frozen waffle, granola bar, yogurt and fruit industries, the morning boosts my friends and loved ones are most familiar with. I bet the OBGYN on yesterday's The Early Show, who reminded mothers and moms-to-be that their children are what they eat during pregnancy, would agree with these foods, for they are packed with energy and satisfyingly sweet, without being over the top. Who wants an over the top kid?

As for the french toast on my plate that rebels against my parents' mandate: you may choose syrup OR powdered sugar but NOT both... Well, I snicker now, understanding that it may be the root to one of the many fiesty, sugar-crashed tantrums our child will share with the family, betting that I will remember this blog and breakfast during one of those very challenging moments and sigh, not of regret, no, but in thanksgiving. Hooray that dinner will be planned that night - breakfast for dinner, piles of french toast for all, maybe even with Grandma Kitchen as the guest of honor.