Today marks the first day of fourth grade for my daughter. To make it special, we always buy a cute outfit and I make a delicious breakfast of their choosing. Well, kind of. As executive chef, I have the power to kibosh anything that doesn’t meet my criteria.
“I want doughnuts,” she declared.
“I’m not going to the store at dawn to buy you fresh doughnuts,” I countered. “Pick anything I can make at home.”
I listed off sweet breads, cinnamon rolls, waffles, egg souffle and pancakes before she ultimately decided upon crepes with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
Note to my daughter’s anti-junk-food school: We made her a protein shake chock full of fresh fruit and vitamins, which should delay her sugar crash by at least a couple of hours. #You’reWelcome
And then I had a near-sleepless night. I’d like to say it was back-to-school jitters but it was mostly an overheated house and a night-before-Christmas mentality that I’ll finally have a few hours to myself every day. OK, that might very well be better than Christmas.
After tossing and turning for hours, I gave in to my insomnia and started working at 4:45 a.m. A couple of hours later, I trudged down to the kitchen to start her breakfast. Soon, I noticed a putrid smell, took a big whiff and realized it was coming from the milk. Are. You. Kidding. Me? If you’ve never made crepes, this is a key ingredient.
My daughter started coming down the stairs at that exact moment I was leaving.
“What are you doing?” she queried.
“The milk is bad. I’m going to the store!” Where I proceeded to buy more milk and also some….
.…doughnuts.
With a start like that, this is going to be a long year.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 