On the Need to Breathe, Reboot, Be Happy
“Sometimes I get frustrated
I just want everyone to go away
Sometimes I roar like a lion cub
That’s when Mama knows I need a little extra love”
From the song “Sometimes” (by Frances England)
I walked into the kitchen on Wednesday morning and sniffed the air. “Am I baking something?” I asked myself, and Self replied, “Nope, the oven light’s not on.”
Self failed to look at the pot on the stove.
I’d started a batch of oatmeal and promptly forgot.
I flipped it out onto a plate and called, “Hey look, you guys! It’s oatmeal cake!”
This was a novelty.
But was it good?
Feeling bold and inspired, Angela made oatmeal cake frosting…
…aka lots of brown sugar and cream…
…then she stuck in a candle and served it up.
It was good, actually! Unexpectedly, sweetly, happily good.
Even the baby decided to grin and wear it.
The point of this post? Does there need to be one?
Okay, how about this: Sometimes we just need to stop and reboot. We goof; we argue; we screw up the soup (or the oatmeal). I have a child–okay, how ’bout seven?–with whom it is necessary to often reboot. She has even learned to come and ask me:
“Can we reboot?”
And I say yes.
“The highs soar above my head
The lows I wish would stay under my bed
These feelings I have as I grow
I take the highs and get through the lows.”
I’ll leave you with three favorite things on this frosty Friday:
- One, Frances England. LOVE her.
- Two, this recipe. (Unlike the oatmeal, it’s supposed to be cake.) I made it last night for my Well-Read Mom book club and it was yum, absolutely yum. It’s from Smitten Kitchen! How could it not be good?
- And finally, three: This website!!! It’s got several free read-alouds for the kiddos, though I’m thinking of paying to get them all because I am just that big a book glutton.
Happy weekend, everyone! Don’t forget to breathe, reboot and above all, be happy.
I love the Overdrive app for our local library. Free books and audiobooks to download for a 14 day loan period. Although I still love the feel of a real book, this is great for the days where I can't make it to the library. maybe this is available in your area, too!
That. Is. Awesome. 🙂 glad it turned out well. 🙂
Love this post. I would have probably just tossed it but you ended up with a special treat!
Love your outllook Margaret. I need to be working on this. Oh and that flopped oatmeal looks yummy!
I love this post for so many (obvious) reasons!
I would have mumbled something not-so-nice under my breath and then ordered the kids to take the oatmeal to the chickens.
But, yes…need to reboot. Totally get that.
That's exactly what I was thinking! The mumbling and feeding the chickens. The hens would have loved it, but we would have missed out on the oatmeal cake!
Just like me, I know you are always looking for healthy energy options and also weight loss help, and I have some great products to share with you; oh my gosh and one even helps me on those super panic, overloaded homeschooling mother of many days. I would love to share how my family and I have benefited from this great nutrition. Please contact me at boldfamily@charter.net. God bless you and your beautiful family.
Yay for you Maggie!! I would have dumped it in the garbage and yelled, "Granola bars for breakfast!"
I would like to invite myself to your happy home for some oatmeal cake! I want you to know that I have an Angela, and she definitely adds the spices of creativity and annoyance to my life.
I love this! As I said to Meghan above, it would have been fed to our chickens too.
But I SOOOO get the reboot. Around here from the time our son was small, we've called it "starting fresh." He's got Asperger's, so sometimes pretty extreme meltdowns are our reality. For a long stretch they were bad. It got harder and harder to "start fresh" and really mean it. But we had to, and still have to. I think Reboot is a wonderful way to express it.
It can be so good to "reboot" a situation, but sometimes challenging (for this momma at least) to truly reboot my perspective (attitude, mood, etc.).
Thanks for the beautiful reminder!
And I LOVE the oatmeal cake icing!