"My mom is a fontaholic"

I didn't intend for this to be the follow-up post to my thoughts on Oprah yesterday, it just happened this morning so here it is for you today. In case it ever happens that I get dragged onto a show like "Dr. Phil", I will have proof in pictures, that my children didn't have an awful childhood.
I am hoping that my mothering will actually produce happy, well-adjusted, contributing members of society, but one never knows for sure. So, today when I mixed up pancake batter for breakfast I found myself AND all four kids in such a great mood that I not only made the enhanced pancake recipe off the side of the Bisquick box- I also poured the batter out into letters and shapes too. For you die-hard scrappers- you are probably smiling, like I was earlier, when I made the pancake collage and imagined the newest CK Pancake Batter Font. Like the Heidi Swapp Kitchen-Aid, it has not yet hit the market...but I've sure got the ideas flowing around here lately! Wait til I get home from my weekend Scrap Event!
Back to my thoughts on pancakes...
You never know if your kids are really getting all that you do for them and how much you would sacrifice in your life for the sake of their happiness and well-being. I was the person who never, EVER wanted kids- I think deep down I knew just how much was involved with raising great ones- and in my early twenties I decided I was not among the chosen who should take on such responsibilty. You should applaud me for being so young- and yet so in tune with my inner self and my abilities!
Flash forward 10/15 years and here I am asking my kids if they want their pancake letters "serif or sans serif". [I told you I was obsessed with fonts! It's just a part of me...it's a minor thing in the big picture of parenting- so just let it go for now.] I was thinking back to the memories I have of my mom making 'initial pancakes' for breakfast. It was something she did to make being a kid fun at that moment...and now I realize she did it because she cared about us having a great life. It takes maybe an extra minute or two in the overall scheme of breakfast. But in the overall memories of childhood it actually means so much more. I realized today, as I poured out the pancake batter in the shape of a star that I was so blessed with my family and all the things that made up my childhood experiences. I don't think I've been appreciative enough for how simple and yet, wonderful it really was. I had two parents who loved each other and my siblings so much. I can't think of a single time in which they fought or argued in front of us. They gave us rules and discipline and boundaries- and at the same time they gave us love and rewards and freedom.
I can only hope that as much as my kids enjoyed their pancakes at breakfast, that they will someday grow up to appreciate that it was more than just my love of letters and shapes. It was more than just my desire for them to have a good time at breakfast. It is my longing for them to recognize their value, worth and potential. And my dream for them to be able to live that out however they choose to do so. Yes, that's a picture of my son, Brock, enjoying his "B" pancake and strawberries...and playing GameBoy Advance too. And no, it's not even 10 am yet. I guess that's how balance looks in my home at breakfast at this point in my life. That's my Nitty.Gritty. thoughts on pancakes.