Saturday, January 24, 2009

Breakfast Back Home

i'm in another writing class and have an assignment coming due and figure maybe you can help.

i'm wondering what comes to mind when you think of breakfast on school mornings as a kid. here are some things to get us started:

the "mmm, mmm, good" bowl (from cheerios?)
oatmeal with brown sugar and a lump of butter
half a glass of orange juice
king vitamin cereal
bouncing cross-legged outside the bathroom door waiting my turn
ivan sleeping by the stove
water heating on the upside-down milk crate on top of the woodstove
"kids say the darndest things" on the radio
wake-up lists on the table
watching out the window for the bus coming from warwas' direction
phenobarbital (was that in the mornings?) for some
cod liver oil pill
chewable vit c
mom in pj's; isa in a welding hat liner (and clothes, too, of course)
isa's lunch pail and thermos
becky doing chores
milk cooling in the sink with cream rising to the top

anybody want to play? post some memorable items/words in the comments section - i'll use them in my story and post whatever it is i come up with in a couple of days.

thanks
e.

11 comments:

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

Becky can correct me if I'm wrong but I think she did evening chores,
not morning. I do remember Warwas
kids wondering why we watch them walk to the gate. We weren't watching them, we were looking to
see the bus!

On Sunday mornings Isä would make
pancakes but Charlie and David always ate so many more than Jen
so he started making small ones for Jen so her numbers were up there with the big kids.

Please, when you get that story written, could I have a copy? dk

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

Oh, come on you ABCs, make some
comments. Anxious to read them. dk

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

I shared the memories that I had with Elizabeth over the phone yesterday, but. . . here are a couple for you Mom.

The first time I was left home alone was one morning when Mom needed to run to Takala's to get milk and asked if I would be okay. I was sitting there shaking (and I'm sure tears were streaming) while watching all the big kids going to catch the bus. David walked up to me and said that if I would be very brave, I could have his Coke. I took it, sipped it slowly and before I knew it Mom was back home.

I remember Christmas morning being the only one David would wake up for.

I remember shortly being before Charlie and David dropped out, Mom would be yelling at them to wake up and when they appeared to not be going to school that day, she said, "fine, right your own excuse!

In high school, I remember Ivan's breakfast consisting of Peanut Butter Cups and Mountain Dew.

I remember being so excited that I could go to Cherry, so I could beg you siblings for rides to school instead of taking the bus. Getting a ride meant I didn't have to get up earlier.

Those are some of my memories, but being the caboose, I sure wouldn't mind hearing what you all had to put up with! :)

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

I didn't know what oatmeal was for years and had no idea that I was eating it and called it puttoa (I don't know how to spell it). Anyway, I think it was Gary that was asked by Mrs. Jurenus (?) what he had for breakfast, he tells her puttoa (?) and she didn't believe him as there was no such thing. Mom had to clarify.

Hoping for days it was Cream of Wheat rather than oatmeal (okay, it was more like - "Is it the smooth stuff or chunky stuff?")

The MMM,MMM good bowl is from Campbell's.

Will try to think of more

Heather

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

sorry i have not read this untill now. The problem is i can not think of anything. As I was reading the things you put down to start with I thought, yea thats right, I remember that. I do not remember anything else though. This is crazy, I am not getting that old. I think when you get into the elder years you start remembering things that you had not thought about for years. Hopefully that happens to me.
Frans

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

I can relate to comments from Frans :) Must just not be old enough yet to remember!

Ma, you are right. My normal chores were in the evening. I only did the morning chores if Isa wasn't able to for some reason.

The most vivid memories for me are already captured... Oatmeal for breakfast and Art Linkletter's "Kid's Say the Darnest Things." In earlier years, I remember watching Arfie to tell us when the bus was coming. Standing at the end of the driveway waiting for the bus and taking in the scenery, I recall being amazed at how at times the smoke from the chimneys would go straight up for a long, long time before the wind would finally start to take it. Those were usually pretty cold mornings.

Who used the "MMM MMM Good" bowl? I don't remember it!

I still put more than 3 cans of water in my frozen juice concentrate.

When we have oatmeal, we have it with a dab of butter and brown sugar.

I don't recall the scramble of getting backpacks stuffed like we experience in our house. Did we have things ready the night before? I know we didn't use backpacks in elementary and we didn't need to take a lunch, but didn't we have other things to bring back and forth?

Thanks for initiating this call to remember. I will follow with interest.
-b

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

I remember listening to Bargain Mart in the mornings as well.
H

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

I guess I don't remember much. Who had seizures? When did I eat Reese's for breakfast? As Ross Perot's running mate said "Who am I? Why am I here?" Ivan

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

Yes, I added more than 3 cans of
water but everyone drank so much I
think they got the required amount
of juice. I had forgot about that bowl. Heather had the
seizures when she got a high fever. Started with her DBT shot.
They had to quit one part of it but even so, when her fever went up for any reason, she had one. She was on phenobarb but as she'd
gain weight the doseage should have been increased but we didn't go in until she had another one!
Will tell a Bargain Mart story at
another time.

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

Frans ... I think I have an excuse for the memory thing.

It is funny that until I read "Kids say the Darndest Things", I wouldn't have remembered it.

When it was probably just Becky & myself catching the bus, we had the most darling umbrellas. At least I remember them that way. They weren't nearly as cute when the bus came. Embarrased to be caught standing at the end of the driveway with the thing, it was pitched in the ditch the moment I saw the bus.

Did Art Linkletter's voice come across the sound waves out of that brown radio on the kitchen window sill?

I still don't eat oatmeal. :) My kids ate it for a long time with brown sugar and ice cream.

Has been fun reading these!

-a

Kuoppala and Inlaws said...

I always listened to Bargain Mart.
Then they took it off the air.
Wrote to Louise Grams that the only
reason I have a radio is to listen
to Bargain Mart and now that it is
off the air, can't even sell the
radio. She saw Elizabeth at KFC and asked if Diane was her mother.
She thought my letter was cute. dk