breakfast as the family dinner

I was talking with my girlfriend, Kathi, the other day about family time. At our house, dinner tends to be the main meal since my husband, Paul, has SO many early conference calls. But at Kathi’s, breakfast is their main family mealtime since her husband often works late. They have a lovely daily ritual of a home-cooked breakfast (Kathi is the wunderfind behind KatieLou Desserts in Los Angeles), lots of “check in” time about what the day will bring followed by her husband walking their son to school.

I love how Kathi’s family emphasizes, “What does your day hold?” versus “How was your day?” It’s a subtle shift in outlook, but really powerful, in my opinion.

What’s ahead is always filled with the promise of good things whereas what’s behind can be a mixed bag of both good and bad. Not that there is anything wrong with reviewing your day, of course! I believe we learn as much from things that go wrong as we do from things that turn out all right. But how lovely to start out each day with such a positive outlook!

So, our weekday family breakfasts will have a slightly different character from here on out: what does YOUR day hold?

P.S. The delicious blueberry pancakes above were made by my teenage son, Dane. One of the joys of your children getting older is that they will start making breakfast for you on occasion. Dane had the best time tweaking the Krusteaz buttermilk mix. Not only did he add fresh blueberries, he embellished the recipe with both orange AND lemon zest. The semi-subtle hints of citrus were amazing to say the least!