When I was growing up, milk and cereal was a rare treat. Money was tight, and there were more frugal options for meals than the expensive boxed cereals. As a child, I remember gazing at a bowl of cereal and milk and thinking it was a true luxury item.

Once, on a school field trip to the local jail, we were told that the prisoners only got cold cereal for breakfast. It took me a minute to realize that “cold cereal” was actually “milk and cereal”. I was in awe that prisoners got to have such a wonderful breakfast! I thought it would be more fitting if they were served hot oatmeal.

This attitude toward milk and cereal has carried over into my habits as an adult. Cereal is purchased only as a special treat, and milk is not dispensed freely. With a family our size, a box of cereal lasts for only one breakfast, if we’re lucky. So when a friend at church said that her children ate cereal every morning for breakfast, I asked in amazement how she could afford it? She replied that the children only get one bowl of cereal, and if they’re still hungry after that, they eat other things. What a concept! It never occurred to me to limit portion size. I always just stood back in amazement as the children consumed bowl after bowl.

With that plan in mind, I put on my brave face, steeled myself against the frowning price labels, and put a couple of boxes of cereal in the cart next time I was buying groceries.
“One bowl only!”, I told the children the next morning. They scarfed down that bowl and then looked at me with pleading eyes.

“But I’m still hungry”, they said.

“Sorry. Eat something else.”

Amazingly, they survived.

As you might imagine, cereal quickly became a favorite, easy, breakfast option. I think my grinch heart grew two sizes!

I’m a different woman now. Last night in the store, I picked up eight boxes of cereal to stock my bare pantry shelves. When we got home, I told Amelia to pick her four favorites to put out for breakfast. This morning, the kids excitedly got their bowls and made their selections.

And then something happened that has never happened before.

Miguel was sitting on a little step-stool, using the first step as his seat and the second step as his table. I don’t know how it happened, but halfway through his little breakfast, he tipped over backwards, and his bowl of cereal landed squarely on his chest. Milk and cereal was dripping all over his face, neck and bare tummy. His bowl was still sitting on his little chest, and there were puddles of milk and cereal on the floor around him. Faithful Mac was on the job instantly, licking up the milk and munching the cereal bits. I first scooped the precious cereal back into the bowl off of Miguel’s chest, and then wiped off the crying boy with a towel.

My children have made many messes in the past twelve and a half years, and there have been some interesting ones! But this one makes the record book for being the first of its kind here.

Now I’m left with the dilemma of how to get milk out of the cracks between the boards on the kitchen floor. Mac did the best he could with his pink tongue, but he couldn’t quite reach all the way down. Any suggestions?