The Promise of a Pancake Breakfast

There are few things in life that can get me out of bed. Looking over to my clock and seeing the number 7:43AM is one of them. Awakening and immediately realizing it is a long awaited day, like Christmas day or a birthday or the day you leave for a trip, is also one of them. The sound of my dad's feet as he walks in to check to make sure my brother and I are up and moving is definitely one of them. But the absolute hands-down best, is waking up a text or a parent or a warming smell saying, "Get up! Mom made pancakes!!! Everything's going to be ok!"


My family lives off pancakes. I would say once a week at the minimum we have them. They're easy, they're quick, they're relatively healthy (props to momma for making this one possible), and they're cheerful. We even eat them for dinner more often then my mother would like to admit. We even have pancake stencils in fun holiday shapes that came in handy when we had pancakes for dinner on Christmas night. Currently I would say I have 5 main food groups: coffee, cliff bars, greek yogurt, chocolate anything, and pancakes. When I go out to eat, I get pancakes. Over Easy: oatmeal pancakes. Cracker Barrel: Wild Blueberry pancakes. Another Broken Egg: banana's foster pancakes. I literally am a pancake addict. 


My brother, Wayne, or fondly known as Goober, is the single best pancake maker in the world and I dare you to try to tell me otherwise. Yes, he is a 15 year old boy, and yes, you could say he should be "too cool for this", and yes people often call him "Pancake". Does he care? Nope. See? Pancakes bring out the best in people...for my mom it makes her feel like the "provider" and the domesticated do-it-all mom who can pull off a big breakfast before a day at work. For Goob, it gives him self-confidence (I think...?). For Dad, it makes his job of waking us up in the morning a lot easier. Which are you more likely to get out of bed too? "Allison! Time to get up and go eat your healthy cereal or microwave oatmeal that makes you smell like maple syrup all day!" (Actually I'm a recovering oatmeal addict so I really don't hate on the Quaker that much) or "Allison! Time to get up and go eat your warm, filling, and utterly delicious pancakes!" I think we all know the answer to this one.


I look forward to Saturday mornings for this reason alone. You take your time, make a cup of coffee, turn on the TV, and ease into your free day with some quality pancake make-age. When you wake up to pancakes, you know it's going to be a good day. How can't it be? They force you to slow down...you can't just microwave, unwrap, or open them. You have to prepare and enjoy them, and not to just get the job done. 


As I was writing this, I started to get excited and planned to make pancakes for a Tuesday morning pick me up. Then Wayne walks in and says we have to leave at 7:10 tomorrow to get to his Key Club meeting. Yes, I didn't make that club 3 years in a row, and yes I still have to take Wayne to the dumb meetings because he made it on the first try. (I've been trying to refrain from saying my life is a joke because it's really not but...you have to admit this is ridiculously ironic. Even for my standards!) So tomorrow looks like an oatmeal/cliff bar/cinnamon toast/non-pancake morning. Dang it. 


To the pancake and back,
Allie


"Why are we inspired by another person's courage? Maybe because it gives us the sweet and genuine surprise of discovering some trace, at least, of the same courage in ourselves." - Laurence Shames