One of my favorite memories from childhood is waking up on a Saturday morning to the smell of eggs scrambling and homemade waffles hot off the iron. In the distance, my ears would hear the comforting sound of John Denver blaring from the cassette deck (I’m dating myself now). My Dad had a sweet way of stimulating all of our senses and creating lasting memories in the process. My three siblings and I often reflect on those fun filled Saturday mornings.
On any of these typical Saturday mornings, I would leisurely wake up and saunter to the kitchen where my mouth would immediately begin to salivate and my nose would shift into overdrive. As I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, I would focus on my crazy, fun-loving Dad dancing around the island making his entire audience laugh. Sometimes we would sit down and inhale our breakfast while watching the entertainment, and other times we would join in on all the excitement. My Dad would grab the child who was closest to him, and shimmy and twirl and swoop, and hold...until we were dizzy with laughter. Many of the crazy made-up dances are still happily etched in my memory. Music, dancing, laughter, and food – what a wonderful way to start the day!
I have carried on that family tradition with my kids. My girls love to wake up naturally and race to the kitchen to find me shaking my thing and whipping up something extra-Saturday-morning-special for breakfast. Saturday mornings have such a fun and relaxing feel to them compared to the hustle and bustle of a school morning. I can take the extra time to make pink homemade pancakes and dance around the island to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”. The best part of this ritual is that I’m not in this alone. It’s so fun seeing my girls, all of them, jumping right in…making their own memories and carrying on our fun and wacky family tradition! When I yell, "Shake it, girls!"...the frenzy begins! Music, dancing, laughter, and food – what a wonderful way to start the day!
