"I think I want to eat cereal today" said no husband of mine, ever. He cringes at the very thought of it for breakfast, let alone any other time of the day. So this day must be celebrated in secret. This day calls for a little lunch box lovin'.
I can't wait until the kids open their lunch sacks to find this! Silly, simple little noonday surprise. But do they feel love from a little bowl of their favorite cereal that they never get to have? Yes. So on we celebrate!
Those that know our family know that we celebrate these silly days all of the time - I just spare you the cheesy posts about them. But what you might not know is the root of these celebrations.
When Bridger was born, and then shortly thereafter diagnosed, and shortly after that manifesting the severity of his symptoms, life came to a screeching halt. We could no longer do a majority of the activities that had previously dominated our life and filled it with fun. The exciting vacations, birthday celebrations, outings and holidays were all changed. We were in the hospital for long periods at a time that would have otherwise been a vacation time. There were many months that Bridger didn't sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time all night long because of a horrible medication that he was on which put me in the category of barely surviving and therefore didn't have energy for creating grand birthday celebrations. Life as I knew it was ending and I was desperate to still make it the life that my young children needed. Feeling helpless and overwhelmed one day, I saw that it was National Cookie Day. So while the kids were at school I managed a challenging trip to the grocery store, bought a cookie of every variety, threw up a quick banner and a few balloons I found in a drawer and my tired, depleted self welcomed them home from school to a National Cookie Day party. From their reaction, you would have thought I had just bought them a pony. The look in their eyes and smiles on their faces said, "Mom, this is all we need." As the difficult weeks and months went on, I added more simple celebrations. I would drag them around through an entire day of medical appointments for their brother with nothing but a library book to keep them busy for hours then, in between appointments, I would surprise them with a trip to Taco Bell and picnic at a park between doctor's offices and they would laugh and smile to celebrate National Taco Day. And so seven years later, our tradition -- created out of desperation, continues because of sheer corniness.
My children have learned that there is reason to celebrate the most simple accomplishments, like learning how to swallow, how to sit, how to find the breath to laugh, how to scratch a mosquito bit, and have learned that there is also reason to celebrate simple things, and today it is cereal. There is always reason to celebrate.
Happy National Cereal Day!