Dear Kid,

You may not have heard, but January is National Oatmeal Month. Which means it is time for breakfast and to learn interesting facts about oatmeal. (Thanks to the Whole Grain Council’s website for some of these delicious facts. Did you know there was a Whole Grain Council? Now you do.)

Samuel Johnson’s 1755 dictionary defined oats as “A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland appears to support the people.” The Scotsman’s retort to this was, “That’s why England has such good horses, and Scotland has such fine men!”

Only 5% of oats grown in the world are eaten by humans. Which (according to oatmeal lovers) probably means that horses are being fed better than we are. And if you consider some of the stuff we humans eat (like fast food and kale) they are probably right.

From the Interesting Facts File: there is a city in Texas named Oatmeal. Nearby is a city called Bertram where they have an annual Oatmeal Festival. Really. A festival dedicated to oatmeal. (It started as a spoof of the zillions of chili cook-offs in Texas.)

An 18-ounce package of old fashioned oats contains about 26,000 rolled oats. No idea who did the counting.

Not only is oatmeal an excellent choice for breakfast, cookies, muffins, bread, and a host of other yummies we know about, oatmeal is often used in the food industry as a stabilizer in foods like ice cream. Which means you can now feel quite virtuous getting your ice cream fix.

Early introduction of oats in children’s diets may help reduce their risk of asthma.

If you’re not hungry, you can certainly choose to wear your oats. Oats have a natural anti-itching property and are used in many lotions to calm irritated skin. (Fun fact: the name “Aveeno” comes from the botanical name avena, for oats. Bet you didn’t know that.)

Or you can read by oatmeal. Not really, but a project at the University of Iowa (in conjunction with – wait for it – Quaker) is using oat hulls (the parts we don’t eat) to generate energy. Kinda neat, huh? You can read about the project here.

In Britain, a warming and nourishing oatmeal broth drink was traditionally made from oat husks soaked until they soured; it was called “sowans” in Scotland, and “brewis” in Wales.

There are a zillion (I counted) health benefits associated with eating oatmeal. According to My Friend the Internet, oatmeal can solve (or radically reduce the effects of) every major disease known to man including paper cuts (actually, I made that part up – but maybe it can…).

Many people consider oatmeal brulée the ultimate porridge: picture a thick bowl of oatmeal topped with a thin layer of caramelized sugar and some fresh berries.

Of course, the big question about oatmeal is: How do you eat yours? Plain? Instant? Topped with berries, brown sugar, raisins, maple syrup? Rolled or steel cut? There are a lot of options in Oatmeal Eating World.

But I don’t have time to discuss them because I’m off to make – you guessed it – oatmeal for breakfast.

Love, Mom

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Dear Kid,

Not sure if you’ve got the latest Calendar Update, but September is Better Breakfast Month.

As you know, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. (Except for brunch. I adore brunch. Brunch is mostly breakfast on steroids.) Breakfast is wonderful no matter what time of day it shows up.

I like breakfast for dinner and dinner for breakfast. Cold pizza at 8am is fabulous. Chocolate is good for breakfast. Pancakes are good for dinner.

I don’t know who invented Better Breakfast Month but I like them. One of the great things about Better Breakfast Month is it doesn’t come with a definition of “Better.”

There are some people (and by “people” I mean websites) that say that “better” means “healthy.” IMO, there is nothing at all wrong with a healthy breakfast. But there’s also nothing wrong with a completely unhealthy breakfast every now and then.

Skipping breakfast is a terrible idea. Breakfast the most important meal of the day (all 12 months). It gets your body and brain going. In college, it’s important to bring your brain with you; it helps if your brain is awake when you take it to class.

Coffee is a good start to breakfast (and lunch, and dinner, and the 3pm coffee break), but it is an insufficient way to launch the day. Getting going requires real food. Like oatmeal. Or leftover pizza.

Even when you’re running late (which is pretty much the definition of most days in college, yes?).

What is your favorite running-to-class breakfast?

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

Have you ever noticed that History is full of Big Events (wars, natural disasters, the occasional Nobel Prize) but that life is made up of little events (breakfast, sunflowers, and the occasional hug from a child)?

In a way, that’s sort of a mismatch, don’t you think?

I understand the importance of mentioning Sir Frances Drake completing his circumnavigation of the world (1580) and the 1st Grand International Rifle match (1874) and several nuclear tests (a variety of years), but why don’t we ever mention something like “Bob Smith had a bowl of extremely satisfying oatmeal” or “James McKinney ended his craving by eating a pickle.”?

It’s important to remind ourselves of the big things that have been accomplished like NY District Court Judge Constance Baker Motley ruling that women sportswriters cannot be banned from locker rooms (1978). But why don’t the history books mention that On This Day In History MaryEllen Donett ruled that her two sons and a neighborhood boy couldn’t exclude their sister from their impromptu basketball game?

It’s a conundrum.

I was going to ask Booker about it, but he’s sleeping. Also his usual answers to questions like that range from “How about a tummy rub?” to “How about a snack?” so I’m unlikely to find an answer there.

Or, perhaps tummy rubs, snacks, and an extremely satisfying bowl of oatmeal are the real answers and History just hasn’t figured out the right questions.

Love, Mom