Dear Kid,

Have you heard about the Great Egg Shortage hitting the US? It’s a real thing, not a new Dr. Seuss book or (just) a bad intro line for a blog.

Having finished with Ebola, the Universe has decided to hand out a second place epidemic called Avian Bird Flu targeting egg-laying birdies in particular.

Which means that while the price of your chicken wings will stay relatively stable, the price of your egg McBreakfast is skyrocketing.

And that’s not really the problem.

The issue isn’t just that the cost of eggs is going up. The issue is that there aren’t as many eggs to be had. Hence the Great Egg Shortage.

So far, the average person (and by “average person” I mean me) hasn’t really seen a big impact. Most of the chain restaurants are still serving eggs and most of the bakeries have been able to keep up. Some restaurants are cutting their breakfast hours or pushing non-eggy food like bagels and lox (not really suffering too much here, are we?). And at least one grocer is rationing eggs. But at a limit of 3 dozen per visit, it doesn’t feel like a huge problem.

Yet.

So far no one has managed to come up with a great way to treat the avian flu. The best medical advice appears to be “this will all go away once it gets warmer.” Which is relatively good news in that it’s already June and presumably it will get warmer one of these days. (Mother Nature–that was a subtle hint.)

On the other hand, guess what I had for breakfast while they’re still available?

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

If you drop an egg, you wouldn’t throw the other 11 on the floor, would you?

Don’t let one slip up ruin your entire day.

And you wouldn’t let it prevent you from making an omelet.

Of course not.

You’d clean up the floor, add eggs to the grocery list, and make a great breakfast.

All too often however, I hear people say things like “I forgot to do “x”–the whole day is ruined.” Or “I ate a donut at breakfast, there’s no point in eating healthy the rest of the day.” Or “I didn’t make that phone call yesterday, so there’s no point in ….”

Wrong answer.

There are things in life that can’t be fixed, but not many. Making sure you have the right point of view is critical to moving on.

It’s pretty hard to put an egg back together or to use it to cook with after it’s landed with a splat on the floor (especially if the puppy gets there quickly). So if the goal is to hold that one, perfect egg, you’re in trouble.

But if the goal is to make breakfast, it’s pretty easy to come up with a zillion alternatives.

Find a way to reframe the problem so you really get what you want. I wise child of mine recently said, “You have to deal with the hand you’re dealt.” (Remind me to talk about gambling.)

Deal with the hand you’re dealt, make sure you know what you really want and don’t get caught up in the minutia, and thank you for cleaning up the mess on the floor.

Love, Mom

Thanks to SparkPeople for the inspiration!

Dear Kid,

Me: Stop it!
Puppy: I’m helping
Me: You’re not helping
Puppy: Helping! Helping! Helping!
Me: Scratching the door does not make it open any faster
Puppy: It might
Me: Stop It!

Me: Come on
Puppy: I’m sniffing
Me: I can see that. I would rather see you walking
Puppy: It’s important sniffing
Me: I’m sure it is. Let’s go have breakfast
Puppy: I love breakfast
Me: I know you do—so let’s get going
Puppy: In a minute. I’m sniffing

Me: This is not for you
Puppy: It could be
Me: This is my breakfast. You had your breakfast
Puppy: It smells delicious
Me: Thank you. But this is my breakfast, not your breakfast
Puppy: It could be. You could share. Or something might fall.
Me: I love your optimism
Puppy: So you’ll share?
Me: You can enjoy the yummy smell
Puppy: Yes? Yes? And?
Me: And this is my breakfast
Puppy: I’ll wait. Just in case.

Love, Mom

See more puppy conversations

• Puppy Conversations and Food Observations
• Spring Puppy Conversations
• New Puppy Conversations
• Winter WonderPuppy | Baby It’s Cold Outside
• Puppy Conversations Translated for the College Kid
• Puppy Conversations and FIFA World Cup Soccer
• Puppy Conversations and the Joy of Quirkiness
• Puppy Conversations| In the Beginning
• Puppy Conversations | What’s In a Name?
• Puppy Conversations | Puppy Plans a Party
• Puppy Speaks Foreign Languages…Sort Of
• Summer Puppy Conversations | Speaking of Hope
• National Dog Day | Puppy Has His Say
• Puppy Conversations | Completely In Love with Tal
• The Puppy and The Cricket | Wildlife in the House
• October is National Adopt a Shelter Dog Month |Puppy Has an Announcement
• Puppy Tries to Talk His Way Out of a Bath
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge (vegan) for Breakfast
• Puppy Conversations | Mom Has a Headache and Puppy Tries to Help
• Puppy Conversations | Discussing Halloween
• Puppy Conversations | There Are Strangers in the House
• Puppy Conversations | Ricky The Yorkie Comes to Visit
• Puppy Conversations | Puppy Talks Turkey
• Puppy Conversations | Puppy Discovers Leftovers
• Puppy Conversations (Sort of) | The Sleep Challenge (Mine)
• Puppy Conversations | DeScarfing the Frog and Freezing Weather
• Puppy Conversations | Take Your Puppy to Work Day (Not)
• Puppy Conversations | Split Attention: Cat vs Food
• Puppy Conversations | The Adoption Event
• Puppy Conversations | Going to School and Going to Work
• Puppy Conversations | Puppy’s Innards Do the Talking

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

Dear Kid,

Some days are easier than others.

Some days things come easily. It’s easy to pop out of bed and face the day. It’s easy to get to class on time. The lecture is easy to understand and the homework takes all of 92 seconds to complete.

You’re able to run an extra 3 miles during your workout and you throw in a couple of extra sets on the weights just for fun. At your group meeting, you work seamlessly with your peers, coming up with great suggestions and finishing your project in record time.

Then there are the other days.

The ones where the very concept of getting out of bed is more than you can stand thinking about. Where you just want to snooze no matter how much caffeine you mainline directly into your blood stream. Where the professors all talk in a long-forgotten Sanskrit dialect and it will take the next 16 weeks to finish your homework—and that’s just for one class.

Those are the days when lifting 3 pounds of books feels impossible, never mind lifting serious weight. Where people grumble and gripe and half the time you’re not even sure what they’re grumbling and griping about. They’re the days when you are not only overwhelmed by the big decisions in life, you can’t figure out whether to have pancakes or French toast. When there is no way to figure out the shortest distance between two points because there is no such thing as a straight line.

Hoping today is one of the easier ones.

Love, Mom

P.S. At least here, the answer today was French Toast.