Cookies for Breakfast

When I went to make the coffee this morning I noticed the package of chocolate chip peanut butter cookies that I had to buy from the bakery section of the grocery store the other day. Good morning! The joy I find in eating a cookie before breakfast, just because I can, is amazing.

I love being a grown-up. I also really do like being on my own, most of the time. My sister asked me once what it was like to have no one to answer to? The answer is, fabulous darling! Most of the time. There are times when another input would help, but I have friends a plenty who will offer advice, or help if needed. There are times when it gets too quiet, but working with four year olds all day has taught me to appreciate the quiet! I can do what I like, when I like, and it suits me just fine.

I have always been fiercely independent. I know my folks wondered where the heck I came from. Neither of them were like that, and my siblings certainly aren't either. My Aunt Mary on my Mom's side comes to mind, and I see it in my youngest niece. My parents let me start kindergarten when I was four, because you could back then, and because all of the other neighborhood girls were five and going. The four mother's walked us there on the first day of school, although we left them a block or so behind. The freedom I can remember feeling was wonderful! My Mom always said that if I had shed one tear she would have brought me right back home. I don't even remember hugging her, just a backwards wave yelling "Bye Mom" as I ran with my friends toward the building! I'm sure the mother's must have come in and seen us settled, I have a picture of the four of us in front of the building, but that isn't what sticks in my memory.

I suffered and drove my mother crazy as a child/pre-teen/teen because I can not stand anyone being in control over me. Although I was not a rebel in the sense of drinking and or drugs, I didn't even smoke. This character trait was and is an advantage sometimes, because peer pressure means nothing to me. I just want to do what I want, when I want, and that's that. If I want to wake up and have a cookie, so be it. I spent my childhood years dreaming of being an adult, someone who could control her own destiny! My parents would always tell me that I would be sorry, life is hard, and someday I would wish to be a child again. They were wrong, dead wrong.

Yes, sometimes the world can be overwhelming, but I never wish for anyone else to take care of it for me, or make the decisions. I do know how and when to ask for help, but there aren't many things I can't do myself. I know how to enjoy life. I have the advantage of working with children, so I can play all I want, with the bonus of being in charge. I eat my cookies for breakfast, or at midnight. Which honestly, I did then too. I just don't have to cram them down my throat as fast as I can, brush my teeth, and blame my siblings. ;)