Yesterday morning I decided to have a completely different approach to breakfast. I decided to have a breakfast date with my 7 year old daughter.
This decision stemmed from me asking myself the following questions…
1. “Why can’t the care and enjoyment of a meal always be like a date?”. We seem to put that extra effort and care in when we prepare for a date, or are out on a date, from the food prep, setting the table, our dress etc. I find that the meal and company feels special because of this care and effort.
2. “Why can’t we have that level of presence and care with every meal, with those in our family who we eat with everyday?”. I live with my seven-year-old daughter… so for me the question was “Why can’t every meal feel like a date (fun, playful, light and enjoyable)?”. Why can’t it have the care and dedication towards its preparation, the setting up of the table, eating of the meal and complete focus on each other during meaningful conversation without allowing any distractions to interfere?
Breakfast for us is usually a sit down time together where I usually leave early to wash the dishes. It’s a relatively healthy meal that I take time to prepare and it is a time for us to chat, so it ticks boxes… but there is still a chore element to it. Like it is one chore of the day… a moment that we sit and eat but when that is done, then we get on with all the other things we have to do for the day. Sometimes there is a bit of a task feeling, a need to complete, a doing focus / feeling or a bit of a push behind it.
So yesterday, I decided that I was going to have a breakfast date with my daughter and let her feel how special it was. I decided to make something that she said she liked – but I had not yet made it for her. That something was carrot soup. Whenever I have given her any type of soup, she eats them, some with complaints and others without. Some she enjoyed and others she tolerated and some she did not like at all – at least she always tried them – but she would often say “I like carrot soup!”. Never having made carrot soup, I embarked on making it especially for her, for our breakfast date – very simply, with carrots, garlic, tomatoes, water and a little salt. I accompanied the soup with some lovely stir-fried green vegies on a delicate side plate.
The food looked and smelled great – the bench where we ate felt amazing because of the care that I took. We enjoyed our meal and there was not one ounce of pressure or push or chore feeling to it but pure delight… and the actual meal itself got a two thumbs up from my daughter, which was great… an added bonus because I knew that the whole breakfast date experience was amazing because it felt amazing making it – or should I say I felt amazing making it!
By Johanna Smith, Perth
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
It’s great how you brought more care and loving presence to an ‘everyday’ moment or mealtime! We often cherish the times when we have put special emphasis on coming together for a meal but why not bring more of this quality of connection to our everyday interactions?
From this article it appears that we can turn almost anything around to be a celebration of connection and indeed love… how lovely.
Love it Johanna, thank you for sharing this here. We can bring this kind of loving attention to most if not all of our ‘chores’ in life if we choose to. What a loving gift to ourselves this is.
We certainly miss out when we get settle for the tick box level of living and forget that what the heart has to offer is so very much grander than that.
This is beautiful Johanna. How lovely it would be to prepare breakfast for myself as though I was dating me. I am inspired to try this this morning and I can already feel how I need to adjust my morning routine and rhythm to honour my date.
Great to be take the ‘chore’ element out of a daily ritual so that there can be more celebrating.
How beautiful for you and your daughter to learn the difference between the same meal but one with care and one without. I know my day always flows so much more smoothly when I take care in my preperation for it. This, for me, is the key to having long fulfilling days without getting bogged down and exhausted.
Through my association with Universal Medicine students I have become aware of the wonderful saying feeding love back to yourself through the food you prepare and eat and this blog offers just that taste, with a side dish of playfulness and joy.
What I love about this blog is that it shows us how we can make anything in life a super loving and enjoyable event. Many people do not even take the time to have breakfast as they kind of fall out of bed into their clothes and off they go to work. So making this a special time with your daughter is very inspiring – I mean, what a way to start your day!
Someone I greatly respect shared with me last week that the we way we prepare food and the energy we do it in is as important as the food we actually eat. This was in response to a conversation I was having as I was wondering if it was still supportive for me to be eating certain foods. When she said that I could feel the truth of it and how often the things we overlook as being little things are actually much, much bigger than we realise. Your blog is full of little things that are actually quite huge and life changing and could be overlooked as simply a sweet story.
I love the idea of having a breakfast date – every day.
Thank you for sharing Johanna. This is not only a gorgeous story but a very wise and delicious recipe for life.
Just beautiful to read Jonanna, thank you I feel inspired to take more care with my preparation not making it so much like a chore , but a delightful loving time being present with myself in all my doing.
Connecting and appreciating our own quality allows us to value others for who they are and not take them for granted, this is a beautiful and simple way to deepen intimacy with others.
Johanna I had so much joy to read your awesome blog as it is an inspiration for me to prepare my food like you described so beautifully. It is such an invitation to take this extra care in everything I do – wonderful.
This blog is so awesome Johanna – I am inspired to have a breakfast date with myself.
Whenever I feel rushed, it is usually because I have not allowed enough time in preparing and sitting down to eat the meal. It is a question as to where I was and my choices leading into the preparation of the meal. I have three children and meal times can be challenging but when I feel rushed, guarantee they get easily distracted and start to play up!
To bring honor and appreciation into our everyday living and tasks is uplifting every day and moment. It is about the people we meet – from ourselves to family, friends, colleagues, supermarket cashiers to strangers on the street – and not about ‘what to do/reach’. If I make it about people it does turn my world around. Very interesting to experience.
Lovely Johanna, bringing this sort of presence to the time we spend together with family and friends is so important, there is no need for anything to feel a chore, particularly if we understand the power of what we bring to another through the things we have to do every day.
This has given me a moment to ponder on my breakfast routine and yes I can feel elements of wanting to get it done and also a sense of checking out from my fullness, by perusing Facebook whilst eating. I can feel the call for more pressence, care and love in my breakfast routine, thank you Johanna.
To get a meal with so much love and dedication is wonderful and can never be not nourishing on all levels.
Meal times provide the perfect opportunity to reconnect with and appreciate one another.
““Why can’t we have that level of presence and care with every meal, with those in our family who we eat with everyday?” A great point Johanna. I would add – “..or when eating alone..” – as I know I don’t celebrate all my solo meals when it is just me. Something to reflect upon – and change. Thankyou.
It really does bring it back to the simplicity of our own connection in everything we do and the quality that unfolds from these moments is second to none. Giving ourselves the space to enjoy these moments has the added bonus of creating expansion in our connections too as there is no rush or need to be anywhere. Gorgeous Johanna thank you.
I love this, why not make every thing we do be like a date? Taking special care in everything we do and go that extra mile all the time. I am living much more like this than I ever used to and realise there is loads more love to grow. It just feels fuller all the time and more joyful.
A meal prepared and shared with love nourishes so much more than the physical body.
‘fun, playful, light and enjoyable’ – gorgeous Johanna, and so simple.
Johanna this is where it is at when it comes to the joy and connection we develop with each other. Your blog is inspiring in its simplicity and the fact that we can all bring the love that we are to all the we do.
What a glorious sharing Johanna, bringing love in detail to the breakfast table, a great foundation to begin everyday with.
It’s so easy to go about our day and have it be about ticking boxes as you’ve shared here Johanna instead of enjoying every moment and interaction and being present in full in each one. A great thing to have the attention brought to. Thank you.
We spend so much time rushing around to ‘get things done’ we miss out on the people we share our lives with. Your blog shows how simple it is to connect to others in each and every moment. Thank you Johanna.
This just goes to show that we can put the effort and time and quality into what we do in life, so then where do these images of our everyday tasks being a ‘chore’ come in from? We know we have to do them as part of human life but who says we have to relate to them in a dulled, boring, tick box way? and then that brings up the question of, just because someone never verbally told me as a child ‘you have to hate or bemoan about loading the dishwasher’ – what are the other forms of communication that are not being addressed because from somewhere this has been communicated that the everyday life and commitments = dull and less and thus should be related to in a lacking in commitment way. If we wait around for the verbal communications are we not cutting ourselves off from responding to all the other non verbal communications we are constantly receiving?
Something is very very wrong if our every day tasks become a ‘chore’, something to push through and get done. I feel when this happens we take our focus away from the true quality of our presence and place it all on the investment in some future event occurring. It is very draining and tiresome to do this
A great example of how our quality of being affects everything we do and everyone around us. Particularly so with food, where the quality we are in as we chop, stir, sprinkle and pour has a bearing on the experience of eating, on the conversation, the ambience and by no means least – the digestion. So breakfast in the way you approached becomes a fantastic way to set up for the day ahead compared to the more normal grab-and-go munch-on-the-run.
Thank you Johanna, this is very timely for me in reminding me to take more care in my food preparation, not having it as something to just get done, but to bring loving care in its preparation and presentation. And enjoy eating with love.
This is gorgeous Johanna, making every moment the special moment it truly is. Being together is very precious.
I always love a meal that comes together as an expression of the love lived. It is always amazing no matter what and the love that is in every morsel of the food makes every bite super nourishing and nurturing to feel in the body. Why not celebrate every meal this way?
Johanna, as I was reading what came to mind was the way that you no doubt set up a beautiful day ahead through the way you took such loving care in both preparing for and participating in your breakfast date.Clearly this was appreciated by your daughter. I wonder how many other people also benefited from the ripple effect at the time? A very powerful, yet simple way to share love and joy – thank you for also sharing with all of us.
Enjoying a meal with somebody is an awesome opportunity for connection
A lovely blog, reminding me how important it is to prepare and present food for one with the same love, attention, fun and care that you would if you were preparing for several or many. A friend recently cancelled dinner at mine at the eleventh hour. I’d bought the food, laid the table and was busy chopping veg. It was turning dark outside so I made a celebration out of it anyway, lighting candles, playing gentle music and ensuring I served up exactly what I’d planned – just for me. I’m worth it!
That’s right, ‘why not make every meal a date?’ I am going to try this too, it is going to be so much fun. I love food, love sharing and love making it. I am inspired to carry that love through to every step. I love going on dates, so why just saving it for specially occasions? Really everyday is a special occasion.
Awesome Johanna, you’ve inspired me to be more playful and fun with our meals, putting in that extra care and love always makes everything taste so much yummier.
What a beautiful way to celebrate the connection between you and you, and you and your daughter, I love it.
Well said Annelies – beautifully succinct.
Thank you Johanna for this timely reminder. Only yesterday, I hurried to prepare and eat breakfast with my six year old daughter, so that we could get to work and school on time.
Somehow with story, bath and dressing taking a little longer than usual, we found ourselves running quite late. As I was reading your delight full blog I realised that life can be one long and lovely ” date with love “, and that with a bit of planning, preparation and loving rhythms in our lives, the entire day can be spacious, playful and yummy; just like a date with love should be. I’ve started planning already! Your blog has been an inspiration.
True cjames2012. It all starts with fully living it ourselves.
So much pleasure can be had from very mundane and simple tasks when we put our presence into it. Treating ourselves and our loved ones as the most cherished guest in everything and everyday, what a way to live!
Thank you Johanna and Marion, I agree, lets make every day and every meal about people and not the food.
I love this Johanna, and I am inspired to do the same. Breakfast is usually a meal that is rushed, although if I have people staying we do always make sure we meet at breakfast. But to treat it like a date feels gorgeous, taking more care and more time to prepare the food and to eat it. This is something that I am definately going to do more of. Thankyou!
What a great reminder that everything matters and that we are included in that ‘everything’ too. It struck me that this approach – bringing a level of presence and care – applies to everything we do, from putting out the trash, filling the petrol tank, cleaning the loo, making a job application, being at a social event, you name it. It ensures we’re in the moment, with the task or the experience, being us fully, rather than the body being on one thing and the mind on another.
Such a delightful blog, sharing this time with your daughter. Making breakfast a time to connect, not make it about the doing, and asking the question….why can’t we do this more often? Absolutely, make time and the quality time for each meal, really beautiful.
Bringing love into our everyday and our every way – and to be able to share this with another is pure joy. Beautiful sharing Johanna thank you.
Great reminder Johanna to make every moment a special moment without needing a special reason other than that we deserve to be treated with gentleness and care 24/7. The depth I felt just now is a great marker to change the quality in which I live.
That’s such a gorgeous story you shared and felt very beautiful to read. I am inspired to slow down and savour those precious moments with loved ones too.
To eat food that has been lovingly prepared and cooked whether for yourself or shared with others what a beautiful experience. How much easier for the body to process this and then to nourish the body for what lies ahead in our day. I am always inspired when I read this blog thank you Johanna.
I agree Anne, from the loving intent through to the conscious preparation, cooking and serving, this breakfast date was packaged in love. It was a most beautiful gift for you both to share Johanna. Love, in every way, makes a celebration of every day life.
Johanna, what you have shared illustrated the power of being love in every thing we do during the day. Being totally present has allowed you to have such a gorgeous time with your daughter – what great way for both of you to start your day.
Johanna a beautiful and timely reminder to take the ‘doing’ out of the daily meals and activities and bring to them the quality of our presence. Thank you, I needed to read this blog today.
While reading, it was revealing to notice a thought that was saying ‘that’s lovely, but I can’t be bothered’ and I got to feel how the lack of self-worth was at play in the way I care for myself, therefore not allowing consistency and steadiness. Your blog has inspired me to go back to the simplicity of just enjoy being myself first. Thank you, Johanna.
Linda, I love what you wrote about bringing your true quality to support you through the day. That feels exactly what we are doing when we choose to start our day by preparing food to nourish and support us during the day. Eating the quality of love we are, feeding our light.
I love reading blogs that give you a little inspiration to try something new, and yours did just that. Both the soup and the breakfast date with my kids. I had never considered a date for breakfast with my kids. I find mornings a challange to not get caught in the box ticking. Thanks johanna, I’m looking forward to my date.
Same here, Kim. Mornings to me are about ticking all the boxes in preparation for the day – what comes after dressing and breakfast etc. How lovely to have a breakfast date and give you both the space to connect and honour yourselves.
I agree Kim this blog is so inspirational , every meal I have from now on I will recall this blog and the premise that all meals can be the same energy of a special date, thank you Johanna this is a gem.
What a glorious way to start the day Johanna. Thank you for sharing.
Its good how you have expanded this from meal times to bringing that attention and focus to all the little chores. I’ve always enjoyed ‘deep cleaning’ when I scrub up the little crevices or sharpen the knives.
This turns the tables on how it normally is in our family, where the regular every day activities can be a chore, and because we see each other so much, there is a familiarity that can lead to ignoring each other / not paying the special attention. I love your experiment here….
Also understanding our role in the bigger picture everything we do for ourselves has an impact on the quality of what we are able to bring to our work our family etc. It is not just about us. What i do today has an impact on the quality of what I will be able to do tomorrow. As we understand this is relation to exercise it would be great to take this understanding all areas of lives.
I love what you have offered here, Nicole. Thank you,
I agree Meg, I have found even if it is something I don’t particularly like doing, if I can connect to the reason I am doing it and focus on the purpose, and take as much care as I can whilst doing it, and connect to the elements, I do enjoy it; it can change from something that is draining to something that feels like it can offer support to everyone.
Very inspiring Johanna, our children and family members are very special and even if we see them every day, we can celebrate them and ourselves in ways like you did with your breakfast date.
Dear Johanna, I very much enjoy your expression, you can put everyday livingness so palpably into words. I have started to bring my everyday living focus towards the connection with people instead with the actual task at hand and it is a true joy and super fun. That what needs to be done just becomes a ‘side-effect’ that is fun and easy to do while the people I interact with are that what counts most.
I loved your blog Johanna, it reminds me to make every thing I do special. To often mealtimes can be a rushed affair, another thing to be over and done with. The idea of making it a date puts a whole new perspective on it . Sounds so beautiful and special.
Gorgeous blog about your breakfast date experience. Being present, connecting to another and celebrating being together can be done in so many different situations. During meetings I’ve noticed if participants are watching the clock because they need to leave earlier, the group can feel they aren’t really fully present and this effects the meeting.
The joy and love in sharing this with your daughter is deeply felt. What a powerful thing to do!
Time around the table in the family home is a nurturing and connecting experience. I love that you have introduced this time to the morning time of day with such loving intention. Bringing ourselves fully to what we do is amazing and everyone benefits. Beautiful Johanna.
I don’t do this nearly often enough. In fact, there is no reason why this should be a frequent occurrence, but rather an everyday occurrence, because it feels nice, for me and for my daughter too.
Johanna how lovely to take that time to make breakfast so special with your daughter but at the same time making it so normal. You have inspired me to make every meal time an amazing date with someone or even a date on my own thank you.
How cute is that. I love what you have presented to make every meal like a date. These days I will do that with my gorgeous housemate and I will also do it with my partner. Because generally I have dinner or breakfast on my own, whenever I do have dinner with someone else I like to make it like a date, light candles and light incense 🙂
Thank you Johanna, what a gorgeous way to start your day.
What a gorgeous idea.
I loved reading this Johanna as I can relate to meals feeling like a chore but I have found that if there are more members of the family to help out and contribute then it then becomes a enjoyable experience for all concerned and not a burden on just one person.
I am feeling inspired to make my lunch time meal that little bit more special.
This is just so inspiring Johanna. We can so easily get caught up in the ‘doing’ or our daily routine, that time together is not fully appreciated. And nor do we express our love and absolute adoration for those close to us in our lives with the natural care we so easily could.
‘Dates’ are super-important. My husband and I make the point of them regularly – even doing the household shopping can be a date, when we truly treasure and appreciate in full, all that we bring to each other’s lives.
The shopping can be hysterically funny too Annie… 😉
I also find such times can work in within larger cycles that influence our lives… For a long time, my husband and I would book in such a ‘date’ in the lead up week to the full moon, for example, especially following becoming aware of the potential for deep sensitivity at this time – as the Our Cycles App outlines so well. Time to ‘simply be’ forms an important part of any relationship, without a doubt.
Your date felt very lovely. Beautiful idea Johanna!
Johanna,
A super great reminder to myself and I am sure many others, to lovingly prepare all of our meals, with the absolute joy of doing this present in the food we eat. This can only but support us as we go about our days. How beautiful to be enjoying your meals like this with your amazing daughter.
Even when I cook only for myself I prepare and design the food on the plate like it would be in a restaurant- it feels awesome. And why are we not doing this everytime then? To really stop and appreciate one another and oneself in lovingly preparing and presenting and enjoying food is a great reminder, thank you !
We have certainly noticed at our house how the dinner table feels if it is set with no care or attention to detail. We also get to feel how special it is and how it holds the family as we come together at the end of the day if it is done with love and care. We appreciate being able to feel these things. Your breakfast date sounds really lovely.
Mealtime is a beautiful opportunity to stop and reconnect with our loved ones. A moment of appreciation and celebration.
So often its all about being hungry and eating the food, but like you say Kathryn.. the real opportunity is to connect to those we love.
Very beautiful Johanna! It’s amazing how really taking time and care makes an awesome breakfast date!
What a beautiful way to start the day Johanna Fredericks, having a breakfast date with the two of you.
It was so lovely and very timely to read your blog Johanna, as I am becoming more and more aware of those times that I skimp on the quality of what I am doing with a task, which short changes myself and the space I am working in/with. Seeing the task as something not as important as another task. And let’s face it, whatever you are doing, your bringing your gorgeous self to it, so what’s not the enjoy?
This is so very gorgeous Johanna, what a beautiful way to begin the day together…
I am inspired to bring this into my home, with me! When we take the time to really be with and treasure each moment the moments that follow call for this same quality, and hence the building of a love filled life! What a reflection you offer your daughter of how she may grow and care for herself and all those she meets…
Hi Johanna, it feels lovely to see all our meals as dates and to connect to those we eat with in this way. I too find meal times tend to be rushed, a chore and it is only lately that I have felt the importance of enjoying the moment more. When I do this the experience is so different – time seems to expand, the quality of the experience is richer and the joy in myself and others is palpable as we really enjoy the moment.
Awesome stuff. These little moments pave a way for the level of what a date should be like…Your daughter has an awesome marker to go off for future reference !
So true Johanna – what an awesome support and reflection to have in a person’s life.
Johanna this is gorgeous. Making a simple morning ‘task’ into a delightful opportunity to connect more deeply with another is well deserving of the title ‘date’. You have inspired me, thank you. 😊
Thank you for the great idea, Johanna! I will try it with my 26 yo daughter. And see how it feels.
Wow, great reminder about how meals are not just about what food we eat but also the intentions and mindfulness with the steps along the way from preparation to consumption. Lots for me to reflect on as I honestly acknowledge that I am often caught up in the ‘hurry’ of the day.
what a beautiful reminder that we can choose in every moment to truly connect and appreciate who we are with and be very present with what we are doing. How simple and beautiful life becomes then and our need for distraction might just disappear.
So true Johanna there is a marked difference, and I love how you have now made amazingness your new normal-ness. That every meal, or every day can have that same great feeling as if it were a special date or anniversary. Amazing = normal.
What a lovely inspiration, to not treat your meal as what needs to be done and only make it special when there is special company but to let every company, including my own, be special every time and really sit and enjoy the meal. It is a great moment to simply stop and be with yourself and those that are there with you and feel how you are, how they are and have intimate conversations.
Wow, if every meal is an opportunity for a date (even with ourselves); I wonder how many times we have stood someone up (or stood ourselves up!) by being distracted, worrying about the day ahead, or what there is to do etc… rather than absolutely enjoying the company of the person we are with, or with ourselves. Thank you for this reminder Johanna.
So true Kylie. The great thing about meal ‘dates’ is that there are opportunities every day for a new way to date ourselves and those we share this time with, making this time about the connection we have and the joy in this.
Hi Johanna, I loved your blog, its really inspiring to read about making meal times more fun and with more care and attention to detail. We are all very task oriented these days and we’ve forgotten the true joy of sharing time together, especially at meal times. I often make my meals by doing the least work necessary to keep it simple but nourishing, however I’ve completely forgotten that it can be a celebration about connection to the self and others. Thanks for the inspiration.
It feels like your child just accepted what you did for the love that you poured into the whole experience. A lovely reminder of taking time and effort. (:
Johanna, I loved reading about your breakfast date for 2 with your daughter.
This is such a sweet blog. I really love to eat well, in the right environment and with the time to enjoy it. I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment shared here.
I really enjoyed reading about your date with your daughter – I felt all yummy and warm inside too!
I appreciate what you have shared here Johanna, I feel it’s time for me to explore making meal times more special as well, thank you.
Sounds like fun, Johanna. We could try to bring that quality to every meal.
Thankyou! I am going to make dinner with my family special EVERY night! I love how you said that you enjoyed it because you took a lot of care in preparing it and already felt complete before you sat down to eat. and I love how you expressed that it was the connection between you and your daughter that made the occasion so special.
I had to laugh when I read this – because it is so true that when I have a date or am eating with friends, I put in much more care than I do when it is me on my lonesome.
But I love posing the question of why can’t every meal be special! This is something I certainly want to play with, because I am worth it 🙂
A great insight. Why not treat any occasion with us as precious? Take the time and care, and then of course we feel it – we get to have fun playing with us. You’ve inspired me Johanna.
What a beautiful reminder. My son often complains that I don’t wait for him when I get up before he has finished to do the dishes. And that is just me playing into the game of time. But what a lovely way to start the day with care and connection.
This is really inspiring and when you read it like that it makes complete sense for every meal to have that same quality to it rather than it becoming a chore.
It’s great to re-read your article Johanna, I can relate so much to ‘Sometimes there is a bit of a task feeling, a need to complete, a doing focus / feeling or a bit of a push behind it.’ I have felt this when I’m getting breakfast ready for my son, that I can want to get breakfast done so that I can get on with other things, i love how you made your meal with your daughter fun, playful, light and enjoyable and that it doesn’t just have to be ‘special occasions’ that we bring these qualities to meal times.
Sounds yummy, Johanna. How lovely to take the time and bring love and care to make this a special moment together.
I loved reading this blog Johanna and how you describe your breakfast ‘date’ with your
daughter, and I love your question”: “Why can’t the care and enjoyment of a meal always be like a date?” It feels very honoring to self and the other when we take such love and care with all our meals, thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing this Johanna, I can feel how lovely it was for you to prepare this breakfast so lovingly for you and your daughter. I have changed too in my relationship to meals and now take the time to not only make really nourishing meals but to lay the table and present everything in a much more caring and loving way. even if I am the only one eating. I also am gradually changing my cutlery , crockery etc. and bringing more quality in all sorts of ways to the table.
Great that you have highlighted how this beautiful blog is equally relevant to eating alone. I know that I feel totally different if I put the care into how my meal is presented and how and where I eat it, even if there is just me, and yet more recently I have let this slip unless I am eating with people. Thank you Elaine. Your comment has served as a very helpful reminder.
I think this is an awesome idea to bring fun and connection to everyday things. I know that if I have children one day, I will always look for ways to make things fun – like bath time and meals, tidying and shopping. If you can make these things fun it allows the child to open up and see life as easy and free. Thank you for sharing.
I love the fact that you gave your daughter carrot soup for breakfast. There is such a pressure normally to eat what would be considered breakfast food for breakfast. But why shouldn’t a seven year old be honoured in what her favourite food is any time of the day? Of course, as long as that food supports him or her to live in full for the rest of that day, what an amazing reflection that child then brings to all the people they meet.
Thank you Johanna for offering inspiration on making every meal a date. I shall work with this concept as this is an area where I sometimes get into a rush in my eagerness to get onto the next thing, robbing myself of the loving care and attention of which you speak.
Making breakfast time into a date. I love it. Dress code?…PJ’s optional I hope!!
great way to honor food . it is such an important part of our lives. a way to connect to our children . A way to slow down and appreciate all the wonderful food we have access to.
Your blog feels really delicious Johanna and what a beautiful reflection for your daughter. She will cherish these meaningful moments with her mum when she grows up.
What a lovely idea. What a lovely way to start the day. What a lovely way to share a meal. What a lovely expression of love.
What a lovely way to start the day, thank you for sharing.
Wow Johanna this is really cool, I am making this more of a focus and feel the difference too. What a beautiful way to approach every meal, the care, love and dedication that it offers our relationship with people but also with food. In that absolute caring way of making the food there is no need to sit and eat loads of food because you weren’t checked out when making it. You’re full of love which is what feeds you back with great company. Such a refreshing way to live life and your relationship with the people you care about but just as important your relationship with food. Great Blog, thanks for sharing.
Beautifully said, Natalie, food made and eaten with love really does fill you up.
This is just lovely Johanna!
Such a beauty-Full blog Johanna, The joy you felt, preparing breakfast for a date with your daughter, shines through every word in your article.
This is lovely Johanna. We have started having dinner dates at home in our family. The difference it makes when you don’t see it as a chore but a time to be together is amazing. I know in the past I have also rushed through cooking and eating meals and left the table early to get the dishes done! Doing it this way is a real celebration and an opportunity to connect with each other.
What a beautiful way to begin the day! Thank you for sharing Johanna.
When we actually put a loving intention behind the way we prepare our meals, it changes the whole situation. I have found that when I rush or just go into task mode I don’t enjoy what I am preparing as much or find that I feel hungry afterwards despite having more than enough to eat. On the other hand, when we take the time to support ourselves as and while we make our meal, it is felt afterwards as well. This then inspires our next choices and moments to be more supportive.
Very true Leigh. A meal prepared in chore and rush mode doesn’t taste the same as a meal prepared with love, care and presence.
I agree Alison, thank you Johanna, I can easily rush meals especially breakfast if I am running a little late for work, rather than taking the time to truly enjoy and allow my body to digest what it is taking in, a great reminder to truly appreciate the moment – the company, myself and the food!
Awesome, it’s great you’re giving your daughter such an amazing reflection. If she can see/feel you and the way you can make any meal or moment a celebration of yourself and her, making breakfast a date, when she grows up the care and standard of love she will have for herself will set her up to have a life full of relationships based only on love, thank you.
A great point Rebecca, what a lovely reflection Johanna gave and is giving to her daughter.
The light bulb has just gone on! Yes I have treated breakfast as a chore, as a must do, in a rush, and leave my daughter sitting at the table while I finish the dishes and pack the lunch, blah blah blah… but what you just shared is so inspiring and we can can actually have dates for lunch and dinner too! Thank you.
This blog is a delight to read, Johanna. I love your impulse to change the ‘ordinary’ breakfast to a date with your daughter. It shows there are so many possibilities for creating dates with ourselves and others if we hold that level of presence and loving care.
I love how you have acknowledged the things we have let come to pass in our homes and families that are really not what we truly want. You so freshly express the steps we can take when we have these moments to stop and realise what has in fact been occurring and that we always have the opportunity to change it.
Light, fun, simple, loving, delicate and I could go on. Love this blog! Thank you for sharing Johanna.
Lovely. I liked how your daughter knew she liked carrot soup before she tried it.
What a sweet breakfast date. Or should I say savoury? 😉
A lovely way to start the day, thank you Johanna.
What a different way to view breakfast, lovely and simple. I really enjoyed reading your words “complete focus on each other during a meaningful conversation”, this is an area I feel inspired to focus on with my family and others I come into contact with in my day. Thanks Johanna.