Coffee Time!

“Coffee’s Ready!” my cheeky, noisy, 4 year old announces loudly, re-awakening me from my doze.

Every Sunday (except market days), not a minute before 9.00am, this cheery voice greets me before his dad wanders in with freshly brewed coffee, and if I’m lucky, hot buttered raisin toast.

Then the other two climb into bed, and I try to drink coffee, eat toast and plan our day, while fighting off tickle and cuddle monsters, hiding in deep dark caves, fighting fires and telling stories of fairies and cats and teddy bears. We laugh, we cuddle, we look out at the forest and think of how much gardening there is to do – later.

On Saturdays it’s Daddy’s turn for a sleep in and my turn to make coffee. Some mornings, if I am tired, or munchkin has been up early, it arrives the minute the big hand hits the 12. On other mornings, I am having such a good time, playing mines or trains, curled up on the couch reading munchkin the umpteenth book, being the tooth fairy or Rupert Bear (I can never remember which character is mine) or going on a short excursion for “real” coffee because we are out of milk, that a lucky Daddy gets extra time.

One day, a bigger boy will think he is too cool for “coffee”, or he will discover the weekend cartoons and music videos on TV, and the tradition will be broken – maybe.

I remember one day, shortly before my sister was born, Mum, Dad, the Bro and I gathered for one last Saturday morning ritual get-together in their big bed for “just us”. There was laughter and tickles and aimless chatter. The Bro and I were way too big for such a thing – I was a teenager for goodness sake! And with four of us, it was very squishy. Yet it is one of the happiest memories of my childhood.

“Coffee time” was never planned, and yet it has become our own “family urban myth” spanning two generations (well sort of, I don’t think Mum and Dad did the coffee thing). In our own little family, it’s a tradition almost 2 years old.

Family traditions like this can be anything, big or small, and yet they are what keep us functioning as family, providing stability and reminding us each day, week, month or year just how much we love each other.

What’s your special family tradition?

This story gets me back on track with my Story Starter Challenge (sorry, Life Instyle proved a bit too distracting for blog writing!)  This week’s Story Starters came from the Foodies theme. The cards selected were “My favourite…” and “Breakfast”.