When Butterfly was 2, she ran through this period of time when she was waking up entirely too early in the morning. (Of course, now it’s more the norm that she do so.) So, early one morning, when she came traipsing into the room asking her mommy to fix her breakfast, I had an idea. I picked her up, carried her into her room, and started to get her dressed. She protested and I simply said “Well, we have to get dressed if we want to go to Special Breakfast!” She was definitely interested.

That morning, she and I went to McDonalds and shared a Deluxe Breakfast (pancakes, eggs, sausage, hashbrown, and a biscuit) and then played on the play area. It’s amazing how you can have that place to yourself at 6:30 in the morning. When we got home, she ran in to tell mommy about the wonderful time that she had. The hardest part of it was teaching her that we can’t do that every day. We went pretty regular for a while, but haven’t been in a few months…I’m not sure why.

Yesterday morning, Butterfly climbed into out bed (again, too early) and declared “Hey, Daddy, I have an idea…maybe today we could go get special breakfast!” Fortunately she permitted me to take a rain check and this morning, we made another adventure to McDonalds. She had a blast and I enjoyed my time with her.

Most days, breakfast includes toasting waffles and pouring extra milk for Butterfly long before the sun rises. But Butterfly greets those boring days with unbridled enthusiasm. Ladybug is always served the same ‘ole Cheerios and banana, but she squeals with delight when we offer them to her. I know it’s sappy, but what makes my breakfast special isn’t the place where we eat it or the playground that’s available, it’s the little smiles that shine long before the sun does.