I was at my daughter’s house this morning, and her two-year-old pulled me over to the table. “'Crambled eggs!” he exclaimed, bubbling over with joy. “Mommy make 'crambled eggs! 'Crambled eggs! Onna plate!”
I cannot remember the last time I was as thrilled by anything as much as he was by scrambled eggs.
When I was a kid, I got pretty excited about scrambled eggs if we were having them for dinner. The idea of having a breakfast food for a meal other than breakfast, well, it just felt like we were breaking all the rules. Even now, years later, when I’m hitting up a Waffle House or a Denny’s or whatever late at night, part of me can’t help but think back to that childish joy.
What, no tossed salad?
Seriously though, I wish I could recapture that enthusiasm about small things like when all the world was new.
It is one of the great joys of my life seeing my two (now 9 and 11) still get insanely excited about simple things.
We’re having crispy deep fried salmon and rice? … they bounce around like dervishes
A new 1000 piece jigsaw with a tiger on it?..they lose their shit
They were given permission to spend £1.20 on a fresh baked baguette from the french deli in town and you would’ve thought they’d won the lottery.
Long may it continue! (but I suspect it may not)
About three weeks ago, my 16-year-old daughter walked up to me on a Saturday morning and announced with glee “Dad! It is time for the First Stew of the Season™!! Stew, Dad - stew!!!”
It is exactly what it sounds like: I make random, partially planned, partially improvised stews each winter. My daughter helps me - chopping veggies, picking out whatever’s in the fridge to toss in, etc. We put on music, goof off and allow the smell of stew, wonderful stew, to permeate the house. Then she runs out and does stuff with her friends, comes home for dinner and…stew. It lasts about 3-4 days after that, and tastes better after the first day.
Yeah, I get that joy. Nothing better.
Funny, we just had this with my daughter today. She’s recovering from a hospital stay and was really, really excited that we were having curry for dinner yesterday after getting spaghetti for lunch.
Then today, we had a Japanese style dish where you cook various things in a pot. It was like she had won the Olympics. She and Mom had gone out to buy the ingredients and I needed to get the run down on each one.
Fun times.
A part of it may be that the grandson asked if they could have scrambled eggs and was told yes. Young children generally have to follow the directions of the adults around them. So they have an outsized response to being able to make a decision and have it take effect.
I was watching a kid stood in a puddle the other day, he was just stepping left / right on the spot to experience the sensation of his feet in the water, the noise, the splashes, the sheer fun of it. Reminded me of my little one when he did the same, like crawling up on things to stand on them and experience the different feelings through his little feet. No wonder toddlers never want to wear shoes or socks, must be amazing to experience things like that for the first time.
This is so cute!
Reminds me of when my two-year-old niece was visiting her grandparents. She walked in, and, referring to eating breakfast at some fast food place, said, “Orange juice! We drank orange juice!”
I asked, “Did you drink orange juice?”
“Yeah!” she yelled.
My family has the tradition that when we celebrate somebody’s birthday, they get to pick the menu. For the Bros and me that means very simple menus but hey, those easy dishes are still our favorites!
My eldest child was a bit of a delayed talker. Nothing too bad, but delayed enough that we were closely tracking his language development. His first complete sentence was, “I want eggs,” when asked about his breakfast preferences. I was pretty darn thrilled about making scrambled eggs that morning.
Neighbor kid who had just moved to the Midwest from South Africa:
“Mum, mum, mum! I saw a squirrel, mum! It was, it was up in a tree, mum, then it ran down it ran down the tree, mum, and right across the sidewalk RIGHT IN FRONT of us, and then, mum, the squirrel, it went UP a whole 'nother TREE, Mum! And we were there!”
“Dad, dad, dad! I saw a squirrel, dad! It was, it was up in a tree, dad …”
Yes, he probably had specifically requested the 'cramble eggs. I am getting so much joy out of all three of my grandchildren. Despite the (justifiable) “terrible twos,” this is one of the best phases. Now that he’s using complete sentences, we can have regular conversations. Yesterday we discussed how since it was very cold outside there were no squirrels in the yard. He remembered and told me about how when it was warmer we watched squirrels, and how they were looking for food.
A few years ago me and my partner were travelling around the Highlands. We pitched up in a really basic camp site, sharing it with only a caravan and a couple of other tents.
Anyway, the heavens broke, and there was an almighty downpour (warmish summer rain by local standards). From the caravan emerged a tiny little naked girl - age 3 or so - who proceeded to jump and splash and roll and basically just run around in the rain and the puddles, hooting and laughing. Joy unconfined by any staid adult notion of clothes-wearing and not-getting-soaked-ness.
Reminds me of one of my cousins, who came over (with his parents) to visit, when he was about a year old. On seeing our dog through the screen door, he pointed and joyfully exclaimed “Og!”, in about the same tone of voice you’d expect of a birdwatcher who’d just seen the last ivory-billed woodpecker in North America.
I love this 
, and the scrambled egg post made me smile. I need to harness and use some of that enthusiasm as I get older.
When I would go to NY to visit my mom’s family, my Grandma would make me scrambled eggs and fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast. I loved those eggs, although now, I’m not sure why - I don’t think she added anything in or cooked them in any special way.
Man, how I wish Grandma was around now, just for one more plate of eggs. I miss her. 
Joy at any age is a thing to be grateful for 
- thank you for making this thread
This reminds me of my 36-year-old wife (we just moved back home from China, and she is Chinese). Squirrels fascinate her, whereas they’re just an every day occurrence to me. I get excited when we see foxes, turkey, and deer, though.
To be frank, I’ve never, ever seen a wild animal of any sort other than feral cats and birds in China. I guess they were all eaten during the Cultural Revolution or something. Seriously, even biking in the countryside: nothing, ever.