Why Do We Always Have To Have.....

I don’t think Mother was any different than any other mother. Mothers enjoy telling stories that involve their children. Mothers especially enjoy telling those stories to their children.
When I was growing up as a teenager, our household was quite routine oriented. Mom’s parents lived with us, mom and dad both worked, Keith and I both went to school. Sounds pretty boring, doesn’t it; well it was not.
Mom hired her cousin to care for her parents while she worked at the Mental Health Institute as a psychiatric aide.
If my memory serves me right, dad always ate All Bran cereal. He often poured hot water on it to soften it. I think Mom worked from 2:30 to 11:00P.M. so she was home when Dad left for work and when Keith and I left for school. No, I don’t remember what Keith and I ate for breakfast, probably something traditional like cereal or toast. I don’t remember her frying eggs and bacon. Anyway, evidently Keith thought that life was really boring in the mornings and asked Mom, “why do we always have to have cereal in the morning.” Mom just looked at him and said, “Well we don’t, what would you rather have?” Well that kind of caught Keith off guard and said, “Well, I would like to have tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.” Mom fixed what he wanted. I am sure about the soup, not for sure about the sandwiches. Keith ate his “new” breakfast and never asked for it again.
Mother told that story over and over again. This story happened after Keith had asked Mom why we always had to have potatoes for supper. She told him because that’s what Dad wanted, therefore, that’s what would be on the table. That question was never asked again, either.