It's interesting to me, to think back to when I was a child. I know that all of the things that I experienced are what molded me into the person I am today. Who would I have become if it hadn't been for all that has happened in my life? A question we can all ask ourselves and one to which we will never know the answer.

As we grow, and age, we take things from our childhood and use them to better ourselves. Or we take things and learn from them, vowing never to repeat them. That is what life is all about. But the thing I am pondering right now isn't some life altering event, no deep meaning behind something that was said to me or instilled in me as a child. No, it isn't the relationships I've developed nor the ones I've chosen to stay away from. I'm pondering something much smaller and simpler.
We learned what we liked and didn't like as a child, particularly in the realm of FOOD. But as I have gotten older, I have discovered things that I was certain I HATED and now really love. Take pineapple as an example. Now, growing up in Iowa, we didn't eat much fresh pineapple. Not that it wasn't available, it just wasn't a regular in our menu. So the pineapple I ate was of the canned variety. And I have to say YUCK! I would just as soon have spit it out than to eat it. About 2 years ago, I was able to eat a piece of fresh pineapple...yes, I was following what my momma had taught me, to eat what is put in front of me, no matter what (unless it's is something you are allergic too, that's a different story). And you know what, I have discovered that I dearly love pineapple. I think it might be my very favorite fruit. There are other things...foods we ate regularly, that are just a part of who you are. Meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, or even turkey and stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner. But what, of all things, about cereal? I grew up eating cereal for breakfast. Usually it was of the dry type, with milk on it. A family favorite was Cocoa Wheats in the winter. Nothing like a hot bowl of Cocoa Wheats to start your day in the cold countryside in Iowa. I rarely eat them now, and when I do, they just don't taste like they did when I was a kid. But I am wondering now about Cocoa Puffs!

"Cocoa Puffs?" you ask. Yes, Cocoa Puffs. Why is it that Cocoa Puffs are something that have stuck with me through it all. If I am going to eat cereal for breakfast, it is going to be Cocoa Puffs or nothing at all. If I absolutely had to, I would eat Rice Krispies, but only with a ton of sugar on them. But really and truly, give me my Cocoa Puffs. I went for several years eating a bagel with cream cheese, but have given that up in the pursuit of a slimmer 'me'. So I am back to my old friend, Cocoa Puffs. And you know, I feel like I have found may way back home. It's really something to think about something as simple as breakfast cereal and discover that it is part of the very fabric of my being. I have to confess, I truly am "Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!!"