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Dessert Anyone?

Dessert is a favorite for most people, especially children. Parents have used the lure of dessert to coax many a headstrong child to eat a bitter green vegetable or an even less pleasant thing like beef liver.

As a parent who has taught his children many lessons, I have found the wisdom in allowing my children to also teach me. More precisely, I have learned that children can remind us of the real truths of life that somehow we forget as we grow into adults.

We learn as years mount that life can be hard – sometimes very hard. So if we know that some things are more pleasant than others, it would serve to reason that before we tackle some of the tougher things facing us, maybe we should do a pleasant thing first.

Trips to restaurants for my family, like other families, can be a matter of convenience. Other times, it is a source of entertainment. And still other times, a planned family time out can serve as a reward for an accomplishment or a celebration for surviving a tough week.

Recently sitting together at a table with menus in hand, my girls voiced the suggestion that we eat dessert first. In perfect parental accord Kathy and I both chimed, “After we have had our meal.”

“No, really,” 14-year-old Mary says.

“Why not?” 22-year-old Amie chimes in. “Yeah, life’s short. Let’s eat dessert first,” 17-year-old Jenny concludes.

In a moment, we all agree. And like young children forging ahead with joy and gusto, we order slices of cake, brownies covered with ice cream and berry pie.

The waitress carries the tray toward our table, and smiles greet her with anticipation. Scraping the plates clean a while later, we sit back contented with our decision – sometimes eating dessert first is the right way around. Life seems more in perspective and we seem more right with our worlds.

Jenny shuffles into the kitchen in her fluffy housecoat and warm, fuzzy slippers. She is pleasant, but as usual she moves very slowly in the morning. A trip to the pantry brings a box of Captain Crunch to the table. Milk and a bowl from the cabinet, and she is set.

Taking her favorite section of the morning paper, she reads her way to the day’s comics. She chuckles and her eyes open wider. A smile crosses her face, and she calls for Kathy’s attention. Jenny hands the paper to her mother. Kathy reads the day’s Ziggy cartoon and laughs, too.

Ziggy sits at his desk presumably in an office where he works. The stack of work is piled high in the “in box” sitting to his left. The impending threat of a long day of seemingly monotonous work bears heavily on Ziggy.

To his right in the cartoon is a large ice cream sundae. A tilted smile slyly suggests that he has another idea.

The caption reads, “Sometimes, it is important to remember that ‘STRESSED’ is just ‘DESSERTS’ spelled backwards.”

It may all sound a little trite. But consider how much better we may be at doing the task laid out before us if as a precursor, we enjoy dessert first – that we place a pleasant thing at the top of a day.

A steamy cup of coffee sweetened with honey, a long hug and a warm “I love you” shared with a spouse as you prepare to leave your home first thing, a brisk walk in your neighborhood on a spring morning, a pleasant conversation with a co-worker when you first arrive at the office – all are great ways to prepare for the stress you may face in a day.

We can all agree that the sweetness, attractive colors and delightful textures of our desserts are compelling forces that seem to make the more distasteful things in life a little more bearable. “Joy cometh in the morning” scripture reminds us. So, forks up!

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