My 70s childhood

After an hour of watching Saturday morning cartoons, we sat down together to eat Mom's warm melt-in-your-mouth oven egg omelets.  Saturday mornings were always the omelets, Sundays were oatmeal and sweet rolls, Wednesdays Mom was up even earlier to make pancakes before school, and Tuesdays and Thursdays were egg days.  Sugary cereals were only allowed on certain mornings.  My mom had breakfast covered.

I remember riding with Mom in the station wagon with slippery vinyl seats to the fabric store.  There I'd wander for hours judging all the different multicolored fabric designs and imagining wearing this pattern or that pattern to school.  Mom could sew any pattern I picked, so the sky was the limit.  The lady with long, clicky fingernails would cut the cloth, and soon our living room floor would become puzzle pieces of crinkly brown patterns pinned to my beautiful fabric.

Dinner time meant experiments.  The latest hope had been clipped from a magazine and prepared, complete with an enticing name like "Beef Skillet Fiesta" "Casserole Italiana" or "Fire Station Casserole." The most imfamous attempt was a dessert mysteriously named "Peach Ping."  It quickly became "Peach Pavement" to us kids since it came with serious crust issues.  Each dinner Mom made was complete with main course, two vegetables and a starch, plus often a real dessert.

--daughter Jane Hilbrands