Pumpkin Bourbon Pancakes

In life, we sometimes have to roll with the deck we have been dealt. For me, that means finding the bright side of a child that sleeps minimally.

I have been told by the teachers at school, fellow parents, books and every child psychologist who has managed to publish something that if your child is not getting 10-12 hours of sleep in a day/night, they will have stunted growth, behavioral problems, learning difficulties, socialization issues, the list goes on and on. So, despite rearranging my schedule so my little guy is in bed by 7:45 p.m. every night, he continues to wake up at 5 a.m., 6 if I am lucky. Of course, this leads to a tired and difficult child in the afternoon who can no longer nap in his pre-kindergarten class. God help me.

So, this morning, after going to bed at a very late 9 p.m. last night, my little monkey was up and ready to go at 6 a.m. Argh! Sleep, my child, please, sleep!! No dice, he was up and nothing was going to change that. So, I did the only logical thing to do at that point, dragged my overly tired tail out of bed, fixed myself an industrial strength cup of coffee and made Hot Chocolate and Pumpkin Bourbon Pancakes with my son. For a brief moment, I am going to block out the criticism and paranoia and enjoy this moment while silently praying that the 9 hours of sleep will not stunt his growth.

I got the recipe here. I added in a teaspoon of vanilla and a teaspoon of bourbon. I threw some chocolate chips into a few pancakes to experiment and I thought they drowned out the pumpkin taste. Out with the chips. Then I tried big chinks of cooked bacon on on a fork full of pancake and syrup and I swear, angels did sing. Make sure you top this off with whipped cream, a critical component.

Cheers! xoxo