Oh wow,  I just heard my dad’s voice, quoting my mother, coming out of my own mouth.  Nooooo!  It cannot be.  (*hanging my head and sighing audibly.)

So I went by the store on my way home the other day.  I was on a simple mission: go in, get a few items (on my list), get out, go home.  As I passed the end-cap of the aisle those mean grocery people had placed a gimmick-cereal there in order to grab the attention of little girls and soft-hearted fathers of little girls; Frozen.

Just to make sure the big softy could not refuse, the cereal was basically just a dumbed down version of Lucky Charms.  It only had two kinds of marshmallows “snow and ice crystals.”  I know…boring colors, right?

Oh yeah, and because Kellogg knows that dads have a hard time denying their daughters happiness, the box is smaller but costs just the same.  Thanks a lot Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Kristoff and Sven.  In my defense it does say, in all capital letters, right across the top of the box “Collector’s Edition”.

So now we’re sitting at the breakfast table with little people eating their Frozen cereal.  They are smiling, fully absorbed in the cartoon images on the box, and bouncing ever so slightly in their seats.  Then it happened.

“Stop eating the marshmallows with your fingers … you are going to eat all of your cereal, not just the colors.”  Aaaaaaahh!  My dad’s voice, my mom’s words, and my own mouth.  The only consolation is that I did not employ the “there are starving children in Africa” line.

Upon recovering from this echo from my childhood, three things quickly cross my mind:

1. It is not the end of the world if the kids only eat the marshmallows.
2. I am so thankful for my mom and dad (especially their patience).
3. As a father I am always influencing my children, always.

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger (bad influence), but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (good influence).”  Ephesians 6:4