|
Share the article on
this page with a friend.
Click
here.
|
|
|
How To Make Cold Mornings Memorable for Your School Kids
By Greg Hansen
She moans, she grunts, she sighs and huffs, as she laboriously pulls herself up the stairs, hand over hand on the stair rail, mimicking a convict fettered to a ball and chain. Her eyes are mere slits, fending
off the light as if it were some gaseous acid, a black cloud of scribbles over her head like a grumpy Calvin and Hobbes cartoon character.
The Zombie has arisen.
“She lives!” I screech in my best imitation of Dr. Frankenstein upon seeing his monster come to life.
“Mmmphh,” she grumbles from below the tangled hair.
But ten minutes later, she is happy, awake and back to her convivial daytime self — even though I know the Teenage Zombie will return tomorrow morning.
What made the difference? Gourmet hot chocolate, background music, and a warm ambience.
She just had a cup of hot cocoa, served up in her favorite horse-themed mug, whipped up by my fabulous Mr. Coffee 32 oz. Motion Hot Beverage Maker. This mug has Stephen's Gourmet Mint Truffle Cocoa mix crowned with a dollop of French Vanilla Cool-Whip and some Smucker's hot fudge. It has a nice healthy froth like you'd find in the latte shops.
Some fine one-sided conversation about the day's upcoming events and a flip of the gas log fireplace switch gets her warmed up from the inside out, and the outside in. Michael Dowdle's “25 Beloved Carols of Christmas,” the most effective mood music you'll ever find, is playing in the background. Soon, she is back to the sweet, generous, and studious girl we know and love.
Click to Buy
If you decide to try this with your kids, here are a few tips:
- Hot chocolate made with a hot chocolate maker leaves you free to shower up while it's working. No mess or gloppy glassfulls result like when you use hot water in a cup. Wal-Mart stocks the Cocomotion Hot Chocolate Maker in season, priced about 28 bucks. It makes four generous, memorable mugs. Simply add the ingredients to the machine, turn it on, and walk away.
- Try adding two cups milk and two cups water instead of four cups water when adding the ingredients to the machine. No matter what brand of instant cocoa you use, it will taste richer. Two percent milk is fine. Follow it with four generous scoops of cocoa mix.
- Customize the flavors as needed. My kids like Stephen's Gourmet Mint Truffle, but there are also other delicious brands that come in flavors such as orange and raspberry. Add a dash of raspberry or strawberry syrup, a spoonful of marshmallow cream, or a peppermint dissolved in
the mix.
- Top it off with any number of favorites: Whipped cream in a can, whipped topping of any flavor from a container, or marshmallows of varying sizes or colors. Use your imagination on other holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving. Cinnamon sticks make good stirrers, as do
unused peppermint sticks leftover from Christmas. Plastic sipping straws will get them out the door on time if the cocoa's too hot.
- Every great restaurant has ambient music, so why not try it yourself? Michael Dowdle's acoustic guitar work is near legendary for creating a great vibe to start the day. Find it here.
These simple tips offer a fun, inexpensive way to make those winter mornings something the kids will remember and look forward to.
Greg Hansen is a record producer, writer and horseman. For more information about Greg, visit his website at www.greg-hansen.com.
Click here to sign up for Meridian's FREE email updates.
© 2007 Meridian Magazine. All Rights Reserved
|
|
| About
the Author: |
Greg Hansen is an award-winning professional composer, record producer/arranger, and new age recording artist residing in Utah. He is a 1998-2005 21-time Pearl Award winner. In 1986 he won the prestigious Peabody Award for Broadcasting along with others for the radio drama series "Bradbury 13," based on the science fiction stories of Ray Bradbury. That series also garnered two Gold Cindy awards. Later he also scored the music for the United States Film Festival's Silver Screen Award-winning film. He also arranged and produced several of the tracks found on the 2002 Olympic CD. Greg recently received the Eliza R. Snow Performing Arts Award from BYU-Idaho.
His album “Wilderness" went to #21 on the national airplay charts (Gavin, Radio & Records) in 1994. It has been reviewed as "one of the most stunning and varied albums of this genre."
Greg has produced and arranged over 400 albums for various clients, and has over 900 sheet music arrangements and compositions in print. He has three solo albums and five compilation albums with his and others' material. He has scored more than 80 industrial and dramatic films for clients including the Public Broadcasting System (PBS); National Public Radio; Disney movie trailers; Discovery Channel; NASA; Turner Broadcasting; National Geographic; the LDS Church; and a host of others.
He has arranged for David Foster; Sony Music (Nashville); EMI Records (New York); The Bellagio Hotel Water show Theme in Las Vegas; Bob Hope; The Osmonds; Senator Orrin Hatch; The Mormon Tabernacle Choir; the Miss America Pageant; Children's Miracle Network; Andy Williams; Theodore Presser Company; Hal Leonard; Shawnee Press; Jensen Publications; and Hope Publishing. He also arranged an entire educational series of over 1,200 songs from every phase of the United States' cultural pop music and world music history for Macmillan/McGraw Hill. His original music has been used in broadcasting worldwide, by all major foreign and domestic TV networks. His work has been performed at the inauguration ceremony of President George W. Bush.
In the LDS music scene, Greg has arranged and produced music for Michael McLean, Janice Kapp Perry, Afterglow, Jenny Oaks Baker, Michael Dowdle, Felicia Sorensen, Hilary Weeks, Thurl Bailey, LDS church seminary films and TV commercials, Lex de Azevedo, Envoy, Especially for Youth, Gladys Knight, Kurt Bestor, Steven Kapp Perry, BYU, Ricks College (now BYU—Idaho), and many others renowned in the industry.
He is a co-founder of the award-winning record label, Sounds of Zion/Inspirational Music Showcase, and a columnist for Meridian Magazine. He is also a board member of the Faith Centered Music Association, and has long been a guest presenter in the BYU School of Management MBA program, teaching classes in creativity and business.
If you are more interested in Greg Hansen, visit his website at
www.Greg-Hansen.com.
|
| Related
Resources |
| |
Click
here to learn more and to buy
We are living in an unprecedented time in the history of the Church.
All of us are witnesses to the greatest temple-building
era in the history of the world! Now, documented on DVD,
Meridian brings you Gordon B. Hinckley —
Temple Builder,
Up Front and Personal.
Meridian's founders, Scot & Maurine Proctor, invite you right
to a front row seat of temple dedications and significant events
with President Hinckley all over the world. With stunning photography,
powerful video clips from conference and beautiful music, the
experience will inspire you and lift you —
bring you to
tears. More than a million Latter-day Saints have read some of
these accounts on Meridian —
Now they come
to you on DVD. All for only $16.50.
Click
here to buy.
|
| What
do you think? |
| |
Format
for Print
Click Here |
|
Share the
article on this page with a friend.
Click
here. |
|
|
