This charming illustrated gift book strives to help readers capture those moments of unrestrained self-indulgence and of pure joy that are often gained through appreciating life's smallest pleasures. It's about assuming a childlike optimism and getting away with fun. It's about knowing a thing or two when it comes to breaking the rules. It's about treating yourself to what really matters. Our ability to "bend the rules" --to shift life's collective paradigms - is what enables us to weather many of the changes we confront on a daily basis. Bending the rules --or, in some cases, forgoing them completely --gives us a fresh perspective, shakes things up a bit, and forces us to see life through a slightly different lens. Altering the rules leads to ideas that ultimately can reshape the way we see ourselves. Breaking the rules can also be the perfect antidote to the powerful force of stress. A lot of the rules we follow as adults are old. We learned them a long time ago, and in many cases, what served us well as kids doesn't necessarily serve us as well now. Of course some rules we couldn't live without like looking both ways before we cross the street or wearing seatbelts, which are good rules. But what about not getting dessert unless you've finished all your dinner? Or always having to go to bed at a certain time? Instead of giving ourselves permission to be joyful and do the things that make us happy, we arbitrarily create rules that prevent us enjoying as much as we can. So instead of lingering in the tub, we bathe as fast as we can. Instead of celebrating our own birthdays, we minimize the day and let it pass almost unnoticed. These made-up rules may give us some order in the short-term but ultimately short-change what could be a more fulfilling and fun life. Sometimes the easiest way to break these rules is to look at life through a child's eyes. In all 52 chapters of Ice Cream for Breakfast, author Leslie Levine has incorporated universal experiences of childhood and rendered those memories into strategies that can enrich our lives as adults. In "Do One Thing At a Time," for instance, readers learn how to slow down a little. In some cases, she spotlights a rule that's particularly steeped in tradition like "Talk to Strangers." In other chapters, rules resurface and are given a new twist like "Keep Your Eyes on Your Own Paper" which addresses the importance of listening to one's own voice. In its entirity, ce Cream for Breakfast will introduce the reader to new ways to counter the pesky tyrannies that can sabotage one's quest for happiness and fulfillment. From enjoying a big bowl of Rocky Road for breakfast to reveling in the beauty of one's toes, the 52 short chapter essays all reveal a simple truth: you really have to take care of yourself if you're going to take care of others. Break the rules and have fun!
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Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
How often do you break the rules? Not often enough!
Remember when you were a kid and your life was governed by rule after rule? Clean your room. Eat your vegetables. Don't talk back. But remember too, how good it felt to assert your independence now and again and rebel against those rules? After all, misbehaving and being bad could make you feel pretty good.
In Ice Cream for Breakfast, author Leslie Levine serves up 52 ways to break the rules in order bust out of the ho-hum routine of daily life. According to Levine, breaking the rules can give you a fresh perspective, shake things up a bit, and force you to see life through a slightly different lens.
Filled with insight, humor, and honest wisdom, Ice Cream for Breakfast will remind you that it's OK to forego the expected and indulge instead in the simplest of selfish pleasures. Chapters like Stay Up Past Your Bedtime, Play in the Dirt, and Cry Over Spilled Milk give you license to break the most familiar "rules" from childhood. Other chapters encourage you to act like a kid again. Sing at the Top of Your Lungs, for instance, reminds you that singing with abandon is not about how others might think you sound but how good it might make you feel. Still other chapters offer insightful interpretations of familiar words to live by. Keep Your Eyes on Your Own Paper addresses the importance of listening to your own voice rather than relying upon someone else's answers.
Ice Cream for Breakfast is a poignant little guide to countering life's pesky little tyrannies. The perfect primer on savoring the smaller moments in life, the overall message is clear: bust out of that routine, break the rules and have fun!
About the Author
Leslie Levine is a writer, speaker, and public relations consultant in Chicago. In her first book, Will This Place Ever Feel Like Home? Simple Advice for Settling In After Your Move (Dearborn, 1998), Leslie examines and offers practical advice on the many issues associated with relocating. She is frequently quoted on this topic and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Parenting magazine, and Chicago Tribune among others. She has been the featured guest on the Today Show, CBS This Morning, Fox News, and WMAR-TV, the ABC affiliate in Baltimore. Leslie is in high demand as a radio quest as well and has appeared on WGN (Chicago), WXXI (Rochester, NY public radio), WBBM (Chicago), and many others. Leslie's articles on a variety of topics from home remodeling to parenting have appeared in numerous publications including Wo man's Day Remodeling Ideas, Better Homes and Gardens Remodeling Ideas, and The New York Times. Leslie also served as the national spokesperson for ERA Real Estate. In addition to her media appearances, Leslie spoke to ERA agents across the county about how they could ease the transitions for their relocating clients. In addition to her work for the real estate industry, Leslie has been the featured speaker for Atlas Van Lines' Annual Conference on Moving and for the Chicago Chapter of the American Marketing Association. In her latest book, Ice Cream for Breakfast, Treating Yourself to What Really Matters (Contemporary Books, 2001), Leslie shows readers how to infuse more joy into their everyday lives. Chapters like "Revel in the Next Best Thing," "Take a Nap," and "Keep Your Eyes on Your Own Paper," Leslie guides the reader toward embracing a life in which the small pleasures are enough, a life in which the simple things are the things that really matter. In addition to the traditional eggs and toast, Leslie is known to occasionally eat a scoop of ice cream for breakfast.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Giving Women Permission To Be Themselves,
By Karen Asofsky (Highland Park, IL United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ice Cream for Breakfast : If You Follow All The Rules, You MIss Half the Fun (Hardcover)
Ice Cream for Breakfast is the book that women have been waiting for. It gives readers permission to be themselves and to go beyond the silly rules that inhibit well-deserved joy. Leslie Levine is an advocate for all of us good girls who need permission to circumvent the rules we feel bound by even when they no longer serve us. Her book is liberating in that she gives us permission to do and feel what our gut has told us all along. Bravo for Ice Cream for Breakfast!!!
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Sweet Life,
By A Customer
This review is from: Ice Cream for Breakfast : If You Follow All The Rules, You MIss Half the Fun (Hardcover)
Gosh, I love this book. I wish I'd had its lovely, practical wisdom to use in answering all the people who've ever said to me, "Would you lighten up?" Now I know how. And it's fun. (This is also a BEAUTIFUL book -- terrific gift for Mother's Day, birthdays, best friends, uptight bosses, etc.)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Even the one who makes the rules needs to break them!,
By Mary T. Porter (Annapolis, MD United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ice Cream for Breakfast : If You Follow All The Rules, You MIss Half the Fun (Hardcover)
This book was a welcome respite in a busy week filled with working too hard, keeping up with kid's schedules and trying to have a life all at the same time. For busy parents trying to keep everything together and set rules and expectations for their kids, it is great fun to read Ms. Levine's witty , thoughtful and often touching take on how to approach life with fun and grace. Her advice on how to do the unexpected, break the rules we set, usually because it is just how we think we should act, and create special moments for ourselves and our families and friends is a wonderful antidote to stress and tension. I am ordering more to give to friends who really need this book!
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