I don’t know which came first, but ever since the early years of parenthood, Sunday mornings in the Sinclair household have meant two things: pancakes and classical music.

The only connection that I know of between listening to classical music and eating a hearty breakfast (not always pancakes; waffles and french toast every now and then, too) is that I enjoy them both. The music of J.S.Bach and Antonio Vivaldi just seemed more appropriate to Sunday mornings than did the Jazz, ’60’s Rock or the songs of the many “old dead Blues guys” I would have playing on the stereo during the rest of the week for my own listening pleasure as well as in my on-going attempts to educate and enlighten my children.

I probably started this tradition with J.S.Bach’s “Brandenburg Concertos,” since they’re among my favorite classical works and, back in college, I bought a wonderful Nonesuch records 2-LP set of them recorded by Karl Ristenpart conducting the Chamber Orchestra of the Saar.

Over the years, I added Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” (by Itzhak Perlman and the Israel Philharmonic) and Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphonies “No. 93 in D Major” and “No. 94 in G Major” (Leonard Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic) to the playlist. When my young daughter was learning to play the flute and my son, in elementary school, took up the clarinet; a Sony Classics CD of flute and clarinet concertos by W.A. Mozart was given a top spot in the rotation.

Even today, I had Bach’s “Suite No. 4 in D Major, BMV 1069” (as recorded by conductor Raymond Leppard and the English Chamber Orchestra) dancing in the background as I emptied the dishwasher, made the coffee and enjoyed a bowl of my special “enhanced” oatmeal. (No, believe it or not, I don’t always still have pancakes for Sunday breakfast.)

I know that both of my children enjoyed (sometimes, I’m sure, just tolerated) our musical Sunday morning tradition. My son has carried it with him into adulthood.

A few months after he started living and working in Virginia, I received a late-Sunday-morning text message from him.

“Guess what I listened to as I made/ate my breakfast this morning?”

“Hm… Classical music Sunday morning?” I replied.

“4 Seasons, indeed,” came his answer.

“That’s great, big guy. You made my day.”

“Awesome.”