Lenten Fasting: Thoughts

Let me pass on a few thoughts:
It is not in general a great idea, I think, for mothers (and fathers) to go around hungry during Lent: that is not guaranteed to sweeten their disposition or increase their spirit of charity toward their children. (Many of us are fairly loathsome when hungry!) And we all know that children--and other family members!--require all the charity and patience we can possibly manage. We want to be more loving, not less, in Lent!
It may be wiser to deny ourselves small pleasures--enough sugar in our coffee? butter on our toast? a cookie with our tea?--pleasures whose very absence serves to remind us that all these pleasures--and so many more besides!--come to us from the hand of God. This way, our small acts of fasting and self-denial make us more grateful to God for his great gifts to us.