Breakfast in 2007: I can remember breakfast vividly with my firstborn child. In her toddlerhood, I was careful to scramble only the egg yellows, not the whites, with a side of organic English muffin, no honey, but a high quality cream cheese. Orange juice with no pulp, infused with extra calcium. It all ended up on the kitchen floor, with both of us in tears.
Yet, every morning, the charade would begin again.
Breakfast in 2017: Three kids, all school aged, up before the repeat Heartland Series episodes on WBIR. Racing around the house trying to make sure they are wearing matching socks, shoes, and have on clean underpants. Nothing excites my five year old more than a bowl of Lucky Charms, or my six year old a waffle. Table is cleared, backpacks are grabbed on the way out the door to begin the commute to school and work.
And every morning, the charade would begin again.
Except this time, things are different. Things are simple. There are no tears or fights at 6:15am over a bland breakfast item that no one wants to eat. Mornings are stressful enough without adding to that stress. What gets you excited to hop out of bed in the mornings: Is it that piping hot cup of coffee with your favorite creamer? Or a danish at your favorite bakery on the way to work? My kids enjoy waking up to fun breakfast choices, usually a bowl of cereal, a waffle, bagel, or muffin, and of course, our family tradition of Donut Saturday.
There are hills in motherhood that I will absolutely die on, but breakfast is not one of those hills.
On the flip side, I prepare home cooked meals almost every night of the week. We keep fresh fruit in our home that our children are allowed to snack on whenever they are hungry, along with almonds and bottled water. We do not purchase soda or prepackaged cookies, and we rarely ever eat out at a restaurant, aside from Sundays after church or on a weekend excursion.
Yaaasss! I’m over the breakfast struggle! Jake’s is usually animal crackers or graham crackers. Sometimes I can squeeze yogurt down his throat before we leave 😂
Yes! Forgot about yogurt! They like it too! And animal crackers are totally a grain! 🙂
I have 6 kids, 3 in school and mornings stink. I do all of the nighttime prep but it is still so hard so if I don’t have to fight the breakfast battle then I won’t. I compromise on the “junk” cereal, I buy honey nut cheerios and frosted flakes because lucky charms just leaves me with a box of cereal with no marshmallows lol. We also eat healthy 90% of the time so whatever I have to do to get through, I’m doing.
Ps. I don’t even do matched socks so you’re doing one better than I can manage haha
Haha! Amen on the LC marshmallows, I have to keep the box on top of the fridge so my youngest won’t be able to reach them!
Will you just look at all this sanity, right here? There is so much humility and gratitude reflected in this post. I’m so glad you shared.
Maggie, thank you so much for this encouragement! You have just made my day!
What a refreshing post! Just this morning my toddler wanted trail mix for breakfast and I usually insist on either eggs, cereal or a waffle. But today, I let him have it. Pick my battles and this isn’t one of them. I’m a relatively new mom, so I’m trying not to be so stringent. Thanks!
I’ll admit, I judged the article before reading it. LOL. My immediate though was, “Please don’t tell me she’s gonna justify feeding sugary crap to her kids.” But, after reading the article, I agree with you. Mornings can really suck sometimes! I don’t always have the energy, time, or patience to prepare a healthy breakfast…and even if I did, sometimes my kids just want Cinnamon Toast Crunch. So yes, I’m with you: as long as the children are not chugging Mountain Dew and eating processed crap 24/7, let them have the dang donut 😉 It all balances out in the end!!!