The Breakfast Routine

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With six people running around our house on any given day, breakfast is somewhat of a chaotic event!  During the summer, however, we do have a far more laid-back routine that we follow.  Being the fact that Monte leaves for work so early, he typically grabs a banana and his cup of coffee and is out the door, making his breakfast routine pretty simple.  The rest of us are the complicated factors!  During the week, my mornings almost always start out with Colin coming into my room (usually around 7:00 or 7:30am) to let me know that he’s ready to eat.  After a quick trip to the bathroom, I find myself in the kitchen trying to find out what my four-year-old is ordering for breakfast that morning.  Monte and I do our best to make sure that the kids get to enjoy their breakfast, and with that we eat a lot of cereal in our house!  My kids absolutely love Frosted Flakes, Cocoa Krispies, Froot Loops, all flavors of Special K as well as the simplicity and deliciousness of Rice Krispies; we even splurge on the occasional Pop Tart.  I’m pretty positive that my kids think these cereals are their little taste of Heaven on Earth!  Cereal is a pretty common factor in our morning routine, especially since there are so many of us.  While some days the kids ask for something such as oatmeal or eggs for breakfast, truly I would say at least five out of seven days they get to enjoy having cereal.

What happens on those remaining two days, then?  Well, Saturday is an especially wonderful morning filled with a tradition that has been going on since long before I lived here; Saturday is pancake or waffle morning!  Every Saturday morning we make either pancakes or waffles for the kids (who am I kidding, there really is no “we” in that, as Monte almost always does the preparation and cooking for this!) as well as a side of bacon.  While this is something the kids just love, I am not a fan of pancakes and I really don’t like bacon at all, so I still typically still enjoy my cereal on Saturday mornings! 

Sometimes during the school year the kids convince me of their extreme need to have pancakes for breakfast, so on occasion I do get up way too early and prepare this warm breakfast for them.  This happened to be one of those particular mornings where Claire was up and enjoying pancakes around 6:00am!  I'm just thankful that she's in the picture and not me, because I think I would have looked far more tired than happy!

Our Sunday routine often turns into a fend-for-yourself type of morning again, as we’re usually rushing around to get ready for church.  What does that look like?  A whole lot of cereal!  With a large family, we are looking for the fastest and easiest approach to breakfast, without creating a huge mess of our kitchen.  With two other meals on the plan for the day, it’s always appreciated to have at least one meal go by that doesn’t require a ton of clean-up afterward!  If the kids don’t opt for cereal on Sunday morning, it is replaced by a bagel or toast with a side of fruit.

No matter what day of the week it is, the one common factor that we work with is simplicity.  What’s the common factor that drives your families morning routine?!

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Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients.  To learn more about the program, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.