The Morning Rush

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This is a perfect picture of what I am faced with when the morning rush is through.  Cereal bowls stacked up by the sink and a table covered in cereal dust, all of which are evidence that my children enjoyed their breakfast in a hurry!  With our schedule starting so early since school started again, I often find that I am chilling in my bedroom watching cartoons with Colin while my older kids get breakfast and get themselves ready for the day.  It’s not that I don’t want to be part of their morning ritual, it’s more that I want Colin to continue to rest in the morning so that I don’t have a crabby four-year-old all day long!  So, once my oldest two have left for the bus, Ellis usually makes his way into my room to tie up any loose ends (i.e. have me sign off on his homework that he “forgot” to have me do the night before!) and hang out with me and Colin.  Once Ellis has left for the bus, I am making my way out to the kitchen to get breakfast for Colin and me, and to clean up from the storm that must have blown through while my oldest kids were having breakfast!

It’s not unusual to find the dishes left by the sink (as there are still clean dishes in the dishwasher and I’ve asked my kids to not empty it in the morning because they make too much noise when they do!), a cereal bag (without the box in sight) left lying on the countertop, little spills of milk on the table surrounded by all of that cereal dust.  All of this is evidence of the fact that mornings are a rushing-around kind of thing in our home!  While the kids are incredibly helpful with cleaning up, I’ve given them the easy-out with breakfast, due to the fact that I want Colin to sleep longer than he usually does, and boy do they take advantage of that!  I don’t mind the mess so much, though, so there is no complaining when you know that the kids have enjoyed their morning!

The only time that the mess is a difficult thing for me is when I have somewhere to be in the morning.  This usually means that I’ve woken up earlier than usual, got myself ready, got Colin out of bed and got him ready (including rushing him through eating his cereal!) and am usually trying to rush through cleaning the mess before I head out the door.  This ends up in me enjoying my cereal dry in a sandwich bag while we’re in the truck on our way to our destination!  I don’t mind it that way, though, as I am usually packing a lot of snacks to bring with me when I’m out and about anyway, so what’s the difference of bringing my breakfast along, too?!

Mornings hold a lot of chaos in our house, but I really do love it that way!

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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.