When I was growing up, our mom made breakfast every single morning. Come rain or shine, we had breakfast before school. I remember waking up to the sounds and smells of eggs and sausage, toast and other yummy foods. It is a very fond memory of mine and reminds me how much my mom loved us. She got up early every morning to make sure we had something hot and healthy to eat before school.
I recently read that one of the fondest childhood memories for adults is having a hot breakfast in the morning. I thought that was pretty interesting. Today, life is so different. Most households do not have a hot breakfast in the morning. Life is moving fast. In many homes, both parents work. It’s hard enough to get out of the house on time, much less add cooking. Who has time for that? It’s a sad reality.
Many kids are used to rushing out of the house in the morning and don’t want to eat or think they don’t need to eat. Some even grab a coffee (I can’t believe how many teenagers and kids are drinking coffee!) and move on with their day.
I’ve had the hardest time reconciling within myself the morning breakfast issue. My kids don’t like to get up and eat right away. Yet, they also don’t like to get up earlier than they have to in order to have extra time to eat. That creates a problem when it’s time to leave and they have not eaten.
Last year, even though my kids (teens) said they didn’t want breakfast, I decided to try an experiment. I know that it meant a lot to me when I was young, so I decided to take the risk and start making breakfast. Was I going to be bummed if I got up earlier, took the time, cooked food and they didn’t respond well? Probably. But I was willing to take that risk if there was a possibility that my kids would start eating something healthy in the mornings.
One morning I didn’t make breakfast and my daughter ran out of the house without eating. After school, she said she actually “missed” having breakfast. That made me SO happy! She appreciated what I was doing and I felt affirmed about doing something healthy for her, physically and emotionally. Win/win!
If you are struggling with this issue in your home, what are some options for you? What is holding you back from cooking breakfast? Time? Finicky eaters? Wasting food? Grumbles? Kids not making up their minds about what they want? Whatever the issue, I highly recommend doing what I did. Pick something simple and quick that they like (for mine it was scrambled eggs and toast) and just start making it. It doesn’t take as much time as you think. It hasn’t been a huge chore and sure makes us all feel better. It just takes a little extra planning (not much). Time it so when they come to the kitchen, the eggs are right there, easy and quick to eat. Chances are, they will eat it and will eventually depend on it. It just may become one of their fondest childhood memories.
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