If you spent 4 hours making cereal

[Heatherwith4]

Thanks for the granola recipe! :)

[Plateau Mama]

I never understand when People say cereal is expensive? I pay no more than $2 a box. I don't buy sugar cereals or generic.I only buy GF cereals, so I'm limited to what I can buy. I just bought large boxes of Chex for $1.50 a box. Without a coupon it would have only been $2/ box. I will buy 10-20 boxes and it lasts me until the next time it goes in sale.

[Catwoman]

I don't love my family enough to spend 4 hrs making cereal.

 

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

That made me spit coffee on my keyboard!

 

 

And I still want to see that cereal recipe.

[UmMusa]

And in the morning whie you were getting ready for the day, your child poured it all into a bowl poured tons of milk on it took 2 bites and put it in the fridge would you be livid?

 

DS did just that.

 

Then he declared that he could not drink any milk (local, organic not cheap) because it was in a coffee cup and the cup smelled like coffee. The same cup he has been using for 4 years that he got from my parents.

Yeah, I'd probably lose it. Kids can be so frustrating. I'd be able to put it more into perspective later, but that would for sure set me off if that happened to me.

[sewingmama]

My kids would do just that -which is why I always supervise the cereal pouring :bored:

 

I don't cook anything here that takes 4 hours - I already know that effort would be wasted around here :laugh:

 

As for the milk thing - my DD has SPD and anything she eats or drinks that is slightly different then the last time is always discarded. It annoys me but I'm so used to it that if she said she couldn't drink something because it tasted weird I would just drink it myself and pour her some in another cup - no biggie.

 

Honestly if your situation happened to me I would probably rant and rave for two seconds because the kids know not to pour anything without asking for help - but I wouldn't bother ranting about the waste - little kids don't get it and accidents happen with little hands -they can't always control what is pouring out into their bowls KWIM.

 

I'd be thankful your son put it in the fridge - my kids would have just dumped what they didn't want in the bin.

[QuirkyKidAcademy]

OP, yes, I'd be upset.

[Kathryn]

I love this thread. That's all.

[Catwoman]

I love this thread. That's all.

 

 

Let's all have some cereal.

 

I know I usually recommend cupcakes, but this is kind of a special occasion.

[Mommy22alyns]

Yes, I would be upset. But that's why I don't spend 4 hours making anything for my kids. :p As far as 8yo's portions of cereal, Sylvia has a measuring cup that she uses to portion out her cereal properly. Leave it out there, spend 30 seconds explaining it, done. I don't care if she eats two bowls as long as she eats it.

[Χά�ων]

If I spent 4 hours making cereal, I would probably guard it with my life. :svengo:

 

 

I may start.

[celticmom]

OP reason number 8 that you gave would be more than enough for me. My uberpicky dd is now having to adjust to a wheat-free diet and a few of the things that I have prepared she has been told that she will eat whether she likes it or not because I don't have anything else fixed.

 

Edited to add - I do not allow commercial cereal in the house.

[Χά�ων]

Why don't you just make granola.

 

 

I have and I do.

[Χά�ων]

I don't love my family enough to spend 4 hrs making cereal.

 

 

Love your honesty.

[Guest]

I rarely see deals like that except for the junky cereals. And I admit to buying them from time to time. Where I think it's expensive is it doesn't last. A whole box is done in a day around here. It's just one of those things one can eat a lot of and not feel filled up. At least that's true for me. If I eat a bowl of cereal I'm starved in half an hour. Same with my kids. I kinda hate cereal for that reason.

 

 

Totally true for me, too. I had cereal this morning and when I left at 10:30 to go take my biology final, my stomach was growling. I said, "Damn cereal. I knew I should have had eggs."

[Χά�ων]

You may need to reevaluate #5, too. Getting up earlier sucks, sure. You may have to, though, until your DS can be relied on to make a decision on what he's going

 

On Fridays we leave the house at 4:30am, if you are able to get up at 3am and function well enough to prepare a breakfast and get everything else done you are a better mom than I am.

 

If I could sleep full dressed I would set the alarm for 4:15 roll out of bed grab DS and drag my sorry rump to the car and go. As it is I think 3:45am wake time is pretty good already.

[Impish]

 

Love your honesty.

 

Oh. You thought I was being honest.

[Guest inoubliable]

 

On Fridays we leave the house at 4:30am, if you are able to get up at 3am and function well enough to prepare a breakfast and get everything else done you are a better mom than I am.

 

If I could sleep full dressed I would set the alarm for 4:15 roll out of bed grab DS and drag my sorry rump to the car and go. As it is I think 3:45am wake time is pretty good already.

 

 

Good grief. :svengo:

[Plateau Mama]

I rarely see deals like that except for the junky cereals. And I admit to buying them from time to time. Where I think it's expensive is it doesn't last. A whole box is done in a day around here. It's just one of those things one can eat a lot of and not feel filled up. At least that's true for me. If I eat a bowl of cereal I'm starved in half an hour. Same with my kids. I kinda hate cereal for that reason.

 

Well, I can't buy the junky cereals even if I wanted as DD can't eat them. But for $1.50 a box she can eat the entire box for all I care. My boys aren't big cereal eaters. They only eat it under duress. So it's my daughter and husband eating the cereal. She has to be out of the house at 7 and she doesn't want to cook breakfast that early (and neither do I), so she eats cereal.

[Catwoman]

On Fridays we leave the house at 4:30am, if you are able to get up at 3am and function well enough to prepare a breakfast and get everything else done you are a better mom than I am.

 

If I could sleep full dressed I would set the alarm for 4:15 roll out of bed grab DS and drag my sorry rump to the car and go. As it is I think 3:45am wake time is pretty good already.

 

 

 

OK, here's the thing.

 

If you can get up at 3am, get your family out of the house by 4:30am, and then still have the energy to spend 4 hours making cereal at some point during the day, you are a better woman than I am.

 

Or maybe you're just crazy. I guess it could go either way. :D

 

I don't even usually get to bed until 3am. I can't even imagine having to get up at that time.

 

And you know, part of me is dying to ask you what makes it necessary for you to leave the house at 4:30am, but in our area, if you're leaving the house at 4:30 in the morning, you're heading down to the Pine Barrens and you've got a couple of bodies and a shovel in the trunk of your car, so perhaps it's best if I don't press you for details. ;)

[Guest]

OK, here's the thing.

 

If you can get up at 3am, get your family out of the house by 4:30am, and then still have the energy to spend 4 hours making cereal at some point during the day, you are a better woman than I am.

 

Or maybe you're just crazy. I guess it could go either way. :D

 

I don't even usually get to bed until 3am. I can't even imagine having to get up at that time.

 

And you know, part of me is dying to ask you what makes it necessary for you to leave the house at 4:30am, but in our area, if you're leaving the house at 4:30 in the morning, you're heading down to the Pine Barrens and you've got a couple of bodies and a shovel in the trunk of your car, so perhaps it's best if I don't press you for details. ;)

 

 

:smilielol5: :smilielol5: :smilielol5:

 

I smell cupcake wars...

[Catwoman]

 

:smilielol5: :smilielol5: :smilielol5:

 

I smell cupcake wars...

 

 

Heaven knows I'm trying.

 

Work with me here, people. WORK WITH ME. :D

 

What I wouldn't do for a box of Cap'n Crunch right now... :drool5:

[Χά�ων]

 

 

 

OK, here's the thing.

 

If you can get up at 3am, get your family out of the house by 4:30am, and then still have the energy to spend 4 hours making cereal at some point during the day, you are a better woman than I am.

 

Or maybe you're just crazy. I guess it could go either way. :D

 

I don't even usually get to bed until 3am. I can't even imagine having to get up at that time.

 

And you know, part of me is dying to ask you what makes it necessary for you to leave the house at 4:30am, but in our area, if you're leaving the house at 4:30 in the morning, you're heading down to the Pine Barrens and you've got a couple of bodies and a shovel in the trunk of your car, so perhaps it's best if I don't press you for details. ;)

 

 

Grandma gave DS the "gift" of speed skating. Off ice practice is at 5:30am followed by on ice practice and the rink is not near by. The rink is actually almost 90 minutes away but thanks to no traffic we can make the trip in an hour. And I never speed. Honest!

 

I think grandma has it in for me.

 

I just might be a tiny bit crazy.

[Guest inoubliable]

Eh?

[Wheres Toto]

 

On Fridays we leave the house at 4:30am, if you are able to get up at 3am and function well enough to prepare a breakfast and get everything else done you are a better mom than I am.

 

If I could sleep full dressed I would set the alarm for 4:15 roll out of bed grab DS and drag my sorry rump to the car and go. As it is I think 3:45am wake time is pretty good already.

 

I'd put some cereal or granola or cheese and crackers in a baggie and have it all ready to go in the morning. The kid can eat it in the car.

 

Your kid really gets up at 3:45am and makes himself breakfast before you leave at 4:30am? I'd be guiding my kids out to the car sleep-walking, after doing exactly what you describe above - roll out of bed and right into the car. I've done it before if we had an early morning. No way would I commit to that early of a morning every week. Yikes.

[Guest]

Grandma gave DS the "gift" of speed skating. Off ice practice is at 5:30am followed by on ice practice and the rink is not near by. The rink is actually almost 90 minutes away but thanks to no traffic we can make the trip in an hour. And I never speed. Honest!

 

I think grandma has it in for me.

 

I just might be a tiny bit crazy.

 

The willingness you have for stretching the boundaries of normal time management is beginning to awe me.

[Catwoman]

Grandma gave DS the "gift" of speed skating. Off ice practice is at 5:30am followed by on ice practice and the rink is not near by. The rink is actually almost 90 minutes away but thanks to no traffic we can make the trip in an hour. And I never speed. Honest!

 

I think grandma has it in for me.

 

I just might be a tiny bit crazy.

 

Wow -- you must be exhausted!!! :grouphug: Getting up so early, followed by all that driving -- and the joy of sitting around in a skating rink for hours... :ack2: I hope the kid really loves skating!!!

 

Is there any way you can pack a brown bag breakfast the night before, to eat in the car on the way to the rink? It might give you an extra half hour of rest in the morning.

[Joanne]

This is a bipolar thread.

 

OP, I guess if this is not a pattern, I'd have to write it off as a moment. Yes, I understand being tied to your time/effort/care invested. But I think expecting an 8 year old to think that through is probably a recipe for disaster (pun not intended, but I'll accept it).

 

Here, I don't allow negative or unkind comments about food. I would accept "Mom, it's just not very good and I will wait until the next meal" but I won't accept any form of "ew! that sucks!"

 

I will let an occassional food waste "go", but intervene on a chronic pattern.

 

I'm sorry your effort and care to wholistically serve your family was thwarted today. It sounds like you do a great job with family recources. Just don't be too hard on the little guy.

[butterflymommy]

Not for anything, but if you're spending 4 hours making your own cereal, it's costing you a lot more in time and effort than the "arm and a leg" you'd pay for packaged cold cereal. Your time is worth money, too, and spending 4 hours of it to make some cereal doesn't seem like a money-saver (or a great use of your time) to me.

 

Honestly, if you were only spending an hour making the cereal, that would seem too long, as well.

 

Sorry to sound so critical, but I'm just not understanding the rationale behind this. :confused:

 

I don't think a SAHM (assuming she is one) really can think in those terms. It's not like we're being paid hourly for our time and having to take a 4 hour unpaid break for making cereal.

 

Money is money and it often takes time and tedious effort to save it. I've also made my own (granola-like) cold cereal-- it's not only cheaper but so, so much yummier and healthier.

 

To the OP I have picky kids like you wouldn't believe. I don't cook anything unless 1) I'm prepared to eat it myself or 2) I'm prepared to see it go in the trash.

[Χά�ων]

I am starting to feel really dumb for not thinking of having something ready to go that he can eat in the car. :banghead: I guess my brain is frozen from the early mornings at the ice rink.

 

 

Yes he really loves skating. He has mentioned how if he could he would replace his feet with something that he could change out wheels and an ice blade.

[Barb_]

 

 

 

OK, here's the thing.

 

If you can get up at 3am, get your family out of the house by 4:30am, and then still have the energy to spend 4 hours making cereal at some point during the day, you are a better woman than I am.

 

Or maybe you're just crazy. I guess it could go either way. :D

 

I don't even usually get to bed until 3am. I can't even imagine having to get up at that time.

 

And you know, part of me is dying to ask you what makes it necessary for you to leave the house at 4:30am, but in our area, if you're leaving the house at 4:30 in the morning, you're heading down to the Pine Barrens and you've got a couple of bodies and a shovel in the trunk of your car, so perhaps it's best if I don't press you for details. ;)

 

Oh good lord. I'm liking your posts all over the thread. You're going to think you have a stalker. I can't find the smilies on my iPhone but I'm dying over here.

[Χά�ων]

Here is a recipe I have had good luck with. I created it myself.

 

Cereal:

 

Pretend you do have have an oven and are using a convection oven instead. Turn it on to 350

 

Cook quinoa according to the directions on the package or until cooked and not a grey lump of mush.

 

Add cinnamon and honey.

 

Eat a teaspoon of cinnamon.

 

Oil the largest pan you can stuff into the oven. Pretend it is a pizza pan.

 

Spread quinoa on pan.

 

Roast for less then 10 minutes.

 

Throw away the first batch that you forgot about and burned.

 

When it is golden brown it is done.

 

Eat like you would grape nuts.

 

 

On that size sheet you will get less then a cup of cereal.

[justLisa]

 

The willingness you have for stretching the boundaries of normal time management is beginning to awe me.

 

 

Yeah at first I was kinda going with partially crazy but now that I read more I'm sure of it. As a former figure skater and a mother who drug me out of bed every morning at 4 am you HAVE to be a bit nutty to put up with that

 

OP you sound like a dear.

 

Next time he pulls that tell him he has to pay you back for your time and your rate is $1000 an hour :lol:

[Χά�ων]

 

I don't think a SAHM (assuming she is one) really can think in those terms. It's not like we're being paid hourly for our time and having to take a 4 hour unpaid break for making cereal.

 

 

Except that I am not sure what "stay at home" actually is. People hear I homeschool and do not work at a "job" and think Ii sit at home eating cupcakes while DS works out of a workbook.

[jujsky]

Grandma gave DS the "gift" of speed skating. Off ice practice is at 5:30am followed by on ice practice and the rink is not near by. The rink is actually almost 90 minutes away but thanks to no traffic we can make the trip in an hour. And I never speed. Honest!

 

I think grandma has it in for me.

 

I just might be a tiny bit crazy.

 

 

Grandma would be taking him. I would have said when he received the gift, "How generous! I'll make sure he's fed and ready for you at 4:30 AM sharp, unless you'd like to pick him up earlier."

[Catwoman]

I don't think a SAHM (assuming she is one) really can think in those terms. It's not like we're being paid hourly for our time and having to take a 4 hour unpaid break for making cereal.

 

Money is money and it often takes time and tedious effort to save it. I've also made my own (granola-like) cold cereal-- it's not only cheaper but so, so much yummier and healthier.

 

 

 

 

I disagree. There is still a cost-benefit ratio involved, and to spend 4 hours making some cereal is simply not a wise use of time. I'm relatively certain that the OP could save just as much (and probably considerably more) money by taking less time to make other homemade foods for the family instead of the cereal.

 

And realistically, cereal isn't even very expensive. The ingredients to make the homemade cereal are probably not significantly cheaper -- although they may be more nutritious.

[Χά�ων]

No kidding. I think that boarders on cruelty.

 

 

Possibly. But then when she approached me about it I did not have a clue that it started at that hour and I agreed to do it. She pays for a tank of gas a week as well because it is so far.

 

She just brought me brownies I guess she is not all that evil.

[Catwoman]

Possibly. But then when she approached me about it I did not have a clue that it started at that hour and I agreed to do it. She pays for a tank of gas a week as well because it is so far.

 

She just brought me brownies I guess she is not all that evil.

 

 

So basically, she's just sort of evil-ish? ;)

 

(I have to admit that I have been influenced by the Brownie Effect.)

[Χά�ων]

 

Hehe

 

Well it's nice, but wow that must be hard!

 

 

No, they were moist and chewy just like I like them.

[Parrothead]

 

 

7. I have way more time than I have money. I have 4 hours but not $40 to spend on premade boxed cereal.

 

 

I've only gotten this far in the thread. Honestly my time is worth more than $10 an hour. And I have to wonder what kind of cereal you buy that costs $40 for even a month's supply for one 8-year old.

 

if you 4 hour's worth of work filled up one bowl, how many times a week do spend making cereal for 4 hours? To make one bowl of cereal a day for each day of the week you'd be spending 28 hours of your week making cereal every week. The to factor in the cost of your time you are looking at $280 (at $10 per hour) for cereal plus ingredients.

 

Are you sure that is worth it?

[Mrs Mungo]

 

 

Let's all have some cereal.

 

I know I usually recommend cupcakes, but this is kind of a special occasion.

 

 

I hate cereal. Yuck!!

[sewingmama]

 

Except that I am not sure what "stay at home" actually is. People hear I homeschool and do not work at a "job" and think Ii sit at home eating cupcakes while DS works out of a workbook.

 

 

And eating cupcakes while your kids are doing schoolwork is a bad thing because.......... :leaving:

 

Actually I prefer to eat my cupcakes AND surf the net in the other room while waiting for my kids to finish their work - because if I'm in the same room as them they all want to share :drool5:

[justLisa]

And eating cupcakes while your kids are doing schoolwork is a bad thing because.......... :leaving:

 

Actually I prefer to eat my cupcakes AND surf the net in the other room while waiting for my kids to finish their work - because if I'm in the same room as them they all want to share :drool5:

 

 

 

This is breakfast people. You don't eat cupcakes for breakfast. You eat frosted muffins

[Χά�ων]

LOL

 

I was talking about getting up so early. But that works too. :laugh:

 

 

I find it best not to think about getting up early. It makes life easier.

 

What throw me is DS. He gets up with no problems AND when his friends are in town he does practice and then spends the rest of the day and night at the ice rink. He has managed to stay until 10pm doing various activities (hockey, public etc). I go home and take a nap, have me time and just chill. His friend's older brother is 16 and is on the ice with them the entire time and it really only happens about 3 times a year.

 

Free brownies to anyone who doesn't judge.

[Parrothead]

Grandma gave DS the "gift" of speed skating. Off ice practice is at 5:30am followed by on ice practice and the rink is not near by. The rink is actually almost 90 minutes away but thanks to no traffic we can make the trip in an hour. And I never speed. Honest!

 

I think grandma has it in for me.

 

I just might be a tiny bit crazy.

I'm glad your kid has you for a mom.

 

I know there is no way I'd be able to pull that off for mine.

[Χά�ων]

 

 

This is breakfast people. You don't eat cupcakes for breakfast. You eat frosted muffins

 

I have been on this earth for over 30 years if I want a cupcake for breakfast, by golly, I am going to eat a cupcake. And I will not share either!

[Guest submarines]

 

I'd put some cereal or granola or cheese and crackers in a baggie and have it all ready to go in the morning. The kid can eat it in the car.

 

Your kid really gets up at 3:45am and makes himself breakfast before you leave at 4:30am? I'd be guiding my kids out to the car sleep-walking, after doing exactly what you describe above - roll out of bed and right into the car. I've done it before if we had an early morning. No way would I commit to that early of a morning every week. Yikes.

 

This is what we do as well for the early morning drives. The kids sleep already dressed. I carry (or half-carry) the kids to the car. They have their breakfast packed and they eat it when they are at least somewhat awake.

[Parrothead]

 

 

 

Free brownies to anyone who doesn't judge.

not judging here. Just wondering if it is a wise use of your time.

[happi duck]

 

I have been on this earth for over 30 years if I want a cupcake for breakfast, by golly, I am going to eat a cupcake. And I will not share either!

 

 

Team Cupcake!

[Χά�ων]

not judging here. Just wondering if it is a wise use of your time.

 

 

On the days he spends more hours then I care to count at the rink I get to take a nap, chill at a coffee shop, read books at Barnes and Nobles and anything else I like for the day. I think it is a pretty good use of my time. I do not get mom's day out very often.

[justLisa]

I would like to state on record that I do not buy cereal. However I love it and wish I could eat one hundred pounds of Lucky Charms marshmallows and peanut butter Captain Crunch