How does breakfast work in your home?

[jaderbee]

After making breakfast for the kids, watching them eat a few bites and toss it, and then listening to them moan about starvation around 9:30, I'm considering canceling breakfast. But it's the most important meal of the day, right? I want to come up with some better ideas instead of just beating my head against this wall. Have the kids take ownership of breakfast so they'll appreciate it more? Skip breakfast and offer a large snack earlier in the day? How do you handle breakfast?

[KarenC]

My girls are 13, 16, and 18.  They make something simple like eggs or cereal or have a muffin and juice.

[hjffkj]

Why not wait until 9:30,I'm assuming this is am, to feed them. We don't eat breakfast most mornings until around then and we're usually awake by 7am. My kids are 2,5 and 6. Most days dh or I make breakfast. It is almost always eggs, bacon or sausage, sauteed veggies, and toast. Some days it's oatmeal and fruit. On those days the 6 year old can make it or he can wait until a parent makes it. If dh decides to make waffles or pancakes we have fruit with it. If they choose not to eat or only peck at it they know they won't eat again until lunch at noon.

[I talk to the trees]

DD (14) makes whatever she wants (usually oatmeal or yogurt) for breakfast most days. If dh or I fix something special (pancakes, scones, etc..,) we make enough for everyone.

[MeghansMom]

My daughter is 11 and a half. She grabs a bacon egg cheese biscuit and heats it up in the microwave, grabs a piece of fruit or a fruit cup too.

Sometimes we make egg muffins (cheese, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, etc.) once a week and she will heat them up. She is not much of a cereal person.

I have oatmeal or cereal.

[purplejackmama]

What are they eating before 9:30? I have a pretty strict protein heavy rule around here or everybody seems to crash and burn.

[Kathryn]

I eat cold cereal. Ds9 makes himself and his brother breakfast. They vary between toast, bagels, cold cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, frozen waffles, and Clif bars. Sometimes we'll have boiled eggs in the fridge they can choose from also.

 

ETA two of us (me included) are of the sort that gets queasy and vomit if we don't eat immediately upon waking. So, big breakfasts don't happen here because I simply can't do it.

[Χά�ων]

I make breakfast, but breakfast is not first thing in the morning unless we have to be out of the house early. We are not the roll out of bed and eat type. If I try it my house looks like yours.

 

On out the door early days I make a portable breakfast. Something that can be eaten cold or I stick it in a thermos to be eaten when hungry.

 

Breakfast is after caring for the animals, getting dressed, some puttering around and instructions for the first lesson of the day given. I cook after DS says he is hungry. DS works on his school work while I fix breakfast. On non school days when we are being slugs I wait until he starts foraging for food and use that as my signal to start a meal.

[Rebel Yell]

After making breakfast for the kids, watching them eat a few bites and toss it, and then listening to them moan about starvation around 9:30, I'm considering canceling breakfast. But it's the most important meal of the day, right? I want to come up with some better ideas instead of just beating my head against this wall. Have the kids take ownership of breakfast so they'll appreciate it more? Skip breakfast and offer a large snack earlier in the day? How do you handle breakfast?

 

How old are your kids?

 

What do they want for breakfast?  Are you making scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, and hot tea when they really just want a bowl of cold cereal? Do they need to wait an hour or so after waking up to eat? Maybe a fruit smoothie w/yogurt or protein powder would be better- they can drink it slowly over the morning.

 

My girls are 19, 15, & 13. I voted "other" because sometimes I do make breakfast, but most of the time, everyone gets whatever they want whenever they are hungry for it. And breakfast can be anything- toast, cereal, bagel/creamcheese, pancakes, toaster waffles, smoothie, leftover pizza, eggs... my only requirement (even for the adult child- we still pay for her health insurance, LOL!) is that Pop Tarts (or other sugary breakfasts) must be eaten with some sort of protein, and "sugar cereals" must be mixed with a plain cereal- usually Cheerios.

[bolt.]

With years of transition from fully depending on me, through to being mostly independant, here's where we are now.

 

Breakfast is always: one source if protien, one kind of fruit, and one grain or starch. (Plus at least a cup of something acceptable to drink.)

 

They know the meaning of those food groups and how they apply to breakfast. We have some cheat-sheets in case people need fresh ideas. (They tend to get stuck on a habitual short list from time to time.)

 

There are lots of limits, details, and exceptions that we all know because we've been doing this for years.

 

Examples:

 

- Having a big plate eggs means you don't need a grain with that, unless you want it.

- Milk counts as half a protein, unless you have an adult-sized glass of it.

- If you make fruit salad, you have to make enough for anyone who wants any.

- Fresh fruit must usually be prioritized above canned or dried options.

- You can have extra servings, as much as you like, as long as the 3 main servings are consumed before extra servings are accessed.

- Only one of the servings is allowed to be sweetened beyond normal (if you have Nutella on toast, you can't also have canned peaches, or sweetened yogurt that meal)

 

They tend to doddle, but always come through eventually. They don't actively resist breakfast. If they get 'full' we usually do a quick chore, or another part of morning routine, and come back to it.

 

Parts of this are still my job: for example, only I peel kiwi fruit. They have to bring the fruit, their bowl, a knife an a peel plate to me -- then I get it done and pass it over. I need to supervise stove use, and I need to help with microwave 'baking'.

[Anne in CA]

We own a restaurant known for good breakfast, but dd is a crunchy granola girl and she makes her own whole wheat pancakes that contain, chocolate chips, blue berries and sometimes cold cereal or at least almonds. Sometimes she makes a green smoothie for herself, knowing no one wants to watch her drink it so she needs to consume it privately, lol.

[mamaraby]

Everyone makes their own breakfast. My 10yo learned how to microwave oatmeal when he was in 2nd grade. My 1st grader knows how to use the toaster. My 5yo can peel oranges and make herself a PB&J sandwich. I'm in the process of teaching my 1st grader to make her own oatmeal, but if they all decide to eat oatmeal, ds usually helps the younger two.

 

This morning, while I was making coffee, dd1 and dd2 were getting themselves cereal while ds was measuring my oatmeal and his. Then he put water in his and put it in the microwave. While he waited, he porued OJ for all three of them and I peeled a kiwi for my youngest. They ate while I cooked my oatmeal. Everyone is in charge of their own breakfast dishes and the kids unload the dishwasher after breakfast.

 

I make sure to have a variety of breakfast-y things available (oatmeal, frozen fruit, sometimes cereal, cinnamon raisin bread, bread, PB&J, bannanas, etc) and easily accessible to the kids. I also give them the skills to help themselves as much as possible. When ds was in 2nd grade, that meant pre-measuring oatmeal in a jar that also doubled as the water measure. When he got older, I taught him how to use the kitchen scale. We also talk about how you can always go back for seconds, but you can't put back what you take so start small and go get more if you're still hungry. It helps cut down on food waste.

[Veritaserum]

Sometimes I make oatmeal or eggs, but the kids usually just pour themselves a bowl of cereal or microwave oatmeal. The only child I prepare breakfast food for every day is my 2yo (this morning it was eggs, orange juice, and an English muffin). My 6yo, 8yo, 10yo, 13yo, and 14yo get their own breakfasts most days. By the time they turned 5 or 6, they could prepare a bowl of cereal without making too big of a mess.

[Hkpiano]

I voted other because I am kind of in a transition stage between myself (or DH if he's around) being the one responsible for getting breakfast on the table, and the kids being able to fix their own breakfasts. So I'm teaching them how to make eggs, spread cream cheese on the bagel, pour the cereal, whatever. I try to serve fresh fruit with breakfast but they seem like they'll eat more fruit later in the day so sometimes I don't bother. My kids are ages 7, 5, and 3 by the way. They don't tend to eat much for breakfast which really worried me when DS went to public school, but now that they're homeschooled it works out great. They are hungry again around 9, so I give them a light snack while we do circle time or morning meeting, whatever you want to call it. Bonus is that it gets them excited about circle time and happy to sit still. Maybe the lazy way to parent but it works for us! :)

[J-rap]

We're past those days, but my kids made their own breakfasts as soon as they could figure out how.  It just kind of evolved into that.  My kids were mostly early risers, and they'd wake up early (around 5:30/6:00) whereas I usually slept til 7:30.  So, they wanted to eat when they woke up!  We had food that they could fix themselves, which started out as cold cereal and milk.  As they got older, they made other things too.

 

They didn't always eat a LOT, but they at least ate something and I felt it was generally healthy.  We only had non-sweet cereal, whole wheat bread, non-sugared jams, peanut butter, eggs, spinach to throw into the eggs, cheese, frozen fruit & bananas & greens for smoothies, etc.  They also got into making breakfast burritos at some point, which was usually back beans and scrambled eggs and salsa.  All of those things are easy to throw together.

 

Of course by 10:00 or so they usually were hungry for a mid-morning snack.  :)

[JFSinIL]

Don't try and make them eat that early, then. Have juice or milk available, and start your day, planning to stop for a decent meal at 9:30.  Not everyone wants to eat a full meal first thing in the morning. One of my kids doesn't seem able to eat anything until he has been awake a few hours. 

[Tess in the Burbs]

once my kids could pour milk into a bowl of cereal and make toast I stopped making breakfast.  Maybe age 7-8?  They can get toast or bagel, cereal, yogurt/granola, or protein bars.  They are hungry when they wake up.  They get time together at the table while I get bills paid, laundry started, etc.  I don't make lunch either.  They have a list of things they can make on their own.  If I am making something different I will offer to make them some too.  DS is comfortable using stove and oven so his picks are often warm items.  

[Tap]

Ds20 eats 2 packs of TJ instant oatmeal for breakfast.  He makes it himself and he has done the same for about 5 years. He takes it in a paper cup as he heads out the door and eats it on the way to school.  He will eat premade homemade steel cut oats if we have them, but will eat oatmeal no matter how he has to get it.  

 

Some mornings like today, I make muffins for everyone and they will add that to their normal breakfast.

 

DD16 has never liked breakfast, even as a baby.  If she eats, it has to be a carb based item like muffins, toast or a plain bagel with butter only. I make her whatever she wants in the morning (or send a snack for school) because otherwise she wouldn't eat anything at all. She starts her day with a cup of mocha style coffee and then typically eats about 2-3 hours later in her English class.  She will usually eat a piece of cut up fruit, trail mix, a PB sandwich or some kind of bar (ki Kind bar, Luna Bar, Powerbar, grain based bar, etc).  

 

DD8 really needs protein in the morning but she craves sweets, so I try to work in both as possible. I will pretty much feed her any protein she will eat, so her breakfasts are odd combinations sometimes.  She is very hard to feed, because she will not eat dairy nor will she eat the same food combination two days in a row. If she doesn't' eat protein, she will have violent tantrums  all day at school, so her breakfast is vitally important to get into her belly. They serve breakfast at school to all kids who want it, so if I don't feed her something she is willing to eat at home, she will eat sugared cereal and a heavily sweetened yogurt when she gets there, (so there is no consequence to her 'going hungry if you don't eat what is served').  No matter what I am serving her, she doesn't really eat more than one cup total of food.  It isn't a huge breakfast, just something to get her started.

 

Today it was a scrambled egg, with a bannana muffin, with watermelon.  

Yesterday it was scrambled egg, a Hebrew National Hot Dog and fruit juice.  

The day before it was sausage and toast with jam.  

A few other common ones are

Apples and peanut butter

A Powerbar or Luna bar (my hold out for desperate situations)

Baby pancakes with Nutella and eggs or sausage on the side

 

Dinner left overs are pretty common too, so spaghetti or a casserole will often be what she chooses.

 

No on in my house eats cold cereal for breakfast.  It is eaten as a snack but never in the morning. LOL

[mom31257]

It's not the same every day, so I can't really choose anything but "other".

 

4 days a week I get up early and cook breakfast for dh as well as packing his lunch. On most of those days I will fix breakfast for the kids when they get up, but sometimes they want cereal and fix it themselves. 

 

On the M-F day I sleep in, it's everyone for themselves. 

 

Dh usually makes pancakes on Saturdays, but I don't eat them and fix something for myself.

 

Sundays vary widely, sometimes dh or I cook for everyone, sometimes he or I will fix one protein to be added to everyone's own made breakfast, and sometimes it's every man for himself. 

 

 

 

 

[nukeswife]

I've never been a breakfast person.  I usually don't eat until Lunch.  My oldest is almost 16 and has always wanted unusual food for breakfast, like beefaroni, or spaghetti.  He has made his own since he was about 7.  My daughter is 13 and the only thing she generally eats for breakfast is a bowl of cheerios, she's been getting her own since about age 7-8 .  My youngest will be 10 in a few months and is a toss up, some days he'll eat cereal, other days he'll want a bagel or toast, others he'll want leftovers from dinner or a sandwich.  He's pretty small (he's barely over 4' tall which is much smaller than his older siblings were at this age) so he'll ask for help with a full gallon of milk or getting things out of the microwave (which is over the stove) 

 

My kids were never a fan of breakfast foods although I do cook them occasionally for lunch or dinner.  They will sometimes eat a waffle, but none of them will eat eggs EVER.  Pancakes go over like a lead balloon with the boys, and my daughter will only eat one maybe once every 6 months. 

 

All that to say, breakfast is usually fend for yourself, but I have an open kitchen and pantry, so they are free to help themselves to something to eat when they are hungry.  

[FaithManor]

I have three teenage sons. So they have to do their own. Typically, they'll make a fried egg and have fruit or yogurt, or a skillet breakfast in which they take my dehydrated red peppers and celery with some cubed potatoes, brown in a skillet, add eggs and scramble, top with some cheese and sour cream plus an apple or a banana. This seems to fill them up fairly well. I am a fan of the skillet breakfast for myself as well.

 

But, we also eat leftovers too such as tacos, or sometimes I get industrious and make breakfast burritos which are frozen and they just have to thaw and warm...sometimes is really more like once or twice per year.

 

The youngest child and I commonly also eat leftover chilli and beef stew. One thing we do not do is start the day high in simple carbs.

[Guest]

Age matters. My children are all still young, and while the oldest two can put together a simple breakfast of toast, hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, and bananas if I'm totally debilitated, I am usually the one making breakfast every day.

 

I am training them on more and more meal tasks (or I was, I've been lazy on this recently) but things involving the stove still require my direct supervision. We don't do junky breakfasts except as an occasional treat, so things like crockpot porridge, fried eggs, and sausage require my cooking skills on an almost daily basis.

 

When they're older I figure they might take over more independent meal planning, but I really like sitting down as a family, too. I'm also like Bolt in trying to train them to always have a balance meal based around a protein and without too much sugars, or hopefully whenever they are in their own pop tarts and other junk won't become the default *every* day. Once in awhile? Sure! But I'd probably cry into my coffee if they ditched real food for processed every morning.

[marbel]

Breakfast is a fend-for-yourself thing in my house.  There is always healthful breakfast food.   My kids are teens.

 

As to breakfast being the most important meal of the day... that may be so, but it doesn't necessarily have to be eaten at the very start of the day.  I am not hungry for at least an hour after getting up.   My husband wakes up starving.  My kids... it's variable.

 

If you and your kids have no place to go in the morning, why not reschedule breakfast for a later time, when people are ready to eat?  

 

My daughter doesn't like to eat right away, but on days she has a class or other thing to do in the morning, she packs a protein bar or something like that.

 

(I didn't read the other responses yet.)

[Ellie]

After making breakfast for the kids, watching them eat a few bites and toss it, and then listening to them moan about starvation around 9:30, I'm considering canceling breakfast. But it's the most important meal of the day, right? I want to come up with some better ideas instead of just beating my head against this wall. Have the kids take ownership of breakfast so they'll appreciate it more? Skip breakfast and offer a large snack earlier in the day? How do you handle breakfast?

 

I cooked/prepared breakfast and we ate together.

 

In my home, children who ate a few bites and then tossed their food, and moaned about starvation at 9:30, would have been busted. Actually, tossing their food would have resulted in their being busted.

 

Allowing your dc to "take ownership of breakfast" won't solve the underlying problem: they have developed bad habits, not the least of which is being disrespectful of you.

[Amira]

I make breakfast for the 7yo who leaves for school at 7:30.  Everyone else makes his own breakfast. 16yo ds almost never eats it and 14yo ds usually makes oatmeal.  I usually make an egg and toast for 7yo.  I'm not a big fan of cold cereal or youngest ds would happily eat that on his own. I usually have a mango or two. Dh makes oatmeal.

[clementine]

Our kids are 16 & 17, so we are at a very different place than those of you with littles.  They make their own breakfasts - eggs, toast, oatmeal, poptarts, cereal, etc.  

 

When they were little, I was the one to prepare breakfast.  Three days a week it would be cereal & toast, 2 days a week eggs or pancakes/french toast.  When I do pancakes/french toast now, I triple the amount & refrigerate the leftovers.  So easy to heat up for another breakfast or afternoon snack.  

[LMV]

I didn't vote because no option completely fits our situation.  We eat breakfast (which is usually prepared by DH or myself but often with some involvement and assistance from the kids) together as a family eat morning.  We meal plan and try to do something that has a good mix of fat and protein and is not carb heavy.  Since we eat breakfast around six thirty the kids usually do get a balanced snack between 9 and 9:30.  On days they attend classes on campus they head to school right after that snack and brushing teeth.

[regentrude]

When the kids were younger, breakfast was the family meal; we'd all sit together and eat before starting school/going to work.

I set the table and everybody fixed his or her own; food was bread with cheese/jam or cereal or yoghurt or any combination of the above,

 

In their teens, kids started having breakfast later in the morning. They help themselves when they are hungry. Sandwich, or bacon and eggs, or dinner leftovers.

[PeachyDoodle]

DH makes breakfast at our house. It's usually cereal, waffles or toast with cheese or peanut butter for the kids. I get one scrambled egg and a slice of ham. The only person he doesn't cook for is himself... but he usually eats oatmeal at the office.

 

The kids and I all wake up ready to eat, so breakfast is the one meal nobody complains about at our house. That probably isn't all that helpful to the OP, but there it is. :001_smile:

[73349]

DH gets DS first breakfast (often cereal and yogurt) at around 6:45, and then when I come down from the shower, I get him second breakfast (often oatmeal or a hard-boiled egg and fresh fruit), and then he has morning snack at 10, and lunch around 11:30, and usually snack-before-quiet-time at 1:30, and sometimes snack-after-quiet-time at 3:30, and dinner at 6.

 

It's not that there's anything wrong with any of his meals. He's a Very Hungry Caterpillar (a fairly active kid, and on the thin side for his height). I've always been the same way.

 

If your kids aren't really hungry right when they wake up, it's fine to wait a while to eat.

 

 

[Laura Corin]

When I home educated, the boys mostly made their own breakfast: toast, cold cereal, etc.  Once they went to school, and I knew that they would not have access to snacks, I started making them breakfast: eggs and toast and fruit; bacon and fried potatoes and fruit; French toast and fruit; leftovers made into 'Spanish' omelettes...

 

They are used to eating at 7.15 because they need to get to school.

[SproutMamaK]

We all make our breakfasts. Everyone wakes up at different times, some wake up hungry and some aren't hungry right away, etc, so some eat at 6am and some don't until 9:30. Everyone makes a bunch of different things, from scrambled eggs to toast to waffles to cold cereal to oatmeal. Probably the go-to choice for my younger two is a bowl of yogurt mixed with granola and fresh fruit. Simple, fast, and they love it.

[Susan in TN]

Dh makes breakfast for everyone most mornings and we all eat as a family and have a short devotion and sing together before dh has to go to work. I find that it really helps (me especially) get the day started with school lessons and things.

 

I am OK with kids not eating much for breakfast - a couple of mine just have a hard time eating in the morning. Some people are perfectly fine not eating anything until 10am or later. But my youngers, at least, are required to eat because they don't get a morning snack. We do eat an early lunch.

[SKL]

I voted "other."  My kids can and do make their own breakfast, but they cannot manage their time.  So if they have somewhere to go early in the morning - and they usually do - then I make their breakfast.  (And their packed lunch, which they are also capable of making.)  They are 8yo, and I'm not sure when I'll start insisting that they take more responsibility.

[KungFuPanda]

Able-bodied people make their own breakfast. One of those able-bodied people (usually me) feeds the disabled kid. On weekends or slow days I might make brunch and we eat it together. I'd be cautious about labeling those few bites 'disrespect.' Not everyone can stomach a substantial meal when they wake up. It's too much. My family prefers tea or coffee and maybe something small (like fruit or toast) when we wake up. We graduate to heavier food after we've been awake a few hours. Big, early breakfast made sense to me in the Army when I got up super early and ran first, or on a farm when you get up and work first, but I just can't get on board with it in suburbia where we're all doing desk work in the morning.

[ashfern]

All the kids, except the baby, make their own breakfast. I've been teaching the 10 yo how to make eggs for herself. The 15 yo will occasionally make pancakes or waffles for the family. One of us will help the 7 yo to make oatmeal in the microwave otherwise she gets her own cereal or bagel. I occasionally will make baked oatmeal for the family. Usually, we eat at all different times because I let the kids sleep as long as they need to.

[redsquirrel]

How old are they? My 10 year old and my older son when he was younger, always had a small breakfast of cereal or maybe a cheese stick etc and then around 9:30 or 10:00 am would have 'second breakfast'.  It might be toast and cocoa and a hard boiled egg or something similar. 

 

As for eating a few bites and tossing, well, give them less. I always tell DH that he should never give the kids more food at any one time than he is willing to toss.  He fills the bowl by how it looks 'right' visually, not in terms of how much a child will eat. I literally use a measuring cup to give them .25 a cup of cereal and use a smaller bowl. It gets eaten and seems to be enough.  Then later, when they are more away I give them second, often more substantial, breakfast while they do school. This is something my older boy sort of grew out of during middle school years.

 

Oldest boy is now at public high school and has ended up with second breakfast again, lol. He has a small breakfast before he goes to school, now it is cereal and a cup of coffee, but in the very cold weather I was making him an egg sandwich. Then, he has his scheduled lunch at 10:30 in the morning. At the school the students call it second breakfast. So he eats a full lunch. But, I have to send him with a cliff bar because he isn't done with school until 3:30 and he gets hungry!  The teachers are fine with quiet eating in afternoon classes as long as it isn't a science lab b/c they know some of the students eat really early.

 

So, if they are eating a small amount and then needing more, why not just give them that small amount (a small bowl of cereal or a small bowl of yogurt etc) and then later on give them more while they do lessons, if you do lessons, lol

[Orthodox6]

No "littles" here anymore, so each fends for him/herself.  Cold cereal, toast, or oatmeal are the defaults.  Rarely is there time to cook an egg, but the option is there on non-fasting days.

 

If there is time on a Saturday morning, I still am considered the best pancake maker of the family.  Buttermilk pancakes with chicken sausage is one of their "dream breakfasts." 

 

 

[Annie G]

When our kids were young they usually fixed their own but asked me to make something if it was beyond their ability.  

 

Last weekend dh and I weren't hungry when we got up so we started in on a project that needed to be done. Ds (20) was helping. We'd been working a few hours and dh said it was time for a break and asked me if I wanted breakfast. Sure! I asked ds if he wanted something and he had a look of horror on his face and he told me it was almost 10 AM.  But he was hungry and said yes to food. 

 

Found out later the horrified look was because when they were little I told them if they wanted breakfast they had to be done by 9 AM. ( I didn't want kids eating all morning long, and really wanted us to be on a similar schedule)    I reminded him that he's an adult now and those kinds of rules don't apply.   Why do kids remember and follow the most odd rules but constantly forget others???

[Critterfixer]

The boys get their own cereal and I eat a banana or some yogurt. 

Since everyone really is hungry by about 10, since breakfast is light and school is tough (Latin and Math before ten) apples, string cheese and carrots are always available for munching. You just go to the refrigerator or counter and grab something.

[kristi26]

Breakfast at our house is made by each person on his or her own.  The kids are 15, 12, 9, and 6. Things they ALL make:

 

bowls of cereal

oatmeal

toast with various toppings

fruit of varying types

 

Things the older boys can make:

 

eggs

anything else they can think of that uses the stove or oven (I have no good examples for this right now :lol: )

 

I almost never make breakfast here ever. If they're hungry, they need to make it on their own.  The same goes for lunch here actually. They warm up leftovers, make sandwiches, etc.

 

 

[umsami]

I hope the breakfast fairies come to my house! But actually, I'd taking dishwashing/putting away dishes type fairies instead. :)

 

In our house, usually I make it.  The older two are getting to the point where they like to try cooking from time to time.  I'm hoping that we'll eventually transition.

 

Any kid can pour themselves a bowl of cereal, grab a granola bar, yogurt, etc.  Most days, they seem to wait for me to tell them what's for breakfast, though.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Sometimes I make it.  Sometimes they do.  Sometimes we don't eat.  It's all over the place.

 

 

[Ethel Mertz]

DS12 usually makes his own breakfast. He'll get up around 7:30, have a cup of milk, and mess around until 8:45. Then, he and I both fix our own breakfasts and eat them while we do morning time. 

 

His breakfasts consist of one of the following:

1. Cereal and fruit.

2 Waffle and fruit

3. Eggs, toast with cheese, and fruit.

[Tammyla]

Op, you didn't mention the ages of your children, nutritional needs, responsibility, their personalities or their kitchen skills.   

 

 

[PuddleJumper1]

Other - Everyone is on their own to make, eat and clean up for themselves at breakfast except my youngest who can not due to his challenges. Occasionally I'll get inspired and make everyone a sit down breakfast. I'd say my older two have been getting their own breakfast on a pretty regular basis since about 10 years old.

 

It's all very casual around here. 

[The Girls' Mom]

We don't really eat breakfast.  We have a house full of adultish people.  We pretty much all get coffee and retreat to our separate corners until we can be civil.  The younger two will occasionally make themselves something, but often it is lunch time or a mid-morning snack before anyone touches solid food.

[EmseB]

I'm not a morning person.  I take it as a personal failing, but I just don't function well when we all first get up.  Plus right now mornings usually have me nursing a baby.  So my kids have adapted.

 

DS7 and DS6 get their own breakfasts.   They usually have cold cereal and a yogurt.  It's a bit sugar heavy, but the yogurt has some protein (greek yogurt for one guy, soy for my dairy allergic guy).  DS7 gives DS2 a sippy cup of milk and some cereal to get him started for the day.

 

Just to add, sometimes instead of cold cereal they will have some instant oatmeal (made with the Keurig), or a frozen waffle, or toast.  They know they are free to switch those things out, but can't have two servings of "carbs".

[marbel]

Able-bodied people make their own breakfast. One of those able-bodied people (usually me) feeds the disabled kid. On weekends or slow days I might make brunch and we eat it together. I'd be cautious about labeling those few bites 'disrespect.' Not everyone can stomach a substantial meal when they wake up. It's too much. My family prefers tea or coffee and maybe something small (like fruit or toast) when we wake up. We graduate to heavier food after we've been awake a few hours. Big, early breakfast made sense to me in the Army when I got up super early and ran first, or on a farm when you get up and work first, but I just can't get on board with it in suburbia where we're all doing desk work in the morning.

 

I hadn't noticed a mention of disrespect.  Isn't that one of the ways people develop eating disorders - having to eat food even though they are not hungry, so as not to disrespect the person who made it?   

 

[Lanny]

My wife makes our Breakfasts. We always eat a large Breakfast. We always eat a large lunch. We eat a snack at night. Breakfast is THE most important meal people eat. Students cannot study properly on an empty stomach. Workers cannot work properly on an empty stomach.