When I was growing up, the best breakfasts I ever had before school consisted of cold cereal drowned in milk. It was all I had time for, considering I slept as late as possible on school days. My little dudes, however, are much more lucky. My mom had gone back to work when I was in elementary school, which meant she wasn’t around for most breakfasts. My little dudes get their own short-order cook in the morning.
Well, not exactly. I used to make them breakfasts of eggs, sausage, waffles, that sort of stuff. But I got really tired, really quickly of getting different, well, orders from the little dudes. I mean, come on. I’m barely awake enough to function in the morning, much less deal with cranky little dudes who want their eggs sunny side up, rather than scrambled. There used to be a lot of yelling and not all from the little dudes. (In fact, my middle little dude just told me that “We give you orders because you need to be ordered around.” It’s attitude like that which really killed the whole short-order breakfast. It’s also what’s going to get him smacked in about five seconds. Yeah, that worked well. He’s stopped reading over my shoulder.)
I’ve since wised up. Well, relatively anyway. The little dudes still get a hot breakfast, but now it consists basically of toasted waffles and microwaved sausage. Without the pressure of making actual, complete breakfasts, my mornings are much easier. The little dudes still get some protein and carbs, along with either milk or orange juice and a nice, warm feeling in their bellies before school.
And, now that I’m not such a bear in the mornings, we can actually have fun. We draw faces on toaster strudels and then the little dudes eat the heads off the screaming breakfast pastries. Involuntary brain surgery has never been more fun.
So, yeah, I’ve managed to find a balance between making sure my little dudes fill up in the morning and bringing out the bear to start growling and swatting to start the day.
– Richard
Share on Facebook Tags: A Dude's Guide to Kids, Attitude, Bellies, Brain Surgery, Breakfast Pastries, Carbs, Cold Cereal, dude, Dude's, Early Mo, Eggs, Faces, Fun, growing up, little dudes, mom, Orange Juice, Protein, Sausage, Short Order Cook, Sunny Side, Toaster Strudels, Waffle, Waffles