Getting a Jumpstart on Breakfast

By Sandi Richard

Can putting some boxes of cereal on the kitchen table the night before actually save your sanity and change the dynamics and health of your home?

Well, have you ever been to a hotel where they have a continental smorg included in the price of your room? It's like the whole morning starts off better. Why? It's because I'm just brain dead in the morning. I'm a zombie, I just want everything my way and I want it easy & with as little talking as possible. Whether you're like me, love the morning and so want it quiet and unencumbered, or think mornings are a curse, we all have our morning challenges.

Now fit all that into the family environment where you have a variety of extremes. Toss in the frantic parent on the way to work, feeling guilty that they work; toss in the guilty parent whose full-time job is to stay at home and who feels like they should have this all figured out; toss in the guilty parents who know their teens should eat, but they just won't (basically it is the lifetime job of the parent to feel guilty. If you're just starting a family, get used to it!)

Have you ever seen a child stare at a full pantry of food and say, "Theeeerreees nothing to eeeaaat! " Right, me too.

I got a beautiful e-mail the other day from a lady saying, "I cannot believe how this little technique of putting things out on the table the night before has changed the whole morning.

Here's the deal, when you throw a loaf of bread, some jam and peanut butter, a few boxes of cereal, some bowls, plates, knives, spoons and anything else you can think of on the table, you don't pull the family member's chain, if you know what I mean. A bunch of things happen subliminally. The teen feels like the parent cares; the young child isn't being told what he must eat, he can pick (now that I think about it, that last one definitely applies to the teen as well).

The parent in charge has taken two minutes out of her day and added about two hours of peace and contentment to her spirit. The children and parents are in a better functional mood for the day as they kick started their metabolism into full force and their blood sugars are balanced. (By the way, people who have fewer problems with their weight almost always eat breakfast and children who eat breakfast perform better at school.)

So take those few minutes to create a little good health for yourself and for your family; you have no idea how this will lead into other great habits, naturally.