Think Outside the Cereal Box

Every school morning finds me up and packing lunches.

I think I come into contact with more food from 6:30 AM - 8 AM than I do the entire rest of the day.

I also have to move fairly quickly putting everything together because if the Bird comes wandering into the kitchen before I have the food tucked into lunchboxes and back on the pantry shelves, she decides that whatever she sees out is what she wants for breakfast.

I was moving a little slow a couple mornings last week and Lily made some interesting breakfast choices based on what was on my kitchen island.

For example, Wednesday morning, I was popping some popcorn to go in Reagan's lunch just as Lily came into the kitchen.  So for breakfast, Lily had a couple bites of a biscuit (the "planned" breakfast) and a whole bunch of popcorn.

Friday morning, Lily opened the fridge to get the juice out and spied my big glass bowl of Broccoli and Bow Ties, the entree I had made for lunch that day.  And of course, there was some popcorn out again since I was sending it as Lily's snack that day.

So guess what the Bird had for both breakfast and lunch?

You got it.

Broccoli and Bow Ties.... with a side of popcorn.

All three of my girls are different kinds of breakfast eaters:

Ryley would love to start each day with a traditional breakfast of eggs, bacon and some kind of bread item.  Reagan, on the other hand, is not at all hungry first thing in the morning so I usually send something for her to snack on around 9 or 10 AM. And Lily eats pretty much whatever she sees first thing in the morning, unless it's a day she's decided she no longer likes breakfast food and won't allow it to pass her lips.

That's when I get creative.

When the big girls were younger, I don't think I would've sent them out the door after eating popcorn for breakfast.  I mean, what would that say about me as mother?

My priorities have definitely shifted.  The goal is to get the kids fed, right?  So maybe they didn't have a traditional breakfast food.  At least they ate.  And I can feel good about that.

So, it's 7:30 AM as I wrap this up.  Who's up for a burrito?