breakfast

breakfast. breakfast is what made my mind start to wander... and worry. I don't remember putting this much thought into breakfast when rhys entered kindergarten, but now that the girls are about to embark on their professional school career, i'm in knots. maybe it's because rhys has always been a good eater- willing to try various foods. maybe it's because the girls are so fickle, and are used to being able to graze whenever they choose, for the most part. I don't know... but the thought of them being in school all day is wreaking havoc on my psyche. sure, they were in daycare, but daycare is much more loose. they knew our girls. but kindergarten? kindergarten is a whole other ballgame... and they're my babies.

of course, I haven't helped the situation much. this summer, they have breakfasted like champs- hot breakfasts were the regular around here. I have only just discovered the magic of plopping a bowl of yogurt, a banana, peanut butter, and a glass of milk or juice in front of them. what have I been thinking all these weeks??? in my defense, they have gone through mealtime bootcamp... they formed a line, got their beverage, put it on the table, returned to the line to gather their meals, and repeated this until everything was situated. when they were finished, they washed their face and hands, put their dishes on the island, and then returned to clean the table. breakfast bootcamp.

for some reason, i'm not as concerned about lunch. I guess I figure that if they're hungry, they'll gobble it up. now that I think about it, there is a time restraint on lunch, too, and anyone who knows lu, knows that she is the slowest. eater. EVER. unless it's cake or ice cream- she downs those like a champ.

c has asked me to compose a list of fast breakfast ideas. rhys is the only one who will eat cold cereal willingly. none of the kids like oatmeal. rhys will eat hard boiled eggs; the girls will not. my ideas include:
          * making a big batch of scrambled eggs and turkey bacon in the beginning of the week... that
            way c just has to reheat them;
          * making and freezing pancakes;
          * making breakfast sammiches ahead of time. this one is iffy- sometimes they'll eat them,
            sometimes they won't;
          * yogurt, banana, and pb is always a winner (with the girls)... rhys likes hard boiled eggs;
          * French toast sticks. they would live on French toast sticks if permitted.

last night i decided to give the hard boiled eggs and turkey bacon idea to the test. of course, this morning, i didn't even offer them hb eggs and tb... they got scrambled eggs, bananas, peanut butter, and watermelon for the boy child.

don't judge the jacked up eggs- it was midnight!

does anyone have any other ideas? please? pretty please?

now i'm starting to worry about lunches. in daycare/pre-k, the girls usually took leftovers from dinner the night before, and their teachers would heat it up for them. that isn't going to happen in kindergarten. sure, we could use a thermos, but that's a lot of work for c in the morning when trying to rush everyone out the door. it is true that they love themselves some pb sammiches, but what if there's an allergy in their classroom(s)? again, rhys is the easy kid when it comes to feeding. these girls? not so much. lunch ideas:
          * make our own lunchables- crackers, cheese, turkey, fruit, drink;
          * pb sammich, fruit, string cheese, drink;
          * cold pizza, fruit, drink;
          * yogurt, cheese stick, crackers, fruit, drink.
that's all I've got. add veggies, you say? BWAHAHAHA! I mean, I could, but they'll get tossed. maybe if I include some ranch, but I know what will happen then... they'll drink the ranch and toss the veggies. of course, I will still send broccoli or carrots or snap peas, but I know. and they know that I know.

sigh. i need a few more months of freedom.

my babies are growing up.