Breakfast Battles

I’m not a morning person. I’m not much of an afternoon or evening person either really, but the mornings are my absolute worst time. I hate being told what to do at the best of times, but when my alarms goes off, shouting at me to get out of bed at some ungodly hour, I almost feel murderous.

There are a few blissful days in my life where I don’t have to set an alarm. The kraken is my alarm on these days, and if I think the alarm clock is a rude awakening, it’s got nothing on that thing. No gentle tap, or a stroke of my cheek from that little demon. No. She wakes me with slap to the back of the head, and I open my eyes to the angriest face you’ve ever seen, demanding to be fed.

So mornings just aren’t my thing. Add into my own struggles, the struggles of two hungry, and equally angry, small people, and you’ll see why I had to change something.

Our days always used to start in a rush. I’d get up at the last possible minute, refusing to sacrifice any second of my precious sleep. I’d drag the kids out of bed, chuck some cereal at the smallest one, some fruit at the biggest one, (to eat obviously, I don’t just randomly throw food at my children) jump in the shower, throw their uniforms at them, throw some clothes on me, maybe brush my hair (normally not), leave the house, come back to the house for all the extra crap that a simple day at school requires and that we’d forgotten the first time, , leave the house again, and just about get to school on time. Super stressful.

Sadly, I realised the first thing I had to change was me. This was a difficult moment, because I think I’m pretty great and there isn’t a whole lot I’d change about myself. But, if I wanted to achieve something in the morning, then I sadly came to accept that I needed to get up earlier. The more time I had, the less stressed I’d be.

I also needed to start feeding my children a more substantial breakfast. The boy, being the first born, had actually been raised quite well, and eaten a lovely assortment of foods for breakfast. Unfortunately for her, the kraken had come along when I was already bored of all that shit, so she’s had a staple breakfast diet of porridge in the winter, toast and cereal in the summer. Maybe some fruit thrown in here and there.

So here’s how my new regime goes…I get up at 6.30 (I know that’s not that early, but it feels like the middle of the night to me) and I get showered and dressed. I’ve actually come to love this, I can pee without being watched, shower without someone singing a song about my boobs, and put my make up on without someone running off with my brushes.

Then, having been super organised and left their uniforms out the night before, I wake the kids and tell them to get dressed and meet me downstairs for breakfast. This is where the kraken pretends she can’t dress herself, so it all goes to rat shit for a few minutes, but once I’ve got the tricky bits on her, I go down to make breakfast.

Breakfast has now got the time to become a proper affair. Ever since I’ve decorated my dining room, I’m determined to use it at every opportunity. So the table is laid, there’s a jug of water waiting, and because of my organisation, we’ve actually got the time to sit and relax, and enjoy it properly.

I’d like to say that we sit down and discuss the day ahead, any worries or concerns the children have, shit like that, but we aren’t that kind of family. Plus, my children would much prefer to wake me up at 3am with some nonsense than discuss it at a sensible time like anyone else would. We just eat, and we talk about the food, and what they like, what they don’t like, and what they want to eat tomorrow. Then it’s teeth brushed, shoes on and out the door. The last bit is done in record time and in a (more) relaxed manor. I won’t say it’s perfect, and I won’t pretend it works all the time. The smallest one still screams and threatens to kill me when I brush her hair, the oldest one still sulks and storms upstairs when I tell him it’s too cold to just go out in a t-shirt. But it’s better, and at this stage of my life I think that’s as much as I can hope for!

So here’s a list of the kind of things we have for breakfast. It’s all really simple, and nothing takes more than 20 minutes to make.

Breakfast wraps – ours are normally tortilla wrap with scrambled egg, cheese, and salsa, but you could chuck any thing in these really. Sausages always go down a treat in this house 😉

Toasted sourdough with eggs (however you like them), crispy bacon, mushrooms, avocado and tomatoes

Dippy egg with marmite soldiers

Banana splits – banana with Greek yoghurt, granola and mixed berries

Smoothies

Donut eggy bread – raspberry jam sandwich, soaked in egg and vanilla, and then fried. Sprinkle with a tiny bit of sugar, et voila. Super unhealthy but tastes amazing!

Sausage hash eggs – fry hotdogs with peppers and onions. Once cooked crack a couple of eggs into it and give it a good mix around.

Fruit salad and yoghurt.

Waffles and stewed apple (only because I bought a waffle iron and my husband said I’d never use it. So now I do. Up your bum)

Of course, we still have toast and cereal, although these days I place it on the table in front of them, and don’t hurl it across the living room in their general direction. Mornings have definitely got easier. I just have to work on the rest of the day now!