Breakfast in a cup as a quick breakfast idea. Totally normal, right?
So, you know those things that you think *everyone* does … until, one day, an entire room falls silent and you realise – no, actually it’s just you?
We had one of those moments today.
Being a bad busy, working mother, I know the drive to my daughter’s pre-school takes precisely 9 minutes. It should take 7, but the average age is in Lytham (where we live) is about 95, so there are a lot of slow drivers to contend with.
So I’m always looking for quick breakfast ideas.
Having a quick breakfast means Flea and I can wake up at 8.35am, get dressed and be in the car for 8.51am. The nine minute journey is ample time for Flea to eat her breakfast (usually some cereal with raisins or blueberries) and still get to pre-school before circle time.
However, school broke up a fortnight ago (wretched private schools) so Flea’s moved to a day nursery for the summer. Crucially, the nursery is only 6 minutes drive from the house. This morning, we woke up and got dressed as per the usual schedule, and Flea got her cereal and took it to the car. But the timing was all wrong, and she was only halfway through the cereal as we pulled into the car park.
“Never mind, darling, you can have them later,” I said, chucking Cheerios over the back seat and rushing her inside.
“But I haven’t finished my breakfast,” she complained, loudly enough for all the staff and other mothers dropping off their properly fed children to hear.
Eyebrows were raised.
I tried to pass it off as a one-off, with a little laugh. “Oh, it’s just one of those mornings. Flea had to have cereal in the car!” (Because every other day, it’s toast and table linens, obviously.)
Then Flea chipped in: “Yes, when you have cereal in the car, you have to have it in a cup not a bowl, so it doesn’t spill and you can’t have milk. That’s why I like cereal bars.”
You could have heard a pin drop.
Turns out, not everyone gives their kid breakfast in a cup, in the back of the car when they need a quick breakfast. Who’d have thought?
Haha, I have days like that – we usually have breakfast at the table while I make packed lunches but some days things just don’t go to plan and they end up grabbing some fruit to eat in the car. Our car journey takes 15 to 20 mins depending on traffic but they still manage to be munching as we park. Then you have the inevitable mucky faces to go with it – bad mummy alert!
Great tip – might just use that one
I had a ‘bad mother’ moment last week and my baby is only 5 weeks old!
I was sat having lunch with some friends in a very busy coffee shop and had placed the car seat with baby sleeping in it on the chair next to me. 20 minutes into the conversation the car seat decided to slide off the chair onto the ground and land on its side accompanied by a very loud ‘oh my god’ by myself. The entire coffee shop went quiet – it was definitely one of those ‘you could have heard a pin drop’ moments. Happily baby was fine and slept through the entire thing but I felt terrible and like a very bad mother! I’m still reliving the incident a week later and chiding myself for potentially injuring my poor baby!
Stefanie,
Look on the bright side – at least the baby was in a car seat, a very sensible and safety-conscious decision, clearly demonstrating how capable and responsible you actually are.
Also: anything you do in the first 12 weeks after having a baby doesn’t count. Literally. Sleep deprivation + hormones = absolute immunity from criticism.
£75!!!! Oh my goodness!
I consider extra minutes in bed to be essential, particularly since I have the good fortune to have a child who will naturally sleep until gone 9am every day if left to her own devices. Why mess with a winning formula, I say?
Also, Milla, if we can agree on 34, I think you’re onto something…
Sounds like a sensible routine to me. I’ve often wondered how working mums manage to get out of the house before 9am!
Perhaps you’ll have to take the long route to nursery to give her the full 9 minutes!
What an excellent solution to the breakfast dilemma and thank you for sharing. Makes my ‘toast in front of CBeebies’ routine seem almost civilised!
Glad to know someone else gives kids breakfast in the car and have the journey down to minutes – lol
I was only enlightend with the whole “breakfast in a cup” concept a few months ago – i stole the idea from john and kate plus 8 (the reality show in the states)and have never looked back – my husband isn’t too impressed though as i am very liberal with my cerealportions and never manage to clean up the mess the kids leave in the car oops!
I knew…I just KNEW there had to be someone else who does cereal in a cup. Hurrah!
(Although I’m slightly aghast that my parenting seems to be in line with Jon and Kate. That can’t be good.)
I’m with Hot Cross Mum, breakfast for S is also toast in front of cbeebies! Today he delighted on shouting at the top of voice how hungry he was on the way to music class, only 5 mins after his toast!
No no no, WE do this, it’s OK, it’s really really OK!!!! And toast in front of Ceebeebies: Is There Any Other Way???
@Sparx – It means a lot to know I’m not alone!