I love breakfast time with the boys.
Weekday breakfasts are a flurry of toast, milk, cereal, butter and spreads.
Our house rules state that breakfast will be eaten at the table. At least that way the mess is confined to a small space-most of the time. I should be grateful that they are still but that’s the only benefit of breaking the fast in the one location.
Dependant on the food choices of Master 5 and 2, by the time we’re finished this morning ritual there is a combination of debris that need to be removed.
Master 2 likes to sit like a ‘big boy’ with no booster seat on the dining room chair and no bib to boot. His lap becomes a crumb collection point until he gets himself down, at which point he leaves a trail any pigeon would be happy to follow. Master 5 is pretty good. He can now manage to keep his cast-off to a mere 1 metre radius. While all of this is happening I move around the house with my mobile feeding device (bowl and spoon). On a good day I can chew while I do my hair (brush it), get dressed (throw on clothes one-handed) and put away the dishes from the drainer (which have sat there overnight drying).
Upon finishing clean dishes duty it’s time to put more on the dirty side again. Poor sink! It never gets a breather. Discard crusts from toast, try and wash uneaten soggy cornflakes down the sink and rinse milk cups. Move to table, wipe up spilt milk and crumbs, wipe chairs where jam-covered sticky fingers have been and clean floor. Go back to kitchen, put away spreads and wipe down bench in readiness for lunch time. And breathe.
If you’re one of those people who sits with their children at the table to consume your morning menu with your hair all pretty and stain-free clothes on, please share your secret. If there’s a way to achieve this I’m sure I missed that chapter in the parenting manual.
There’s happy tummies leaving the house this morning so I guess that’s all that really matters.
I’ll look forward to the weekend when I can sit with the kids and taste my breaky.
I love my Vegemite kids!
Free Little Words 
Clean hair, no! Stain free clothes, occasionally. But we do all sit down to eat together of a morning (it’s taken 9 years of marriage and 7 of parenting to get here though!) we have to be out of the house at 8.30 so our morning runs 6am showers and grown ups dressed, 6.30am dishwasher, washing and making breakfast to all sit down together at 7am at 7.30 the kids get dressed and then between 8 and 8.30 they do shoes coats book bags general chaos and flapping (from me) till we go out. I tend to count all out clean dressed and fed on time as a victory anything more is a bonus!
That’s so good to hear. My hubby is out the door before the rest of the house awakes so I need to multitask the morning away. We’re also out the door by 8.15 give or take. Flapping is something I understand too. Ok, we’re 7 of marriage and 5 of parenting so there’s still hope for me yet?
I hope so I still don’t have a clue what I’m doing! It’s a routine that’s slowly evolved and is aimed at me doing it on my own with 4 kids hence needing half hour blocks but the kids get used to the idea of a certain time meaning breakfast or clothes etc really quickly which helps keep it going. The flapping time is essential in this house though, life was a whole lot more stressful before I put it in the schedule, I did it anyway and we were late, now it’s fine to flap.
Kudos to you with 4. I only have two (5 and 2) so will cease complaining this instant. It sounds like you have more than a clue. Flapping is absolutely necessary, I say. Keep up the great work and hopefully I’ll be able to post about all eating breakfast together at the table sometime soon.
We only get to have breakfast together on weekends, so I try to make an effort! P loves to help, so this morning he is helping me put the dishes away before making pancakes!
P is a good little helper. Enjoy your pancakes. Thanks for commenting and following. I look forward to reading more of your posts soon too.