Breakfast is the most important meal for our kids

Melanie Flake | 09/03/2018

As parents, we hear this all of the time. There are numerous articles and studies that tell us the benefits of feeding our children breakfast before school. Some positive side effects include:

better listening and comprehension skills,
less fatigue and more energy,
better overall health and weight,
reduced behavioral problems,
and higher school attendance.

Feeding our children breakfast before school is very important.

Fortunately for me, I have always loved breakfast. I wake up hungry in the morning and look forward to making a beautiful breakfast (eggs benedict, biscuits and gravy, whole wheat pancakes with berries). My husband, on the other hand, does not wake up hungry. He wakes up slightly “nauseous” and doesn’t eat anything until mid morning. Our kids are pretty evenly split between us. Some wake up ravenously hungry, while others are disgusted at the sight of food before 10 a.m.

During the summertime when there’s no school, I don’t mind the different preferences. Those who are hungry, wake up and eat, while the kids who aren’t, don’t. It makes for a confusing lunch time, but summer schedules tend to be wacky anyway.

Now summer is over and my kids have to get up and leave between 7:15 and 9 a.m. They no longer have the luxury of eating whenever they get hungry in the morning. If they skip breakfast, I worry that they’ll be distracted by their hunger before lunch time and struggle to pay attention in class.

I have tried to solve this problem, but it’s still a challenge. I regularly vary what I make (eggs, pancakes, bacon, crepes, toast). I ask them the night before what they want for breakfast, I offer meals-to-go for the older kids (eggs, ham and English muffin sandwich) and I look for new recipes. I try to have cheese sticks and granola balls available if they want to take some food to go. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it does not.

What do you make for your kids for breakfast?