Self Serving Cereal

Half honey Nut Cherrios and half regular mixed and ready to scoop.

 One of the many day to day challenges of running a daycare is feeding a lot of kids all at the same time.  Breakfast is especially challenging because my families arrive at different times and at different stages of morning wakefulness. Some kids are revved up and ready to face the day from the minute their eyes pop open while others need time to fully wake up before they can embrace the day.

When I first opened my daycare I was resolved to serve only homemade meals... including breakfast meals. I made pancakes from scratch, old fashioned oatmeal, scrambled eggs,  etc.

The problems with this were many. First these breakfast choices were labor intensive and required a lot of my attention while kids were arriving, some revved up, some pouty and flopping around in despair over being ripped out of their comfy beds too soon, while still others are clingy and in need of morning snuggling.  None of these scenarios are conducive -  on their own or collectively - for me to be working over a hot stove.

Also, and most importantly, the kids did not want these things for breakfast.  Don't misunderstand, most of my kids like all these foods and will eat them at lunch or snack, but they don't consider them breakfast.

Go figure! But as I thought about it I realized that I had never made these things for breakfast for my kids when they were little, nor did my parents make them for us at breakfast time. In my childhood home pancakes were a supper food! So who did I think I was kidding?

Now I know that there are plenty of people out there who really do make and eat these things for breakfast in the mornings, which is partly why it had been so important for me to do big breakfasts, but I found out fast that it just wasn't working for me.

What my daycare kids wanted was cereal.  Lots and lots of cereal. A bowl here, a bowl there, most of the kids in my care will consume at least three bowls

of cereal during the course of the morning.  And then beg me to serve cereal for morning snack! So grudgingly I gave up my home grown idea of big breakfasts and bought a LOT of cereal.

My next problem was that I couldn't get more than two steps away from the cereal cupboard at any given time in the morning. "Tammy! I need cereal!!" became a morning war cry.  I would just finish putting everything away when the next wave of hungry savages trooped up to the table and demanded sustenance. There had to be a better way... I needed a way for the kids to self-serve this high demand morning meal.  Preferably without turning my kitchen into a disaster area.

I put my thinking cap on and this is what I came up with.  A mini breakfast bar in the kitchen! I have a corner cupboard that is too shallow for a lazy susan or to be of any real storage use, but is perfect for kids dishes, bowls, cups, plates etc.  The best part being that its so shallow the kids' stuff cannot get pushed too far back and nothing is out of reach, not even for the littlest ones.

So now when I buy cereal I pour it all into a big bowl and scoop half cup servings into a ziplock bag - snack sized works best.  I keep a variety of cereals in a large bowl in the cupboard and the excess in the pantry to refill the bowl as needed. When the kids are ready for breakfast in the morning they can go into the cupboard get a bowl, spoon, cup and their choice of cereal and bring it all to the table. When they are situated I pour them milk, round off their meal with a serving of fruit and viola! Self serve!!!!

The rules are simple, no horsing around with the things inside the cupboard, one bag of cereal at a time, and no seconds unless they eat it gone.

Since starting this I have greatly expanded the types of cereal I keep on hand and have discovered that most of my kids will choose healthier cereals when they are not being influenced by the box the cereal comes in.

I have also filled a salt shaker with sugar and allow the kids to shake sugar onto cereals that have little or no sugar added, like Rice Krispsies. However I keep the sugar shaker in a different cupboard and they have to ask for it. :)

I also keep their dinner plates in this cupboard - they get their own plates out for lunch - and each child has a water bottle with their name on it that they can fill at any time of the day and bring outside with them during outdoor playtime.

It works out wonderfully!  Yes I wash a few more bowls and spoons doing it this way, and at first there was a little more wasted cereal as the kids were adjusting to the freedom of choosing, but all in all it is a win for everyone.  And don't worry, I still do homemade and healthy for snacks and lunches!