It turns out all that hoopla you hear about "eating a balanced breakfast" really is true. Dang it.
I grew up eating cereal every morning of my life. Trav grew up eating cereal every morning of his life. Sugar cereal even. And we both turned out okay, so I figured that I was safe in raising yet another generation of children addicted to Cocoa Puffs and Marshmallow Mateys.
Besides that, even on days when I would fix something a little extra special for breakfast, they'd turn up their noses at it and ask for Froot Loops instead. Little turkeys.
But when Anna started all day kindergarten this year, she started getting headaches. At first, I ignored them, because Anna's the kind of girl who will search her body looking for an owie to cry about. The headaches persisted. We put her to bed earlier, we gave her medicine. And still, the headaches persisted. Now I was worried she had some sort of brain tumor, so I took her in to the doctor.
And guess what? It's not a brain tumor that is causing my child this grief. It's poor nutrition. (Is there any greater way to feel like a failure as a mother than for the doctor to tell you that the reason your kid feels sick is because you don't feed her well?) Apparently not getting enough protein can cause headaches, especially not getting protein in the morning to get you going for the day. Shoot.
So, in spite of the whining, we have a new policy of only eating cereal twice a week, and never on a school day. We are doing French toast, scrambled eggs, breakfast burritos, oatmeal, etc. The amazing thing is how quickly it has made a difference for her. She's not getting the headaches at all and doesn't whine about being hungry so much. It's made a difference for me, in that I'm not as tired as usual (protein rich foods are often high in iron, which helps with my anemia).
There you have it, folks. Those health magazines might be onto something. Next I'll be pureeing spinach and adding it to all my recipes.
PS-- the purpose of this post is actually to ask what you all eat for breakfast. Recipes please?
