Breakfast of a ... "different" ... sort

We're not much of a traditional breakfast-eating family -- as in: sit down together from start to finish, eating our morning meal. Even though I grew up with this format, I quickly shunned it once I entered college. I am not a morning person, so getting up early -- after studying late at night -- just to eat something never sat well with me. When I entered my Junior and Senior years at college, I never ate breakfast -- ever. I had a good lunch, some snacks, and dinner ... but no breakfast. I preferred to sleep that extra hour before my 9:00 a.m. class than half-heartedly rummage through the cafeteria's a.m. offerings.

I guess that just stuck with me into my post-college years. Most of my jobs required public transportation, which meant getting up very early in order to catch the bus or train or Metro or trolley. Breakfast? Forget it. I need that sleep -- priorities, after all. But once I got to work and woke up a bit, I would then eat something I brought along in my bag. It worked for me.

I still can't jump out of bed and think immediately of food. I just can't do it. Aidan has to eat right away, as well as Don, but I just cannot join them. We do sit at the table together -- Aidan eating his cream of wheat or waffles, Don eating eggs and grits, Grace drinking her Kefir ... and me? I sip my coffee. That's about all I can handle at 6:30 a.m. But later on -- after Aidan gets on the bus and Don skips off to work, I will then eat something. For the past couple of months it's been pretty regular: a bowl of fat-free vanilla yogurt mixed with diced peaches and granola. Yummy, filling, and healthy.

I think my aversion to the morning meal has rubbed off on my kids. This is the first year that Aidan has actually had to sit down to eat his breakfast, and have it be a good one. He was always -- always -- a liquid dieter. Yogurt drinks or smoothies -- that was about it. But ever since his pediatrician advised us to start cutting back on his dairy, he now has to find alternatives that will fill him up, without the rush of carbs or sugar. He made the transition, thankfully.

But now we have little Grace, and we are also embarking on some unknowns with her when it comes to breakfast. As I lovingly savor my cup of coffee, she starts off her day with a cup full of Kefir -- a thick, Mediterranean yogurt/milk product. She really doesn't like regular milk and just sips it at lunch and dinner, which rather upsets me, for I feel that she's not getting enough calcium. With Kefir, though, she fares well. Thank goodness! It fills her up ... but only for so long.

By mid-morning, though, she's starving, but I just can't bring myself to give her snacks -- crackers, fruit snacks (i.e. gummy sugar in cartoonish shapes), etc. She needs something else -- something healthy -- to fill her up, so we can avoid the cranky, mid-morning falling of sugar levels. And yesterday, I found the answer.

We resumed our physical therapy appointments, thanks to the magnanimous insurance company who allowed her a maximum of 6 more visits (despite the fact that we are "allowed" 30 as per our insurance policy -- gee, thanks). For those final weeks of therapy, though, Grace would start to sag about halfway through, complaining of being tired, not wanting to do the work required, which then segued into a stubborn obstinacy that clearly signaled she was so done with us. I would get quite frustrated with her behavior, to say the least. But then I saw a complete and utter change in her yesterday. She was vibrant, energetic, enthusiastic, and even excited about her therapy routine. She chatted nicely with Miss Jen, she did what she was told, she focused for the full 45 minutes. And I have to say, chalk it up to her new breakfast:

A peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

At first I kind of balked at her request. She had asked for such random things, like macaroni and cheese, and I kept refusing. Then before we left for therapy, she said she was hungry and wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I started to say, "But Grace, it's only 9:00 a.m. -- it's too early for a sandwich." But then it hit me ... so what? What's wrong with eating that in the morning? It's healthy, nutritious, filling ... all the things she needs. I thought of other cultures around the world, what constitutes "breakfast" for them -- PB&J seems quite tame compared to rice and fish in Japan, or meat and cheese in parts of Europe. What in the world is wrong with a little girl eating PB&J?

Absolutely nothing.

So this morning, after her usual cup of Kefir and a cheese stick she stealthily snagged out of the refrigerator ("cheese with skin," she calls it), she asked for a PB&J sandwich on wheat bread, which I gladly gave to her. And I'll tell you, she was a dream in the grocery store, a far, far cry from the little girl I toted around last week.

Look like we might be on to something here.