By Carie Moore
Moms can get clever, when it comes to food on your table. My mom could do amazing things with Vienna sausages and SPAM! There is no “perfect” food that’s going to make you a “perfect” mom. As a mom, my family’s perception is all that matters because that’s reality. The single staple when I was growing up that still follows today in my family is that cereal is always an option.
If I didn’t want to eat what was made, I was given cereal. Sometimes I hated it because it was the unsweetened plain kind and you had to add your own sugar. Back then there wasn’t near the selection there is now. Cheerios and Rice Krispies came in 2 flavors. And if you were to ask me about cereal growing up, all I would remember was how I loved King Vitamin. Then there was the old yummy standby of Malt-O-Meal.
I will always give my children the option of having cereal for a meal. That box packs a lot of punch nutritionally for the cost. They get grains, calcium, plus a whole lot of vitamins and minerals they need. They don’t eat it much for breakfast, but it's snacks throughout the day and many times before bed. I watch the sugar count, but with all the choices, it’s not hard to find a few boxes.
Hot or cold, if your kids only want cereal or it’s the only choice, just know you are not letting them, or yourself, down. I thank my mom for feeding me and making sure I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t care what the labels said. If there were two boxes of cereal the same price and one was bigger, that’s the one my mom bought. Today, the smaller box may have a label on it you feel you "have" to buy, but all your kids care about is eating. And if that box will get you three more bowls of cereal, that’s what’s important.
