thinking I should do a cooked breakfast most days for my sons

JackandDiane I just use a sharp knife to slice the bacon - it gets quite hard during the curing process (which takes 7 days), and I can manage to get fairly thin slices, plus I use the last, uncuttable, bit to make lardons. A friend uses a meat slicer, and gets thinner slices than I can manage - have priced them up on Amazon - (roughly £40 for a basic model) - and it's on my wishlist - as is enough space in the kitchen to store it! Right now I have some belly pork (for streaky) and some pork loin (for back) in the fridge - should be ready in another 4 days :) Freezes well!

Beans on toast as well, does that count? I love doing it and tbh its my JOB to make sure they get fed well before they go to school.

Yes I usually cook something. This morning did a pan of bacon and the ones who wanted bacon made bacon sandwiches. Tomorrow probably pancakes and scrambled eggs. It really doesn't take long at all.

Aw, I luff this thread. My head is totally saying 'FGS let them sort out their own breakfast' while my heart is saying 'let's start a Pinterest board especially for OP and would her boys like a boiled egg and soldiers.'

Gawd I love cooking a breakfast for my DC (inc 2 girls) it just makes me feel as if everything is right in the world when they're all sat contentedly stuffing their faces before they head out into the big world.

They're all pre teen at mo but sure the feelings will grow as they do

with the occasional sausage oatcake for a treat

I'm truly hoping those are two separate foods, Balletgirlmum

There is something utterly primal about feeding your brood. I love it.

We're more likely to have cooked on a weekday than a weekend. I like sending them off on a good brekker - eggs or porridge is standard. Pancakes occasionally.

Then at weekends when there's more time one of the kids often cooks for everyone.

Cross post with Mooingcow

Oh and once a week ds1 makes dinner for the family, dh and me are old enough to make our own.

YANBU. But a 'cooked breakfast' can be pretty healthy - beans on toast, poached/boiled/scrambled eggs, pancakes with fruit and yogurt, omelette, etc. If they're doing exams it's better for them to load up on protein and whole grains rather than something really carby.

Of course you could make them do it themselves if you wanted, and there is a MN faction that expects you to withdraw all parental support on their 16th birthday. However mum still prepares me breakfast/lunch/dinner if I'm at hers. I still manage to function acceptably as an adult, and furthermore we have a lovely relationship.

My youngest DD always had just four rashers of bacon, or four sausages, for breakfast. It filled her and she didn't eat much for dinner.

There was a program 'busting' health myths, on the other night. They did breakfasts. It was shown that bacon/egg was the best, in terms of how the body processes it, how it fills some people up.

Unless your then eating processed meat, later in the day, the amount eaten isn't harmful.

If their filling up on ham sandwiches and burgers, later on, then obviously bacon isn't the best choice.

Most people Cereals or bread, isn't a better choice.

clarrrp is that you mum?

if he's old enough to do his a levels then he is old enough to cook his own bloody breakfast. do you pour his rice krispies out for him too

please don't let me come back in the next life as one of clarrrp's offspring.

It's just kind to do things for your kids. Why not? Mine have no illusions about what they'll have to do for themselves after they've left home.

My DH runs me a bath and lights candles and pours me a glass of wine when I'm in there.

My wrists can manage taps, lights and bottle opener quite easily but it's so lovely to look after and be cared for.

Fundamental, I believe.

We go through phases of scrambled egg on toast/porridge etc.

One of us cooks it, not always me (even the 2 year old is proud of his ability to 'cook' scrambled eggs - he does the cracking and the stirring) - it's nice to eat as a family if you can, and I certainly feel set for the day after a good, protein-packed breakfast.

I don't eat cereal these days (and the kids only have it some times) because it just doesn't work - I don't feel full.

I am old enough to make my own cuppa but DS1 still makes me one after tea. What is your point?

Different if it was expected or they were bratty about it. But showing someone kindness, setting an example and knowing they will show it back - where is the problem in that?

Yes I do a cooked breakfast for myself everyday (egg and tomatoes) and the dcs have cooked porridge (on the hob) since they were little.

It's part of the routine, not an issue at all BUT I would also want to involve them in the preparation.
Esp the oldest one can cook the b'fast for everyone instead of just himself and then to epxect you to cook for the other two

I don't have time to cook bacon, but I usually dry-fry (well, use fry light) thick slices of Aldi ham with an egg for breakfast. It tastes nearly as good as bacon and doesn't take as long. Put them on toast or in a muffin, sorted. Sometimes shove a slice of cheese in there too, with a sprinkle of chilli flakes.

I must say though swapping the sheets for a bacon roll was genius tactics

Must be a bit uncomfortable though.

I'm old enough to cook my own Sunday roast, but my husband still cooks one for me every week.

I entice mine back with baking and big dinners, and then ram the point firmly home with fancy breakfasts if they stay over.

dh says I am some unholy cross between the witch in Hansel and Gretel and every stereotypical Jewish/Italian/Greek Momma feeding up anyone at the table for fear they might be hungry. Ever.

And then sending them off with home cooked leftovers.

I'd make the breakfasts.....I must say though swapping the sheets for a bacon roll was genius tactics.

Yes think you're fine to do this occasionally. However eating processed meat ike bacon and sausages every day is really not a good idea. They have all sorts of nasties in them.

if he's old enough to do his a levels then he is old enough to cook his own bloody breakfast. do you pour his rice krispies out for him too?

I go through phases of doing this, mainly because I refuse to waste money on overpriced cereal that's usually full of sugar and leaves you hungry an hour later, and they won't eat my lovely (to me) home made granola. So we go through a lot of eggs in this house - eggy bread, boiled eggs and soldiers, scrambled. Bacon sandwich once or twice a week. Pancakes or porridge occasionally. And always fruit - they come down to a slice of melon or a bowl of chopped up kiwi or something and they can add yogurt if they want, and they eat that while I do the cooked bit. I don't resent it at all, as long as everyone helps to clear up. That's the trade off for me.

None of us eat breakfast here, as we're just not hungry in the mornings.

But I know if I got up early enough to cook my sons bacon rolls, they'd definitely eat them due to the lovely smell wafting upstairs.

Anyway, I ended up doing the same as you just before half term and made them bacon rolls on exam days, because I figured having breakfast would help their concentration, more than the manky banana they normally force down on the way.

Just make sure they take a bottle of water into the exam with them!

Mine are 11 and 9 and are not doing exams but are constantly hungry. They're skinny and very active and never stop eating (DS1 in particular). We switched to more substantial breakfasts about 18 months ago (with more protein in particular) and it has made a difference to hungry they are at mid morning break.

We don't do full english every day but they always have something like beans and cheese on toast, sausages, tomatoes and eggs, omelettes, egg and bacon muffins etc every day before school.

I found out from talking to my friends that we are unusual in this regard and two who have children at the same school as my DSs said theirs don't have a problem with being hungry late morning and so mine must be particularly hungry boys. Then on talking to the boys themselves we discovered they were eating cereal and toast at home and then going to the school canteen every morning for a bacon butty before classes start.

I cook my DD (11) scrambled egg for breakfast at 6:15am every day I'm not working an early shift (when I am DH is about at breakfast and she has cereal).

She cooked me scrambled egg and brought it and a cup of coffee to me in bed on my birthday :o (but unfortunately also at 6:15am even though it was a weekend and I wasn't working )

Really I want to tell you that your DSs should cook their own breakfast, but I will probably still do it for DD when she is 18 if she wants me to if I am up anyway and not working... Scrambled eggs only take a minute though. I don't think she'd bother doing them for herself, maybe she would sometimes...

My boys have porridge in winter and cereal in summer, neither will eat eggs depressingly... DS1 is only 9 but plays hours of sport every day and they would definitely eat bacon and / or sausages for breakfast but both boys eat too much bread and processed meat as it is so I probably won't ever be cooking that/ buying in sufficient for them to cook sausages and bacon daily at 6am...