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Original poster

I let DD22m choose breakfast today...🤣

150 replies

AliceTheCamelHasFiveHumps · 22/10/2021 08:04

We all are porridge.... with a side of pickled beetroot and gherkins

LOL

OP posts:
BruceAndNosh · 22/10/2021 10:01

Your child is the next Heston Blumenthal

NotMyCat · 22/10/2021 10:05

@Kanaloa

I am obsessed with gherkins! The sainsburys sliced ones (own brand) taste the most like McDonald's to me

Must pick some up for dd 😂 hopefully you’re eating them on a sandwich and not off a spoon like she does!

Er BlushGrin Mostly on a salad but yes straight out the jar They did crinkle cut ones which were the best but seem to be out of stock everywhere
Sugaris · 22/10/2021 10:07

Sounds far healthier than my coffee and croissant eaten on the run. 🤣.

Perhaps you should let her choose more often. Hey, perhaps it’s the first meal of her delicious, interesting yet healthy diet book!

DinosApple · 22/10/2021 10:09

Haha, my eldest DD was allowed to choose breakfast when my brother babysat, they had cornflakes, shortbread, ice cream and maple syrup. They all really enjoyed the sugar fest 😂.

Original poster
AliceTheCamelHasFiveHumps · 22/10/2021 10:09

@ImUninsultable

Why do you all have to have the same thing for breakfast?

That sounds like a silly made up food rule to me.

It isnt like dinner where you're cooking a big meal and cant be doing several. Its breakfast. If someone wants porridge and someone else wants eggs, that's just 2 pots. Or someone might just fancy toast or melon or yoghurt.

You dont need to have a rule that breakfast must all be the same.

My kids can choose form eggs, pancakes, sausages, toast, yoghurt, melon or porridge on weekdays. They can have any combo. Weekends I throw in french toast or waffles.

It's the easiest meal of the day!

Point taken.

but we all eat the same things at meal times, because DD eats what we eat. so, why not have what she chooses for one meal??

plus I like beetroot too....

OP posts:
BettyCarver · 22/10/2021 10:09

I get the idea of no food rule that cereal can only be eaten for breakfast etc (I love a bowl of cereal in the evening) but I can't get on board with the 'everyone must eat the same meal' rule. Way too strict. I wouldn't want a substantial meal at breakfast; porridge would make me feel ugh first thing.

Original poster
AliceTheCamelHasFiveHumps · 22/10/2021 10:13

"My kids can choose form eggs, pancakes, sausages, toast, yoghurt, melon or porridge on weekdays. They can have any combo. Weekends I throw in french toast or waffles."

so if one kid asks for melon with yoghurt and porridge, and another asks for pancakes, eggs, sausages and toast... you'd make it all to order?

OP posts:
Buddyhobbs · 22/10/2021 10:15

My 2yo likes to have a mixed breakfast of cereal, banana, yoghurt and crackers.
The one time I disapproved was when he put cheese on his cereal!

Original poster
AliceTheCamelHasFiveHumps · 22/10/2021 10:15

@BettyCarver

I get the idea of no food rule that cereal can only be eaten for breakfast etc (I love a bowl of cereal in the evening) but I can't get on board with the 'everyone must eat the same meal' rule. Way too strict. I wouldn't want a substantial meal at breakfast; porridge would make me feel ugh first thing.
Do whatever suits you... no concern of mine. We all eat the same meal saves me making 3 different things each time. And if I didn't want the beetroot, I would have just not had it... but I wouldn't be making DD porridge, me toast and marmite and DH an omelette for example.

We'd either all have porridge, all have toast or all have omelette.

OP posts:
Thesearmsofmine · 22/10/2021 10:19

It sounds so strict that everyone just eat the same at every single meal, the very opposite of no made up food rules tbh.

Thesearmsofmine · 22/10/2021 10:19

must*

Unsuremover · 22/10/2021 10:19

When I let ds choose tea we have banana sandwiches and sweet potato fries. Have to say it was a winner.

Gingernaut · 22/10/2021 10:20

@ImUninsultable

Why do you all have to have the same thing for breakfast?

That sounds like a silly made up food rule to me.

It isnt like dinner where you're cooking a big meal and cant be doing several. Its breakfast. If someone wants porridge and someone else wants eggs, that's just 2 pots. Or someone might just fancy toast or melon or yoghurt.

You dont need to have a rule that breakfast must all be the same.

My kids can choose form eggs, pancakes, sausages, toast, yoghurt, melon or porridge on weekdays. They can have any combo. Weekends I throw in french toast or waffles.

It's the easiest meal of the day!

Because normalizing one meal for everyone reduces the odds of a picky dictator wreaking mealtime havoc later.

I think that's a lovely idea, OP.

diddl · 22/10/2021 10:21

I like beetroot & gherkins but wouldn't have had them for breakfast.

That's not so say that I would have told daughter no if she would eat them.

I do agree that there don't have to be breakfast foods though.

I often have fish fingers or baked camembert (the small with the breadcrumbs).

Leftover chilli & rice in a wrap has also been known...

Imposterish · 22/10/2021 10:22

Lolz.

“I don’t like made up food rules”

And then

“We must all eat the same thing”.

Bigassbeebuzzbuzz · 22/10/2021 10:24

I think your brave eating that too but completely understand your point.
Ds2 used to love a cheese sandwich for breakfast Confused
As long as they are eating it and it's not all junk food crack on. Sometimes its just not worth the arguments.

AllWaxedOut · 22/10/2021 10:35

It's a bit odd to crave a heavy casserole on a hot sticky summer's day or a salad on a freezing night in January, but no big deal.

You seem to be trying to make this your thing but having a (mini) Jammy Dodger with your lunch isn't particularly out there either 🙈

It doesn't really need an announcement. And you're setting yourself up for criticism, because you're bound to break your 'no rulez' rule.

Redsquirrel5 · 22/10/2021 10:36

@Thesearmsofmine

It sounds so strict that everyone just eat the same at every single meal, the very opposite of no made up food rules tbh.
It like the olden day’s when I was a child. We all grew up to eat a varied diet. Op may be a working mum and spending time making several different breakfasts on a working morning isn’t really on. My kids had a choice of two cereals or porridge. Weekends were more relaxed with Saturday’s being a choice of cooked breakfast which might be sausage, bacon and egg or French toast or pancakes, bacon and maple syrup or scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. The veggies just had the egg with no meat or fish. I couldn’t be doing with making six different breakfasts and neither could my parents.

Crack on Alice I don’t see a problem.🐓

LBOCS2 · 22/10/2021 10:37

There's a difference between 'no made up food rules' and 'I'm not a short order chef' though, surely you can see that? I don't have food rules but neither am I my family's skivvy, so if I'm cooking, I'm cooking the same thing for everyone. Same principle for breakfast as dinner.

My family love gherkins, and DD2 has been known to eat a bowl of them and a brioche for breakfast. It's actually a bit annoying because I like gherkins, just not as much as the rest of them, so if I buy a jar I have to make an effort to eat them while they're there otherwise I don't get a look-in!

BettyCarver · 22/10/2021 10:38

'Because normalizing one meal for everyone reduces the odds of a picky dictator wreaking mealtime havoc later.'

There's a huge spectrum between insisting everyone has the same meal and allowing everyone to choose exactly whatever they want, regardless of the work involved in preparing it.

No way would I insist that if the 'chooser' decides on porridge or toast, then everyone has to have it. It's so damn simple to pour a bowl of cereal or take some fruit out of the bowl as an alternative. It's just funny that the OP thinks they're not imposing any rules!

Thesearmsofmine · 22/10/2021 10:49

@LBOCS2

There's a difference between 'no made up food rules' and 'I'm not a short order chef' though, surely you can see that? I don't have food rules but neither am I my family's skivvy, so if I'm cooking, I'm cooking the same thing for everyone. Same principle for breakfast as dinner.

My family love gherkins, and DD2 has been known to eat a bowl of them and a brioche for breakfast. It's actually a bit annoying because I like gherkins, just not as much as the rest of them, so if I buy a jar I have to make an effort to eat them while they're there otherwise I don't get a look-in!

So if your dc wants jam on toast for example at breakfast but you fancy a bowl of cereal or a banana you would insist everyone has the same thing? Evening meals that take time and effort to prepare is a different matter of course.
ErrolTheDragon · 22/10/2021 10:51

It doesn't sound too different to congee (rice 'porridge'), which I believe is quite a common breakfast in many SE Asian countries, sometimes served with pickles or other flavoursome side dishes.

I assume the OPs 'everyone eats the same' never has the main part being something one person loathes, so seems like a pretty reasonable idea to me - I wish I could have followed that idea with my family but I'm the only one that will/can eat just about anything (even the dog we had when dd was small was fussyHmmGrin). I think some of the naysayers on that score may be subconsciously a bit jealous.Grin

ImUninsultable · 22/10/2021 10:55

@AliceTheCamelHasFiveHumps

Well, yeah. Breakfast is the easiest meal.
I make pancakes in bulk so they're in the freezer. They just get out in the toaster, alongside bread if toast is needed. Very easy. Sausages just get chucked in the oven. No work required. Eggs and porridge can be both done in the microwave or on the stove, whichever I feel like.

@Gingernaut

Nope. My kids are great eaters. Easier because no SEN so that's not an issue which I know a lot of people need to deal with. But my kids are not picky. Where I'm from, it's really normal to have a sort of buffet breakfast. We all sit together at the table and breakfast is about half an hour to an hour. Its family time. We eat what we want, we chat about the day coming or what's been on the news that morning. It's nice.

Doesnt make them picky. They're great eaters. They'll try whatever is put on the table. And they'll try it again the next time I serve it even if they didnt quite like it the first time.
We had fried baby octopus the other night, and they gave it a try. They liked it. You show me 8 and 10 year olds who would actually try that. It's sushi tomorrow. Nandos chicken tonight. Next weeks meal plan has falafel, steak, stuffed peppers, salmon.

I hate this idea that if you give kids choice, then theyll be picky eaters. Nope. You give them choice because it's nice. For easy meals, you can have different things. For family main meals, theyll eat what's being made because they're not picky.

I'm not British. It's just different cultures around food.

Letsallscreamatthesistene · 22/10/2021 10:58

OP ignore all the boring people on this thread. I think your house sounds fun!

(.....also love the idea of pot noodle on chips)

ImUninsultable · 22/10/2021 11:03

@ErrolTheDragon

But we're not talking about main meals. Its breakfast.
If someone wants toast and someone wants porridge, would you really tell your kids, "no, you must have the same. I'm not making toast and porridge."
And then merrily go off to mumsnet and announce you're a "no food rulez" house.