In our house we hit the ground running. DH & I 'leap'
out of bed at 7.15 and hit our relatively small kitchen on autopilot. We then perform a complicated dance similar to the famous breakfast sketch by Morecome & Wise, but without the stripper music - usually. It goes something like this:
I head straight to the fridge to unload the necessary ingredients for 5 completely different, but all healthy and nutritious packed lunches. I then take these across the kitchen and begin assembling the packed lunches on the counter.
Meanwhile DH sets the table for our 4 DC's with bowls, side plates and glasses. He puts different itms on each side plate according to each childs preference. If he's passing & the moment is appropriate I might pass him items such as brioche, or muffins from the bread bin as I'm taking bread or pitta out for the sandwiches. Or it may be vice-versa.
The children arrive and my DH spins backwards and forwards from table to fridge to counter with toast, juice, fruit and cereal. I spin around him collecting paper towels, sandwich bags and tupperware boxes. The dance is conducted in silence on our part and we avoid collision by intuition & 6th sense.
As the children finish they join the dance with their used crockery, circling round us to the dishwasher. By now I am calling to them about homework, clean teeth & uniform, brushed hair and after-school arrangements. DH is still pretty silent.
By 8am the youngest 2 are upstairs getting dressed & cleaning their teeth. The door closes - sometimes a little too firmly depending on the teenage mood - on the "I Love You"s we call as our eldest 2 go off to school, the lunches are all done and either taken, or waiting in their neat boxes on the side. This is the cue for DH & I to sit with a cup of tea (made by him, he makes it 'right') and watch the news. This is often one of the loveliest moments of our day.
At 8.15am the next round of "where's my trousers", "I've got no socks", " I need to have a dragon costume today, but I forgot to tell you" begins & caries on until 8.45 am when a freshly showered & shaved DH cycles or motorbikes off with youngest DC to see if they can overtake the older brother who left 5 minutes earlier (please god with his clarinet) on his bike.
I close the door and sigh with relief & pleasure at a job well done for another day as I head upstairs for a to sort washing, check everyone made their beds & have my own longed for bath or shower before breakfast.
That's breakfast in our house.