Amazing Kid-Friendly Breakfast Hack

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If you’re looking for an amazing morning routine hack to help make your mornings with kids just a bit easier, then you’re going to love this post! I’d like to introduce our first ever Guest Author – Rachael Soucie! RachaHer full-time day job involves news and social media content analysis and reporting for Fortune 500 clients. She also moonlights as a presenter for Younique Products in her “spare” time. You can connect with Rachael on Facebook or at [email protected].

As a full-time working mom of three five-and-under kids and the wife of a tug-and-barge captain who ships out for three weeks at a time, I am always looking for ways to save some time and free myself from hearing “Mom, I need…,” “Mom, I want…, “ “Mom, can you get me…,” and on and on and on.  Our mornings could be described in many ways, most involving expletives, but “clean” ones include disaster central, insanity city, crazy town on a sugar high. You get the picture. The struggle is real. As an insights analyst, I’m always giving my clients advice on how to improve communication and process, so why not apply to my own life and certain situations?

I started thinking about all the tasks I need to do before running out of the house at 500 MPH, always 10 minutes late and without my morning coffee (which is obviously sitting on the counter, right where it should be). At the ripe ages of 5 and 3, my kids are pretty darn independent. They need to be – I’m well out-numbered, even when my husband IS home. They have easy access to their clothes, which are in not-so-attractive, but reachable bins in our living room, and they can dress themselves. I don’t sweat the outfit choices; as long as key body parts are covered, I consider it a win. However, up until recently, I was waiting on the two older kids hand-and-foot when it came to breakfast. Believe it or not, I love to cook and do make oatmeal, eggs or even pancakes some mornings. But, 9 times out of 10, my kids are asking for cereal. I had thought about this as being something they should be able to do in the past (I have high expectations for my little ones!), but there was always the risk of an entire box of cereal or jug of milk ending up dumped. And, let’s face it, my house is messy enough without Lake Moo on my kitchen floor.

I revisited the idea when I decided my life wasn’t complicated enough and added “makeup presenter” to my list of titles. With time limited even before venturing in another direction, this new endeavor was really maxing me out, especially since I do vlog tutorials during or after my AM makeup routine.

So, I thought about it. Cereal. Kids. Milk. Kids. Hmmmm. I did some research. Actually, first I thought about hotels. Other hotel-goers may cringe when they see my grubby crew approaching the breakfast layout and my kids touching stuff, but you know what? They are able to get their own cereal there. Why? Cereal and milk dispensers. Genius! So my research involved going on Amazon, every working mom’s saving grace, and typing in “cereal dispenser.” And, then, “milk dispenser.” I didn’t need anything fancy, just tools to help my kids leave me alone. Just.Kidding. Tools to do their thing. And I found them!
   

This cereal dispenser has two bins. The spin dial dispenses cereal slowly to minimize overflows and you can cap the bottom of the dispenser when not in use to k
eep your cereal fresh. The milk dispenser requires batteries, which I didn’t expect, but it is amazing. It fits various sized bottles and all you do to dispense milk is lightly push the trigger with your cup or cereal bowl. You don’t even need to take the milk jug out of the fridge. Life changing. Minimal investment.

Why I did not do this sooner will forever be a mystery. Heck, I put each

of the kiddos on the potty as soon as they could walk to it… you’d think I’d teach them how to get cereal too. But now that I’ve shared my story, perhaps it will help one of you free up some extra minutes in your morning scramble and teach your kids a bit of independence. It may not exactly shape out to be “life changing,” but at least you may hear “Mom, I NEED!!!” at least one less time during your day!

So What do you think? Leave a comment below and let us know if you’ve tried this or plan to. Have a different approach? Please share that too! And follow Rachael on Facebook or send her a note if you’d like to discuss this further!

 

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