When I started Breakfast Daily, I had a goal. I was going to develop the habit of eating breakfast and get my family to do the same thing. Right. No one here is a breakfast eater. And it was something I wanted to change. I wanted us to be more like other families who get excited about What’s for breakfast? just as much as What’s for dinner? And, you know, putting the entire thing online was an incentive. Miss your goal and it’s public embarrassment. It’s been seven months since Breakfast Daily first went online and, my, after the initial attempts, I’m back to having coffee for breakfast.
It’s not for lack of anything. Not time, definitely. When we moved into this house, I managed to ditch the habit of working late into the night and sleeping into the day. I started going into a more regular sleeping pattern — bed by 10, up by 5.30 to cook the girls’ packed school lunches. But, for some reason, after immersing myself in the wonderful aromas and the endless tasting that go with cooking, by the time I should be having breakfast, my appetite would go on strike. And it didn’t help either that Speedy and the girls were always in a rush in the morning and never seemed to want breakfast either. There were a few weeks when I had breakfast ready for everyone at about the same time that the lunch boxes were packed. But I often got the feeling that I was begging them to notice what I had prepared. After a while, I just lost the momentum.
And then it got worse. When the weather started to change signaling the start of the summer, my sleeping pattern reverted to the late nights and bed until noon routine. I often cook more than what we can consume for dinner and set aside a portion that can be reheated for the girls’ packed lunches. Worst case scenario — I thaw a pack of chicken or fish fillets overnight in the fridge and the house helper fries them in the morning. And the girls have started to complain. Not that they whine but they have asked more than once why I don’t get up in the morning anymore. And it sucked. It made me feel like a total jerk — almost like an irresponsible mother who had let her kids down.
Then I realized that it’s all tied with why we still aren’t breakfast eaters. I guess I’m just not that kind of a regular person and my body clock works differently. I can’t eat breakfast just because everyone else does, and I am sure that it is something that Speedy, Sam and Alex can understand because they have difficulty forcing breakfast down their throats too. In the same way, I cannot command my body and my brain to go to sleep at an hour that’s defined as decent and on a schedule that is labeled as normal. And I just don’t want to feel bad about any of it anymore.
I write better at night when everyone else is asleep, period. I just have to find a better cooking schedule so that the girls can have the kind of packed lunches they’re used to. Home cooked food. Cooked by me. And I want to maintain the habit of being awake and alert when they get home from school so that we can have our afternoon snack together (in my bed — don’t ask why, I don’t know but it’s really fun that way) amid the chit chat about what happened in school and boys and all that stuff. But I don’t have to change me just so I can belong to that class called “regular people.”
So, am I ditching Breakfast Daily? No, we’re weekend breakfast eaters. More of brunch than breakfast, actually. Besides, Breakfast Daily is not just about food but also about health issues, studies and news. It stays.
hi atty connie, good points on trying to be a morning person. I also had erratic sleeping hours because im also a writer and whenever i tried to wake up early and have breakfast, i just puke it.
anyway, i love your vietnamese honey and ginger chicken. thank you for your recipes online, they are all delicious.
That honey ginger chicken is becoming more popular than my bistek hehehe
honestly Ms Connie, Breakfast Daily is my favorite segment, I was very sad when no new entries were posted. But as a working mom, I understand the situation, its really very hard to do all the morning stuff when everybody is rushing. We’re used to have breakfast in the car.
My family is big on breakfast during weekdays. However, come weekends, the children would stay in bed till almost lunch time so they end up eating lunch and breakfast together. Sabagay, mas matipid kaya okay na rin.
Don’t worry, Evelyn, it’ll still be here.
Posting might be slower though.
Tito Rolly, re “mas matipid”
Hehehehe tama ka dyan.
I can relate to this post. My parents exerted so much effort when I was a kid to train me to eat breakfast before going to school but no luck. I realized how hard it was for them (training me) but what can I do…no matter how hard I try I just don’t have the appetite for it. I always end up sleeping at the breakfast table. I have to do something first (like travel to work/school, cook or do some cleaning)before I put anything in my mouth in the morning.
A regular person would love to have something hot, like coffee, for breakfast but I would rather drink something cold instead. The few times I tried coffee or hot chocolate I instantaneously look for the nearest bathroom. They make my stomach growl when they are the first stuff that enters my stomach in the morning. I find it weird but in a way it makes me unique.
I guess we are the normal and practical people. Hehe.
I can eat and live with a slice bread in the morning. Eat leftover at lunch. Cook with enough leftovers for couple of days and eat dinner. I cook breakfast or brunch depending how late on weekend for family to enjoy.
Glad to know I am not alone.
Carol B., re “I have to do something first… before I put anything in my mouth in the morning.”
Exactly. Like you have to get the whole body going first and get the adrenalin pumping.
d0d0ng, …. and eat breakfast standing up or lunch alone with a sandwich eaten while inspecting the house hahaha I do that.
Not a morning person either – been wanting to become one, but I don’t know if there’s any hope. I managed to get to the gym at 5:30am one time this week though, and boy did it feel great! Energy all day long… felt like superwoman. You shouldn’t feel guilty about not being a morning person. I would have loved to have a mother that’s half the mother that you are. Thank goodness for my lola.
BTW, brunches are so awesome!!
Gabby, there’s this guy who’s now a pretty well-known events planner. Forgot his name but he writes a column somewhere. He was interviewed once when he was becoming well-known and he was telling this story about being employed but his arrival at the office became later and later. 9 then 10 then 11 a.m. Until he got sacked. So he did what he always wanted to do, become an events planner which did not require to get up so early. Rather, it required him to work at night and stay up late. And he was so much happier.
I’m not a breakfast eater or maker on weekdays AT ALL. And with all the rushing in the morning the family is used to my habit. Everybody knows where the cereal box and milk are. But our weekend starts with huge breakfast. That’s when Mommy is inspired to cook breakfast/brunch
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