Saturday Breakfast

Submitted by Kathy Haselmaier

"... it always seemed unfair that babies and toddlers didn't appreciate the opportunity to sleep in on a Saturday morning."

Sleeping in has always been my preference. Alarms can be so harsh. As a new parent, it always seemed unfair that babies and toddlers didn't appreciate the opportunity to sleep in on a Saturday morning.

My husband has always been an early riser, but even he didn't want to get up as early as the kids some Saturday mornings. So early on we concocted a scheme to make these mornings "extra special" for our 3-year-old daughter. On Friday nights we'd leave a bowl of cereal and a spoon out on the kitchen table and put a plastic cup filled with milk in the refrigerator with plastic wrap over the top. Because she was getting to be such a "big girl" we'd allow her to make her own breakfast on Saturday mornings. 

She was allowed to retrieve the cup of milk from the fridge, remove the plastic wrap, and carefully pour it into the cereal bowl. We told her that only "big girls" were given these opportunities to enjoy this weekly treat. She loved making her own breakfast on Saturdays, and I figure we probably allowed her to watch TV too (if the sound was on very softly). 
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This scheme provided us with a few more minutes of sleep and helped her start learning that she was already capable of taking some steps to care for herself. It always felt great to wake up fully rested to her beaming smile as she pointed to the empty cereal bowl.

​Twenty four years later, I'm happy to report that she eventually progressed beyond cereal prep and is now a great cook! 

​Kathy Haselmaier spent 32 years working full-time in high tech marketing and business operations roles. She is married, has two grown children, and holds a BS degree in Computer Science from Michigan Technological University.

More tips:

• ​The Dessert Tray
• Once-a-Month Lunches
• Don't Forget Your Lunch
• Laundry Line-up

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