A few months ago, the kids made this miraculous shift from getting up super early to sleeping until at least 6:30 or 7:00.  This felt glorious, until that shift became permanent and had a partner - staying up late.  This was OK until I had to start staying up until midnight just to keep up with the laundry.  Now I've decided that it would be better to get up a little earlier if that means that everyone can get to bed earlier as well.  For the past week, we've started the Great Shift.

The most noticible part of the Great Shift is that the kids are awake between 5:00 and 5:30 again.  And they wake up STARVING.  I learned how to make breakfast for my family from my mom.  She operates in her kitchen in the morning like an efficient short order cook.

I offer options like hot toast (hot or JUST LIKE THAT), peanut butter, jelly, peanut butter and jelly, peels or no peels, cut out like a star.  There are fruit options - apples, banana, grapes, blueberries, raisins, fruit cup, fruit snack.  There are eggs, despite the fact that I don't like them - scrambled, fried, and the favorite at our house... egg in a nest.


Some mornings, they eat like lumberjacks.  Then there are mornings like this one where the ORDER like lumberjacks and eat like birds.  Since it's so early, I know they'll be hungry again by about 7:30.  So, I'll pack up their plates and place them in the fridge for the next round.  With early mornings like these, they could have two or three small breakfasts before lunch time.  By that time, they'll probably be too full to eat lunch.