Are there people who truly have sit down breakfasts with time to read the newspaper before work and school?

[Anonymous]

We sit down and eat breakfast every morning. We just factor in the time to do it. We get up accordingly. We either read news on the phone/tablet or watch TV news while eating. We talk about current events while eating. Our ‘getting ready’ time includes this sit down time to eat. We never skip breakfast.

[Anonymous]

We all leave at different times spanning about 2 hours. So there’s no way our timing aligns enough to schedule for this. We eat dinner together nearly every night.

Also no one here is an enthusiastic morning person bouncing out of bed and ready to chat or cook a communal meal first thing in the morning. We grunt and half smile at each other as we prepare our own oatmeal or bagel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, we do it every day. Would the kids prefer to sleep an extra 30 minutes? Of course but mornings at the table are just as important as dinners.

I wake up at 5am and get myself totally ready and then get the kids up by 6. By 6:40 they are at the table where breakfast is totally made and plated (eggs, yogurt, fruit, etc). We read the headlines and then do a last minute prep for any tests that’s day.

They leave by 7:15 for school and I take the youngest to daycare at 7:30. (3 kids total ages 4, 8and 13)

No rush in the morning and everyone leaves calm and well fed.

I think I found the fatal flaw in this plan.

Waking up a teen at 6 am every day who doesn't need to leave until 7:15 is nasty.

[Anonymous]

Life changes. I used to make hot breakfast for DS in ES. Then in MS, as he preferred to sleep in, I made a microwave hot breakfast that he ate during the 10 minute car ride to school.

Now I’m up at 3:50 and out the door at 4:30. He’s in college and oversleeps most days, often missing class or arriving late to work.

This is all to point out that your children eventually become their own people and setting an example often doesn’t stick

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, we do it every day. Would the kids prefer to sleep an extra 30 minutes? Of course but mornings at the table are just as important as dinners.

I wake up at 5am and get myself totally ready and then get the kids up by 6. By 6:40 they are at the table where breakfast is totally made and plated (eggs, yogurt, fruit, etc). We read the headlines and then do a last minute prep for any tests that’s day.

They leave by 7:15 for school and I take the youngest to daycare at 7:30. (3 kids total ages 4, 8and 13)

No rush in the morning and everyone leaves calm and well fed.

I have kids in three different schools with three very different start times. I would never wake my youngest up at 6 when she doesn't have to get to school until 8:45 but you do you. Sounds like all of yours outside of the one in daycare are on the same schedule which is the only way this would realistically work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally only see people doing this in old 1950’s newsreels or in movies ➕ TV.

Most families are very rushed in the mornings.

My favorite thing in the movies was those ridiculous breakfasts on the table—milk AND orange juice, pancakes, bacon, and eggs. But the kid always just grabs an orange or a piece of toast and runs out the door.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids do club swim with AM practice. There is no time.

Just get the whole family up at 3 am, there’s always time 🥹 Won’t somebody think of the children?

You’re missing the point. “I don’t want to” =/= “there’s no time”.

And here I was, thinking that adding /s was too heavy-handed.

I mean it’s obvious that you were being facetious, but at the same time if it’s too early for breakfast maybe consider that it’s too early for swim practice.

Sorry you’re not as clever as you think you are.

PP doesn’t control when swim team practice is, dipshit.

She does, however, control whether she allows her children to participate in swim practice. I assume the coach doesn’t frog march her kids out of the house at 5 am at gunpoint.

I’m sorry you’re so angry and defensive when people remind you that you do in fact have agency in your life.

[Anonymous]

I only have one upper elementary aged kid so it’s easier for me. I get up at 6:30am and DS and I are eating together at by 6:45. He has to be on the bus stop at 7:25. We prefer hot breakfast plus fruit or yogurt, so I make quick things like pbj french toast, breakfast burritos, or scrambled eggs and toast. For some reason I never make pancakes. They seem like a lot of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have always taken 20 mins to eat my breakfast and read something, basically my whole life, but honestly, it's almost always on the clock since I entered the working world. I get to work, I check email/slack/whatever, make sure nothing's on fire, then I sit and read the paper and eat my breakfast. It's usually something grab-and-go.

I would also say that while I've had a variety of jobs with a variety of levels of busy and a variety of numbers of hours in the week - my industry tends to get rolling later. So it's never been a big deal to take 20 first thing, even when I was working 60+ hours a week and was busy all the time.

If I wanted to do it before work, I'd just have to get up before the kids. My kids are way younger than yours, but need lots of hands on help in the morning. They're up at 7:30. As it stands now, I'm up at 7:20 cause I can get ready in 10 mins. If I wanted to eat breakfast and read, I'd just have to wake up at 7 (which I'm not willing to do).

This feels very manageable just because mornings are generally so predictable. Just get up 20 mins earlier and eat breakfast? What are these things that are "throwing off the experience"?

An adult not willing to wake up at 7 am?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids do club swim with AM practice. There is no time.

Practice ends at 6 a.m., so they must eat afterward...

[Anonymous]

All of you who say that you aren't hungry in the morning must eat dinner too late.

"The healthiest time to eat dinner is generally 3 to 4 hours before bedtime, ideally between 5 PM and 7 PM, to allow for proper digestion, better blood sugar control, improved metabolism, and more restorative sleep, aligning with your body's internal clock (circadian rhythm). An earlier dinner supports weight management and reduces risks for conditions like diabetes and heart disease, but the quality of the meal and a consistent schedule are also crucial."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don't. I'm up at 6:30. Feeding cat, cleaning up dishes from the previous night, finding backpacks, washing lunch boxes and containers, and then making breakfast and lunch for kids usually takes me to 7:30. I listen to the news while I get ready (and chase after the kids to get themselves dressed) and we leave at 8:10. Usually some work e-mail in there as well.

When I was single, I was up at 5am, worked out, and then got ready. But those days are long gone.

I'm not really a person who criticizes routines, but if your child is old enough to go to school (and maybe they aren't and just go to preschool, so this wouldn't apply), they are old enough to hang their backpack on a hook, unload their lunch containers, rinse and put in the dishwasher before they go to bed. Run the dishwasher during the night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of you who say that you aren't hungry in the morning must eat dinner too late.

"The healthiest time to eat dinner is generally 3 to 4 hours before bedtime, ideally between 5 PM and 7 PM, to allow for proper digestion, better blood sugar control, improved metabolism, and more restorative sleep, aligning with your body's internal clock (circadian rhythm). An earlier dinner supports weight management and reduces risks for conditions like diabetes and heart disease, but the quality of the meal and a consistent schedule are also crucial."

Tell it to the Spaniards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally only see people doing this in old 1950’s newsreels or in movies ➕ TV.

Most families are very rushed in the mornings.

My favorite thing in the movies was those ridiculous breakfasts on the table—milk AND orange juice, pancakes, bacon, and eggs. But the kid always just grabs an orange or a piece of toast and runs out the door.

DH and I joke about this all of the time. The mom is never mad!

[Anonymous]

lol…no. I also love how in the movies there are 200 kids just hanging out outside before school starts in the morning.