Breakfast

Since arriving back in Turkey I have started a new routine. Making breakfast. That may seem like a strange thing to some of you, but it wasn't a normal practice for me. The kids usually ate cereal, toast, a scrambled egg, or some other easily prepared item for breakfast. When they got up I asked what they wanted, and like a short order cook I made it. I really didn't mind, because most of the time they picked cereal. I wouldn't make anything that took much time on school days. Pancakes, biscuits, or cinnamon rolls were reserved for weekends. And then everyone had to eat the same thing since I was going to the trouble of making something. During our adjustment to being back in Turkey I realized that Anna Grace never wanted anything for breakfast. She fussed about whatever I decided to give her, because she would have rather had what someone else was eating. I think that having to decide in the mornings was too overwhelming for her, and since she isn't a morning person and would rather not eat anything right when she gets up she acted out. At that point I decided that I would get up a few minutes earlier and make breakfast. I thought that if I took the choice part away from her things might be better. Well, I was right! She still doesn't want anything, and will almost always say she isn't hungry. But, the fact that the other kids are all eating the same thing she has on her plate has helped. I have made pancakes, french toast, cinnamon toast, cheese toast, several kinds of muffins, eggs, breakfast burritos, waffles, hash browns, and several other things. The other kids seem to like that there are more options as well. Every couple of weeks we have cereal for breakfast, and they are always disappointed that I haven't cooked something!