The Princess' 7th birthday brought on a slew of questions from family and friends. Everyone had the same burning question.
"What birthday cereal did she choose?"
She chose a box full of food colouring, refined sugar and highly processed grain and it lasted 2 and a half days.
What makes a box of Lucky Charms a box of birthday fun?
Read on.
A long time ago, on an island far far away, I made a new friend named Shannon. She lived across the street from me, went to our church, and her house wasn't perfect. It was wonderful.
Shannon changed my life.
She introduced me to the 'Birthday Cereal' rule, saving me from years of whiny children in the grocery store.
Ok....saving me from years of whiny children in the cereal aisle in the grocery store.
The rule is simple. The birthday child gets to pick one box of WHATEVER sugar filled, fake fruity, gagging chocolaty, dye laden cereal that their little heart desires. Their mother will not say 'no', although she will inform the checkout clerk the reason she's spending 8 bucks on a box of junk and that she doesn't always let her children rot their teeth on such stuff.
There is a secondary rule. It is to be shared amongst their assorted siblings.
The third rule is that this is the only time in the entire year that their mother will buy junk cereal. No exceptions.
It's brilliant. It eliminates whining for the rest of the year when it comes to begging their saintly mother to purchase junk cereal. Which she won't. And doesn't. Except on their birthday.
Conversations in the cereal aisle revolve around what cereal they're going to choose on their next birthday (even if it's 11 months away). But they don't ask if I'll buy it. When they were younger and they DID ask, I didn't need to answer 'no', but rather, 'on your birthday'.
And it's turned into a great family birthday tradition.
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7 comments:
Brilliant! I had a dear friend in our old town that never had a perfectly picked up house, but always offered a perfect cup of coffee and perfect friendship, I miss her!
Oh wow....I LOVE your birthday cereal rule! Having gone 100% sugar free, people ask me how I will raise kids and will I impose my nutrition on them...heck yes! But in an effort to not completely shelter little ones or make them feel like they're left out, I am going to adopt your cereal rule. That is just brilliant. Love it! Great work!!
I wish I could impose that rule on my husband!
@ Jen...so true!
@ my year without...wow! 100% sugar free? I'm going to go check out your blog. I can't imagine how you do it. I bet you feel great, though!
My husband's family did the same thing when he was growing up! It's so funny to walk down the cereal aisle with him and hear him say, "Now THAT would be a great birthday cereal!" And yes, we still do that when his birthday rolls around!
Hi! Just dropping in from WFMW and I wanted to let you know that this post has earned you the Fresh & Fab award! For details, visit
http://the6oclockstitch.blogspot.com/2009/03/fresh-and-fab-award.html
Congrats! Now pass it on!
This is the same rule that I grew up with! Once per year, my mom let us choose whatever cereal we wanted for our birthday breakfast, no exceptions! And, yes, I had to share with my two brothers. I can vividly remember fantasizing about my future cereal choice on grocery trips. Oddly enough, I usually chose Grape Nuts. I STILL love that cereal. My brothers would choose Captain Crunch and Cookie Crisp. Memories....
@ Joanna J. Isn't it great when childhood memories pop up and make you feel all warm and cozy. I just love that!
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