Feeding the kids is hard work. From the time they’re infants through to our current stage of early teenagers, the children … they are hungry. I’ve often wondered, “Are my kids hungrier than normal?” It wouldn’t be surprising given the gusto I apply to every single thing I eat. After 13 years of constant food prep, I can confidently say the answer is yes. When our first daughter was born, my wife took on the — in my opinion — heroic effort of breastfeeding. As she grew and transitioned to food in a high chair, I took over. At the time, I was a full-time stay-at-home-dad and like any new parent knows, these early years with your firstborn are borderline out-of-control crazy. My daughter dialed that crazy up with her 5 a.m. wake up time.
She gets that from me. I’m an early riser, but falling out of bed to your kiddo demanding sustenance at the crack of dawn hits different than easing from your slumber and savoring a hot cup of coffee. To counter this craziness, I began getting up earlier. The goal was to get myself fed and coffeed in order to have my wits about me for feeding the child. It’s like those airplane safety briefings when they tell you get your own oxygen flowing before tending to others.
Well, 18 months after she was born, the twins came along. Safety briefings and oxygen went out the window, the wheels came off, and we were running at full speed on all fronts. Especially the food front. My wife started the process with something amazing — nursing twins at the same time. I did not know that was possible, but it is flat out incredible to see in action. As they moved on to solid foods, I suddenly had three ravenously hungry tiny humans looking at me like a chicken sandwich. It’s unclear why none of them received my wife’s relatively light appetite, but here we are.
From that point — roughly 2013 — until today, I’ve been manning the breakfast table. My wife has always managed the dinner table, with lunch duties fumbling around somewhere in between. As of today, I am up at 5 a.m. to make myself coffee and prep food for the kids. We have a general rotation of breakfast burritos, oatmeal, and pancakes. But fortunately they’re now old enough to take on at least one DIY breakfast day.
I love it, because they love the food and we all love to eat. But it has created a funny situation in our household. These days, I occasionally travel for work. When these plans are shared with the family, general looks of horror cross the kiddos’ faces. Not due to my being away from home. But due to their collective fear of who will be making breakfast. My wife is not a 5 a.m. riser and, apparently, I am something of a Michelin-rated chef when it comes to preparing oatmeal. So far, however, the kids have figured it out on their own, at least until I get home and back on breakfast duty.
