Because my kids are just focused on the time together in the van to get there and the long walks and talks they will get to enjoy with their parents.
No, wait. That is some other family.My kids are focused on one thing and one thing only. Now, keep in mine that my kids are 12, 15, and 18. So of course, their focus may be a little more mature than those of you with younger kids. What are my kids looking forward to on vacation?
Sugary cereals.
Yes, if you asked any of the four of them to tell you about one of our vacations, one of the first things they would tell you would be, "We ate lots of sugary cereals". I am one of those moms. You know, the terrible kind that makes homemade waffles and pancakes, homemade muffins, and buys only lower sugar cereal for our breakfasts at home. We always have cereal. Actually, we always have homemade granola in addition to store bought cereal since I found out how easy it is to make and how I can tweak it to be lower in fat and sugar but delicious. I love my granola.You would be hard pressed to find more than 3 days out of a month that some delicious homemade goodness cannot be found in this house for your early morning dining pleasure. Yet what do my kids really crave?
Unidentifiable shapes that are supposedly marshmallows. In wonderful neon colors. Ideally surrounded by nothing that resembles a whole grain and that is glistening with more sugar. And I give them this.
One week a year. Only on vacation. I buy boxes and boxes of the stuff. They eat it by the fistful for breakfast and again at night while we search TVLand for something funny from my youth. Back when TV was funny. And mothers wore pearls, were dressed up and had dinner ready when father came home. Now that is funny.
So, it doesn't matter how much we spend or what quality educational experience we try to stick into our vacation. The only thing that matters is what sugary cereal I buy.We have friends that took their daughters to Belize. They planned the trip for over a year. Made special reservations to sleep in some treetop houses in the rain forest. Just the best vacation ever. Not long after they returned, they were at my house. I asked the youngest daughter, who was about 10, what the best part of her trip was.
"The gift shop", was her immediate reply.And I think she only said that because her mom didn't take any sugary cereal with her.
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119 comments:
You are so funny! I don't buy sugary cereal because my family won't eat cereal unless it's hot - you know, grits or oatmeal.
"No, wait. That is some other family."
Absolutely hilarious. That made me grin like a Cheshire cat.
I too loved the, "that is some other family" because I knew you had to be going somewhere with that quality time thing.
I admit, I grew up in a low-sugar cereal home and vacation times with sugar were definitely treats!
It's funny you should say this.
My Mom was not the whole grain kind of Momma, but we never ate cereal for breakfast. Except when we went on vacation, of course.
She would stockpile Berry Berry Kix and we would eat them like they were going out of style.
The year of our last family vacation, they discontinued my beloved Kix :(
I still check the cereal aisle every time I go down it, but it has been years since I have had a box of my sugary cereal!
Ick! I can count on one hand and not make it up to five how many time I have eaten those awful cereals since I was a stupid kid. Not to say I'm any smart %$!@#* years later, but I just never liked them. Except for Sugar Pops at about age 10 and really....that was because The Lone Ranger ate them. Or maybe it was that he sold them? Who cares. I just liked his horse.
My life is somewhere between your house and your vacation - we stock it all - homemade granola (good, and good for you but not as tasty as the store bought), Cheerios always and a a random box of sugar filled goodness. On top of whole wheat toast, bagels, etc.
My kids are older too (13 and 22) and in spite of the filled pantry it's like pulling teeth to get anyone to eat breakfast besides me. Weekends? Forget it, they're not even up until lunchtime.
PLEASE send this to a travel magazine! I hope you do send your texts places - your blog is great but you really should reach an even bigger audience and get tons of money too so your kids can swim in cereal.
Perfect description of a family (mine) vacation. One year we took "the vaca of a lifetime" riding horseback into the Montana wilderness - we gave all our children Indian names on the trail.. my son's name?
Gift Shop.
Got'ta love em cuz you can't live without them.
Have fun and save some cookie crisps for us!
Perfect description of a family (mine) vacation. One year we took "the vaca of a lifetime" riding horseback into the Montana wilderness - we gave all our children Indian names on the trail.. my son's name?
Gift Shop.
Got'ta love em cuz you can't live without them.
Have fun and save some cookie crisps for us!
I am right there with you. THe only cereal my kids ever eat is natural and organic... other then that they get fruit, eggs, pancakes, good stuff.
God bless-
Amanda
Too funny. Kids remember the silliest things. All the planning and effort goes out the window when they get to watch tv in the car! My husband grew up limited by sugary cereal (for me it was tv). We're both convinced that as a result we became obsessed with these things. Our kids can have these cereals but they don't choose to eat them all the time - everything in moderation right? At least that's what I tell myself.
lol. When I was a kid, I loved vacation because my mom bought those little mini boxes of cereal. something about the small boxes made me happy. :)
LOL, we always ate junk on vacation too...and it was one of my favorite parts!!
I have fond memories of the one box of Count Chocula I would get at the start of summer vacation!
It's funny because it's true.
We took our then 5 year old to Disney World for a family vacation - no, a Family Vacation, as this was *serious* and not just "hop in the car and drive to NJ to visit the grandparents" - this involved airplanes and hotels and eating in restaurants every day for a WEEK!
We did all the amazing rides in all the parks that Kiddo was tall enough for, had several meals that featured "character dining experiences" wherein all of Kiddo's favorite Disney creatures visited our table, the works.
After the trip, we asked her what her favorite part of WDW was.....
Riding the bus to and from the parks and hotel.
Now that I think of it, I wonder *why* we're even going back this year - for about $15, I could buy her a month's worth of bus passes and we could cruise our hometown without worrying about security checks, long lines, sweltering heat and humidity, and having to put on a bathing suit to go to the pool each afternoon.....
funny. . . when we go to my parents' shore house my mother always has those little cereal boxes in a basket on the center of the kitchen table. My teenagers eat about 5 of them a day. . . all sugary sweetness. . .
BWAHAHA! Lucky Charms sure have changed. What are those marshmallow shapes supposed to be?
LOVE me some granola!
I make healthy breakfasts, too, but my kiddles do love the sugary cereals, too. If you wanna share your excellent granola recipe, that would be just fine.
On a trip to Disney/Universal much like Heather described we also asked the kids their favorite part (they were 3, 4 and 6 at the time) They liked sitting on the clowns lap. We wracked our brains trying to remember clowns then realized we'd stopped at McDonald's (a rare treat for them) on the way home. They had had fun on the play area and we had even taken their picture with a lifesized statue of Ronald. That is the picture two of the three children wanted to display in their room post vacation.
Sheesh.
Have a great trip!
Oh my that was so funny...and secretly so true for us too. We used to go to camping twice a year and the one thing I ALWAYS took were the little boxes of cereal, so did my Momma.
I'm worse than you, I only buy it on Christmas day!! LOL
Aren't vacations great? I love them! Now stop holding out on us.....share the recipe to your granola.
That's why I loved Sundays as a little kid---it's when we got sugared cereal. Now, since I'm all grown-up and mature and buy my own food---I eat it every day:)
Granola recipe? Where's that post? I too am a low-sugar, low-fat breakfast food mom - lunch and dinner too.
Vacations are made for Froot Loops.
you mean you don't cook dinner in pearls??
i'll trade my golden grahams in for a homemade waffle!! :)
my family vacations always revolved around bologna sandwichs - mostly cause they were cheap :P
Your kids would it loving at my house :-) Sugary cereals are one of the four basic food groups around here :-)
Have a great holidya!
I wore pearls last night while I made dinner. We get sugary cereals for holidays: Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, you know the important ones!
Yeah I also laughed at the "No, wait. That is some other family." Classic....wrong channel girl :)
I grew up with sugary cereals at my disposal. My children, however, live on Kashi. I'll have to keep this in mind for their teen years. Great idea & once again, a hilarious post.
Ohhh...and on our trip to Nashville earlier this year, my 3 year old's favorite part was the dvd player we bought to shut him up in the car with. :D
Also, I ditto the other ladies in the choir to demand your granola recipe. :D
That is so funny! I think it is always some small thing that kids love during vacation.
Ah...sugary cereal! LOVE the stuff! I admit, I let my daughter indulge in it, though I try to pick the healthiest of the lot.
I so understand this. I only bought chips and soda for my kids when we went on vacation. And the gift shop? Favorite part of every museum we visited. Have a great time at the beach. Maybe the 12 year old will still walk on the beach and talk to you.
I will never forgive my mom for not buying sugary cereals. I've been in therapy for it.
That is so funny! We have only low sugar cereals in the house right now and seeing the marshmallows made me want to go out and buy a box of sugary goodness... I'm too afraid my husband would get to the box before me though. ;)
Oh Lucky Charms and Captain Crunch with Crunchberries! Throw in a box of S'Mores Poptarts, won't ya?
You're the coolest mom ever!
Yummy, sugary cereal is great. I remember as a kid looking forward to that to0 on family vacations. Gosh, I sure could use a vacation. I hope you guys have a wonderful time. Have a great weekend Debbie.
Hugs
Michelle
LOL! That's so funny.
This is so true! Such a funny post. Love "the gift shops" response from the little girl.
Whatever it takes to keep the kids busy and happy. Vacations are supposed to be fun and stress free and if that requires sugary cereal...then so be it
That is so funny, cereal! Some day when they are grown and out of the house, they will look back and long for all of the home cooked food.
Great post!
HA! I do the same thing!! It's crazy how wxcited they get about that stupid cereal...
And you, Debbie, are the best. I grinned from ear to ear through the whole post.
So funny. I can't get Kaish to eat cereal. He likes pancakes. Or eggs and sausage. No cereal for that kid. I do try every once in a while though.
We go to the Jersey Shore. It is skank city, but we adore it. We go mostly because it is so flippin close. What do you think of long drives in the car? Maybe when all the kids are bigger, but for now, well, I HATE driving and so do they!
That's true. I remember having those cereals on vacation too, in the tiny, tiny boxes. Good times...good times
My son liked the car CDs best after we went to see flamingoes and bulls in Provence.
could I get the recipe for that granola....
Wait, no recipe?? I make granola, but we don't LOVE it (even though it's by far better-tasting than anything I've ever purchased :) Isn't it funny/sad what kids will REALLY look forward to? :P
I love my sugary cereals. I can't eat that stuff with nuts and berries in it. Give me Lucky Charms any day. I usually watch in horror as my Mom eats plain oatmeal that tastes like wet paper to me.
What a sugary fun-filled read! My mom would pump my daughter full of sweet sugar treats, and my daughter never resisted. I rarely had snacks and sugar around the house, so my daughter would have her fun sugar marathon at my mom's house. That was then, this is now...please pass the sugar, pretty please!
You are such a good Mom!
Shoot,I hit enter before I was done. My kiddos are happy if they have chocolate milk when they are done. Me, I like cereal that talks back to me. Hope you have a wonderful vacation.
When are we going to have lunch again?
And this is why I buy sugary ccereals all the time--so that my son will appreciate the rest of his life! :)
I love the gift shop answer. As parents, we try so hard...
Have a wonderful vacation!
I remember as a kid what a treat it was to get the little boxes of cereal. And, only in the summer time at the cottage. I, on the other hand buy it for my kids when I see it on sale.
Aw. Still sounds great. Have fun!
Have a blast!
My kids are a little younger and we went on a wonderful vacation a few years ago. All they were interested in was the hotel pool and where the local McDonald's/Wendy's/Taco Bell was.
Ah, cereal binging. Frosted Lucky Charms, Captain Crunch . . . happy days indeed. Our vacation binge food was bacon -- back then you couldn't get it without nitrites so it was a forbidden pleasure.
I would love that granola recipe. I love granola but sometime I would like some with a little something different.
When my daughter and stepson were teenagers, my standing rule was that they couldn't buy a cereal if sugar or corn syrup were in the first three ingredients.
They would have LOVED vacationing with you.
When my in-laws used to take our kids to their summer camp the kids' favorite thing was the mini-cereal-box assortment. Remember those? You could cut open the box and eat the cereal right out of the container?
Oh Debbie!! I am laughing! My kids are the SAME...they zero in on WHAT sugar cereal they will GET and LOVE! (I secretly snicker when it is NOT as good as the commercial or their friend portrayed it!) Poor little things have wonderful food 358 days a year!!!!
I like you!
the things they remember eh? no matter how hard we try too!
Yup. Doesn't matter where you go or how fancy it is, the kids obsess over the little things.
That's why we are vacationing in the backyard this summer. I thought maybe we would drive around and around for a while, park down the street and enter the yard from the opposite side.
I think I can fool them. And I bet their favorite part will be the swings!
Totally true! You could plan the best vacation ever and it is the silly stuff that makes the biggest impression.
You crack me up, I swear. And, now I want some homemade granola. But, I want it on vanilla ice cream. (I was one of those kids who never got sugary cereals either. I'm still making up for it...)
Inspirational! :-)
Now, I'm waiting for your granola cereal recipe. You should post is, then put it on your sidebar. I'm into that kind of cereal!!!
Our vacation to Seattle was peaked with the 2 year old saying when asked what she liked best, "Da big pond." That is Puget Sound. It has been turned into a pond.
My mom refused to buy us the sugary cereals when we were kids, so as soon as I moved out of the house I bought Cocoa Pebbles everytime I went shopping! Now, I am over it, but I let my kids have one box of sugary cereal every once in a while so they don't fiend the way I did! My fave, btw, is granola cereal, I love it. Oh, and shredded wheat.
I have never eaten sugary cereals. In fact, for some odd reason I hated breakfast when I was a kid - I was only obliged to drink a cup of milk (major yuck), and guess where it used to end up when my parents weren't watching!
(Weird thing, but I love milk now).
Except for when we stayed at my grandma's place during the summer - she would make those huge breakfasts, consisting of chocolate milk, slices of bread with jam/honey/cheese and salami, fruit, eggs and much more! I soooo crave these!
In fact, every time I think of these times, the first thing that pops into mind is "huge breakfasts".
So, I am like your kids and even worse, LOL!
You and I are in sync: cereal posts the same week! I am in total awe of your breakfast-tude. No matter how much I get it together in other areas, I can't get breakfast together. I do make waffles occasionally, but if we're having muffins, it's because Daddy went to the store the night before...
Oh I love it! I cracked up over the "No, wait. That is some other family." ;)
I found myself going over the grocery budget getting snacks and sugary cereal for the 2-day drive on the way to/from our vacation - but it obviously made the Princess Nagger happy as she was a great little traveler! ;)
Teehee ! Love that ! You know what they say, it is the little things we remember most ! Sugary cereal is a good little thing !
Bon voyage and don't forget the toothpaste !;)
I remember those days... Take it from me, one day it'll come back and bite them in the butt. I know that from experience.
OMG!! Just found you from you leaving me a comment on my blog! Thank you for visiting and for your kind words, but YOU ARE THE FUNNY ONE!! I want to hate you but I am too much in admiration and girl crush mode for that, so I am (probably stupidly as I'll lose what little audience I have) adding you to my blogroll! My kids are the same way about the rarely-available-to-them sugary cereal on vacation! (I have identical TWIN TEENAGE BOYS- 16 - will turn 47 next month and will be married 20 years next month. I do NOT know how you are this funny with four offspring. You are my hero!) I was equally cheered and grossed out by the placenta story and touched by the brave momma bird tale. I would be so honored to have you visit again and perhaps consider me for your blogroll. Thanks for the laughs!
That is so funny! And so true...I remember as a kid that my mother always cooked - and everything from scratch. And I liked her food! Some of my favorite meals, though, were when she didn't have time and got a roast chicken and fries for us - pure heaven! I think it's a universal kid-thing... :) Silke
I love this post!
I'm also one of those awful mums that won't let them eat any sugary cereal or sweets or drink coke or... well, you get the picture!
My daughter still fondly remembers visits to the UK, where my sister has stocks of cocoa pops!!
haha, have fun on vacation!!
That is hilarious! I've been trying to buy a LOT more organic and fresh veggies lately! My daughter (who is 4) LOVES salad with "Mama's Sauce". (Ranch dressing with a little Basalmic Vinagrette)
Hugs - Tiff
Heh, heh. Those are my memories of vacation! Cold cereal, potato chips and soda! It was the only time that we got to eat these!
Love it.
Belize? I want to go to Belize!!
When I was in grade school, we went to a Florida beach. Me and my twin cousins spent A LOT of time in the game room. Hey, it was more fun than the beach! :)
BTW, I was always partial to Captain Crunch w/ Crunch Berries, myself.
That is SO funny because I was the same way when I was little.. we never had that stuff in the house so I went CRAZY for it when I did get it. Same with McDonalds and other junk food. I loved going to my friends houses because they always seemed to have stuff I never got at home!
Hmmm, sounds like you could leave the kids at home with a case of sugary cereal in a high fructose induced coma and then take a luxury vacation alone with the hubby. Better use of financial resources?
I have only one question: Where is your recipe for that low fat delicious homemade granola? I clicked expecting it would be there. Humph!
I like the Corn Pops best! Oh, I used to live for the chance to sang them out from under my brothers in the variety pack.
I like your approach. I like to go up the Interstate to an unfamiliar exit on the coast and call it vacation.
The beach is a wonderful place. The restrooms (at every beach I have ever been to) that my daughter thinks of our wee humble abode as a palace because she is not afraid of the toilet. I call that holiday magic.
Out of context, those marshmallows are hard to read. They ain't nothing without their box.
LOL you are hilarious!!
Kids remember the funniest things! I hate sugary cereal, too. My husband brings it home and serves it to my kids and they think he is a god. *sigh* I am the mean mommy. =D
Are you kidding? I'm 30 years old. My husband is 31 years old and we just returned from our Saturday night outing, a trip to the grocery store and pet store. (yeah, we have the nightlife here in Boring, Alabama let me tell you) And we each got a box of Cap N Crunch b/c we don't want to share with each other, LOL. Sugar is our friend!!!! Don't fight it. Just pick up a spoon and join the fun. You KNOW you want to! Have a great vacay.
This made my day, no, my week. It is surely the funniest thing I've read in blogland this month!
That's awesome. I have to admit, some of my favorite memories from our family saga around the country in a minivan when I was 16, were that we got to eat poptarts for breakfast in the car.
gum. my kids look forward to the gum. And sleeping on chairs pushed together to make a bed.
lol... thats funny!! you're a way cooler mom than i am! but now i'm really craving lucky charms!
What time is breakfest
Haha! Love it! I always remember the last day of our vacations because my mom made every single thing left in the fridge/house to use it up so it was a huge buffet of breakfast, lunch and dinner foods!
You sound like an awesome mom!! Homemade goods in the morning?? At least they know you can let your healthy guard down for a little bit!! I hope you have fun on vacation!
I get the "gift shop" response from mine!
I'd love to know your granola recipe!! We almost ALWAYS have homemade oatmeal bars in the cookie jar. They're the one thing that ALWAYS gets BBJ a yes from me.
Yesterday, I served our houseguests homemade bread with their choice o homemade orange-vanilla marmalade or homemade strawberry-lime jam. That made me feel special. ;-)
Congratulations! You won my Trader Joe's giveaway!
Please email me your mailing address plus any food allergies (so I can make sure to avoid them!) to debatespeak @ gmail.
Thanks! And congratulations!
Do you buy the big boxes or the huge packs of little individual ones? My kids think those are to DIE for. Will you share your recipe for lower cal/lower fat granola? I always leave it on the shelf at the store b/c of the high calories :(
Oh...Lucky Charms are the best .. especially on vacation! You are so good to give them that.
We are on a perpetual vacation at my house though and I need to pick up better homemade skills:) Share some recipes?
I grew up on that crap. (Lucky Charms and such EVERY DAY) Look what happened to me.
Good for you, keepin' the breakfast homemade. You just rock all the time every day don't forget it. :)
That is fantastic!!! I wish I were a good enough mom to not use sugary cereal... We *generally* stick to the healthy stuff... but not always :-/
We are just back from 2 weeks away and my kids are in for a rude awakening tomorrow!
My parents used to by the little mini boxes of cereal and that was one of the best things about our vacations. Ahhh, memories!
Have a great time and I hope you keep the sugar rushes coming!
Oh gorgeous, can I come too?
What hilarious posts you have! All the better to crack me up.
Ask your friends if they stayed at 3 sisters cave in Belize in the forest.
What kills me (Catcher in the Rye style) is that my son only ate the marshmallowy things in the Lucky charms.
We have the exact same vacation-cereal policy at our house. Oh, and on birthdays too. I was about to stay that we put all rules to rest on vacation, but it's not that extreme; we still have to wear clothes and brush our teeth and such. :)
Love your blog! I literally laughed out loud several times this morning reading it :) Unfortunately, I made the mistake of introducing "Magic Stars" (the cheap brand of Lucky Charms, which I think are actually better ;)) to my son and he now refuses to eat Cheerios (or any other non-sugary cereal for that matter) because there are no marshmallows. Oh well. ;) I try to keep it to a minimum and do waffles and oatmeal more often than cereal...
Heh, heh. My kids think sugary cereal is for vacations and going to Nanny's house.
When I was a kid we bought lots of Hot Pockets and I loved them. Can't eat them now though. Jim Gaffigan would have something to say about that, I am sure. (You can find him on YouTube)
I'd love to have your recipe for granola. I love it, but hate to pay for it!
We're a sugar-cereal-only-on-vacation family, too. I kind of look forward to indulging in Lucky Charms myself, but it's maybe twice a year. And my son thinks sugar cereal is the greatest treat EVER.
I agree with your kids when it comes to eating sugary cereal as a snack. Can't stand it with milk, waaaay too soggy for me.
Hopefully the kids are old enough that they don't whine and not share window space anymore.
Have a great trip and relax a little. BUT don't stop posting!
Sugary cereal...that sounds like a great vacation!
Oh shoot. I'm so not THAT mom. I wish I was. But, my kids love their sugary cereal. My son has been known to snack on Froot Loops all day long. Sigh. I suck.
Enjoy your vacation!!!! I so wish I was going with you. Not for the sugary cereal since I have that at my fingertips all the time. ;) I want to rest & relax on the beach.
god...my mom was a cereal gestapo too. my cousins would visit every summer from kentucky and took to BRINGING boxes of lucky charms and the like because my mom wouldn't bend to their mint-juleped pleas to buy the stuff. we only had corn flakes, rice krispies, and raisin bran. blech. but we survived.
ps. my mom is now ADDICTED to corn pops and eats them for dinner 3 nights out of 7.
LOL..we are the total opposite! My husband LOVES the sugary cereal, and so do my kids!! That is one neccessity we can not do w/out!
Thank you for my evening laugh.. this was too funny.. and just too true. I also appreciate your kind comment on my blog today. :)
yeah, I used to be all tight up about those cereals while on vacation but I lost the battle and am more flexible now. But in a way, it's good. This way we're all more relaxed.
And, I'm pretty sure that when your/my kids grow older they will surely appreciate those times spent together and their memories will be of other things then the sugary foods.
LOL! That is so funny! And my kids are just like that.
HAHAHAHA! My kids'(ages 5 and 7) favorite thing about vacation is staying in hotels and getting to jump on the bed. Now I wonder if I should let them have cereal with more sugar in it, too.
We're on a 6w vacation, and we have Trix cereal in the house. Luckily, they prefer scrambled eggs or waffles; we're still on the original box 3.5w later.
I totally don't get your kids.
(I say as I shove a frosted blueberry poptart in my mouth)
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