Trix are for kids

Just a few more weeks and Kael will be FOUR! Crikey, time flies fast. He's of an age now where he has definite preferences, likes and dislikes. I recognize the benefit of giving him opportunities to make choices -- to both help with his decision making abilities and to get him involved in his day-to-day life.

Take for example: cereal. It seems so silly that choosing a cereal would be such a big step. But look at it from a 4 year old's point of view: the endless aisle of colorful boxes, the pretty pictures, the cool shapes, the neat toys. Do I want the pirate cereal or the tiger cereal? Wow - marshmallows! The choices are mind boggling.

The last time I let Kael choose his cereal he picked Peanut Butter Captain Crunch. Not the best but certainly not the worst. He actually ate the entire box. By himself. Malia wasn't too keen on the Captain and stuck by her trusted Cheerios. On Wednesday I decided to pick out his cereal myself so I can be assured of a certain level of nutrition. Kael won't eat Cheerios as he's deemed it a "baby cereal", Raisin Bran is out due to the raisins, Kellogg's Corn Flakes look so boring, and Grape Nuts -- we used to feed it to the ducks at the duck pond. Plus I had to pick a cereal from General Mills for the Box Top. So I picked Chex and, keeping in mind that he's 4 and will want something with a little more oompf to it, Chocolate Chex (made with real cocoa powder) was the ultimate winner.

Thursday morning he was thrilled at the new cereal and ate it quickly at first. We were running late to get to preschool so I was really hurrying him. And true to Murphy's Law, the later it became, the slower he ate. Finally it was a pretty soggy mess and even I couldn't in good conscience encourage him to finish. I threw some in a snack trap for Malia to eat on the way and off we went. We were super late and the whole way there Kael kept telling me: "I can't believe you made me late for school, Mom! I can't believe we're late! Mom, we're really late!" I park the car and I hear the school bell ring -- crap!! I throw open Malia's door to get her out.... and she's covered in chocolate powder. Covered. Her face. Her hair. Her ears. Her chest. She's a total mess. I stand there and stare at her, not knowing where to begin, what to do. Kael snaps me out of my dumbfoundment with a "MOM GET ME OUT OF HERE! I'M LATE FOR SCHOOL!" I take her, grab a wipe, run around to let Kael out and we start speed walking to the gates with me trying to clean Malia who's perched on my hip and she trying to avoid the wipe. Of course the classroom door was closed and circle time had already started. Everyone stared at us as we entered the classroom and I can only imagine what a sight we made: slightly out of breath with a pissed off Malia who only had half her face clean because she kept turning her face away. Poor Kael - he was mortified as he tried to get to his spot on the circle without attracting further notice. I felt awful. He's not even 4 and I've already embarrassed him in front of his friends.

After school we went to the market and this time I allowed Kael to pick his cereal. I managed to steer him away from Lucky Charms and Coco Puffs. I couldn't get him to go for the healthier flake cereals because he wanted a "ball cereal that is crunchy." We settled on.... Trix.

I know. Trix. I know! I don't remember the colors being so.... so.... vibrant. Shana was floored that I had Trix in my home. No surprise here, but Gina and Malia loved it. Gina could not get enough of the colorful little balls. I have yet to read the ingredients list and I don't think I will. Ignorance is bliss. Hey, at least Malia is eating something, right??