In all this bustle  it is very important not to omit fundamental rituals, which allow to the child to have all the necessary means to survive to the arduous task of  becoming big. One of these, since millenniums the grandmothers of all the world keep on repeating, is the breakfast.

A meal often forgotten that has a vital importance for the energy supplying of the organism, with a contribution of calories that represents 15-20% of the daily needs. A good breakfast forestalls obesity and the hunger attacks during the day, that are inevitable after 8-10 hours of night fast. Not only, it is basic for the educational yield  of the young students, who, without the right energy support, have difficulty in keeping the concentration behind the too often boring desks. It is indispensable then feed in such way to carry out a correct division of “fuel” between the meals of the day, without exaggerating not even with the too much food and not even with the too little one.

It is not always easy to convince our little morning heroes to eat when they have just woken up and it is also difficult to organize ourselves in spite of the haste or the tiredness. To try with  strong ways does not lead to great results. What can be useful doing is to prepare some meals that stimulate the palate, but also the sight. Use the creativity, assembling many colored and fanciful dishes, can make the breakfast one moment of game and serenity without submitting the child to the “move on!” stress that makes the morning meal one of the worst nightmares. And remember that the children are the mirror of their parents: if mom to the morning drinks a quick coffee and dad sips a glass of water and then he runs away to catch the tram, the little will not wish to sit at the table to face a meal as it is due. Better instead to sacrifice some minutes of sleep and to stock up on energy with the right quiet, varying often the menu not to bore the severest critics: your children.

But which can be the most indicated foods to create a healthy and balanced breakfast worthy of a little prince? It is necessary to reform the palate of the youngest to the most simple and genuine tastes, by now scratched away from snacks, with a “vintage” breakfast that recalls the taste of the past. Fresh and whole milk is the carried column of  the feeding for the young minds, which followed by bread or rusk with butter and jam represents the perfect synthesis to supply the whole energy which your son needs. To complete the meal from the nutritional point of view it is advised to associate a good portion of fresh fruit of season, maybe under shape of fruit salad or of orange squeezing.

The globalization has permitted us to know the food habits of all the world, different from a country to another. It could be a valid alternative to take example from the Anglo-saxon nations, offering foods like fresh cheese, ham, vegetables cakes, focaccia and egg, provided that the child prefers salty tastes. It could be funny to reserve a special menu only for Sunday, when there is more time, letting our children to become little chefs and to help us to prepare creative toasts, coque eggs, pancakes and other sweets (biscuits or donuts).

So mothers, leave that the fantasy transports you, showing it with little and daily art works and do not forget that “The one who well begins, is already in half of the work".

Published 13 April 2016