Courtesy IMBD

About a month ago, my kids announced they wanted to watch “Star Wars” during movie night at our house. They picked ”Return of the Jedi” - and my daughter has been obsessed with Princess Leia since then. Ok, maybe we added fuel to the fire because for the two subsequent Fridays, we watched more Star Wars flicks (the older ones).

Now, each time we go to the neighborhood park and there are older kids there, the boys all play Star Wars and my daughter - 4 years old - announces “I’m Princess Leia. Who is going to be my brother?” This past week, she came home from preschool telling me, “We played Princess Leia. I was dead.” Oh, I’m sure that went real well with her teachers - she attends a church preschool.

Hmm… though my husband and are a big fans (our loft has movie posters from all six flicks up on the wall) perhaps I introduced this too early!

photospin

A favorite song playing.

A stolen moment.

Too often, it passes too quickly. So I stop, sweep up my daughter out of her carseat.

And dance in the parking lot of her school.

We pause. We sing.

The music is over. The day goes on.

But at least I have that memory to carry me through it.

I received this today and thought I would pass it along:

There’s a reason why breakfast is called the “most important meal of the day”: studies conclude children who eat breakfast tend to have more adequate nutrient intakes and be more productive in the classroom than children who do not.

When compared to their breakfast-skipping peers, school children who started the day with a healthy breakfast of cereal and milk consistently showed improved attention and memory over the morning.  A review of more than 40 studies relating breakfast consumption to nutrient adequacy and academic performance found that children who eat breakfast show improvement in memory, achievement test scores, grades, school attendance and tardiness rates compared to children who skip breakfast.  Breakfast eaters are more likely to have better overall diet quality and nutrient intakes that align with current nutrient recommendations.  Furthermore, children who skip breakfast are less likely to make up the nutrient deficit later in the day.

Milk is one of the most commonly consumed foods by children at breakfast. A nutritious breakfast can provide children with at least one of the recommended three daily servings of nutrient-rich dairy foods.  The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans identified low-fat and fat-free milk and milk products as a food group to encourage because consuming them may have important health benefits, such as improved dietary quality and bone health.  In addition, dairy foods provide three of the five “nutrients of concern” for which children have low intakes: calcium, magnesium and potassium.

Encouraging consumption of ready-to-eat cereal with fat-free or low-fat milk may be an easy way to improve kids’, teens’ and adults’ calcium and milk intake.  Researchers analyzing the diets and ready-to-eat cereal and milk intake in more than 7,000 adults and children found that average calcium intake at breakfast was seven times greater when the cereal was consumed with milk than when it was eaten alone. Breakfast eaters choosing cereal were also more likely to meet their daily calcium needs.

 Make Breakfast a Healthy Habit with These Breakfast Strategies

 ·         Start the day with nutrient-rich foods

·         Make breakfast easy. Keep breakfast foods in convenient spots for kids to serve themselves.

·         Add on-the-go foods to your breakfast routine, including milk, fruit, cereal, yogurt, wheat toast or instant oatmeal.

·         Role model. Eat breakfast yourself and with your children when possible. Start the day together with a quick and healthy meal.

·         Take advantage of school breakfast programs. School breakfast programs offer another nutritious option for busy families on the go. Breakfast served in schools offer a wide variety of foods and must provide at least one-fourth of the recommended daily intakes of calories and key nutrients children need, with no more than 30 percent of calories from fat and 10 percent from saturated fat.

In 2006, a record 9.6 million children participated in federal School Breakfast Programs, and a growing number of schools are also participating in the Expanding Breakfast program, which makes breakfast available outside of the cafeteria to ensure more children and adolescents get a healthy start to their day. 

For more information about breakfast and tips to help kids get a nutritious meal at home or at school, visit www.3aday.org.

My 4-year-old daughter awoke at 6:40 this morning and said to me - for the fourth time this week - “Mom, I don’t want to go to school.”

What makes a preschooler who spends her day enjoying music and arts and crafts and being around her friends say that?

Honest, I think she’s just mimicking her brother, a second-time-around kindergartner who does state that every morning. But then again, maybe there’s more.

Monday, I was off so the kids and I spent a much-looked-forward-to day with friends. Tuesday I was at home working for much of our “together” time and then shuffled them off to school. Wednesday, I took them to school, went to work, picked them up, dropped them off at my sister-in-laws and, yes, went back to work.

Maybe she just misses me. I know I miss her. The adjustment from holiday vacation to back-to-school seems to be still in play. And then the one day off kinds of knocked it back into motion. Her brother is struggling the same at school - having a few meltdowns each week as he tries to get back into the swing of things. I’ve tried to make it as smooth as possible, but I guess there’s only so much I can do.

I did boost her up a bit as we went through breakfast, bath and getting dressed: I reminded her it was her day to do show-and-share. Hallelujah! She picked up her new pink guitar from Christmas, in its new blue case from her birthday last week, and she beat me to the car.

“Come on mom!” she yelled. “I don’t want to be late.”

On the drive to preschool this morning, I turned on a news radio station and explained to my daughter what today was all about. “Rock Rama became president,” my 4-year-old told me. Her grandmother told her a bit about the inauguration yesterday so she had heard the name.

I did correct her pronunciation of the new president’s name.

“Is Barack Obama a girl?” she asked. I explained, no, he’s not and there have been no “girl” presidents.

“But you could be president if you want.” I told her.

“No, I don’t want to be president,” she responded.

After asking me if Barack Obama was nice, and explaining, “Yes, he seems to be a very nice guy.” I told her another fact: “He’s a dad.”

I think that impressed her more than anything. “REALLY?” Then she handed me her vtech camera and said, “There’s my dad. I made him a frog” (The camera allows the kids to add cartoons to pictures.)

Yup. Just divide “boys” and “girls” into moms and dads, and you can pretty much explain anything.