Whenever Alycia and Sherilyn pass remarks like “are we bringing bread to school AGAIN tomorrow?”, I will reply “YES!”.
“Strawberry jam/ kaya/peanut butter again??” and I will reply “YES!!”
“I am SO SICK of strawberry jam / kaya/peanut butter mummy!”
And my standard long reply would go…
“when I was your age, my mummy, your granny would only buy apricot and marmalade jam, because these are her favorite jams. And she would only buy the same brand of jam – IXL. For 11 years of my life, from Standard 1 through Form 5, I would have to eat the same type of bread (Sunshine brown bread) with the same type of jam early in the morning before going to school. Whether I liked it or not, I would have to force myself to swallow the dry Sunshine brown bread with just a few dabs of jam without a single complaint. Roy and Raymond kau fu too. And your granny would fix us a mug of really thick powdered milk with only 1/4 spoon of Milo to mask the strong taste of powdered plain milk. That tasted awful. But granny wanted us to go to school with a full stomach, so she made us really thick milk. We did not know what ‘choice’ was. We had no choice but to eat what koong koong could afford to buy and what my por por was able to prepare. So don’t complain!”
This brainwashing statement would always shut their mouths up as well as to get them to accept bread with jam in their lunch boxes ha ha!
And what I always tell my kids is all truth and nothing but the truth. My brothers and I had to ‘endure’ 11 years of our lives ‘ngai min pau’ (suffer with bread) every single morning with Sunshine brown bread (which was as dry as stale bread and as tasteless as sponge, I kid you not) and just a few dollops of apricot jam on the bread. Till today, I still loathe apricot jam. But looking back, it is with this kind of training and discipline from my strict and thrifty parents that help mould my brothers and me into thrifty and sensible individuals 🙂
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Totally agree with you.. Kids nowadays, they have lots of choices and always complaint this & that..
Even until now, when I go back to my mum’s place and I ask her “What’s for lunch, mah-yau keong gai again ahh”? (she always cooks this dish whenever I go back to her place), she will answer with her long winded statement: You know, people in Africa wana eat also cannot, they starve to death almost everyday. And you have food to eat also you wana “yiu kau toh toh” (banyak request)..
I always shut up after that, keke..
that’s exactly what my mum did (bread & milo+thick milk for breakfast) & exactly what my son is complaining about now cos i do the same thing to him – minus the milo …..hahahaha
SY, aiyoh thick milk is quite hard to stomach. Dilute it a little and it will be easier for him to down it without complaints maybe? And maybe rotate bread with biscuits / cakes / buns? 😉
Yes, for breakfast your dad and I still take bread with jam (both now homemade!) and a mug of thick soya milk+instant oats/nestum/brown rice powder on Mondays to Fridays. We eat noodles on weekends! Think can encourage your kids to eat what you used to have for breakfast.
Mum, the girls now eat a few pieces of biscuits for b’fast. Alycia can’t tolerate milk, so she drinks Manuka honey every morning. Sherilyn drinks fresh milk diluted with hot water with Nestum 🙂
I had a pupil who told me she had instant soup or porridge (Maggie brand, I think) every morning before going to school and she liked it. Why not shop around for these and vary the breakfast menu for your kids.
Mum, Alycia hates porridge! Will just stick to biscuits for now. Thanks for the suggestion 🙂
How about making fried rice / fried omellete / fish cake to the gals?
i think boys not so fussy because P is ok with repeat menu.
Hi Rachel, my girls definitely can’t stomach such heavy food for breakfast at 5:45am, when their innards need a while to restart lol! BTW, Alycia has a habit of puking if she eats a little too much early in the morning before going to school. There was a time when she puked 2-3 times in a week, just b4 going to school, after having just 1/2 a cup of yoghurt drink with a few pieces of biscuits. Thanks for your suggestion!
Certainly brings back memories…..brekkie was always Horlicks and 2 soft boiled eggs. Night time snack, or torture, was a cup of Sanatogen….godawful drink. Do not confuse with sustagen. Btw, drinks like Milo, Ovaltine, even Horlicks are just packed with sugar. Luckily for lunch we were given RM 20 c, we spent 10c on plain fried noodles, 5c for a sugary pink drink, and the last 5 c on candy or keropok! You can easily figure out my age from my primary school budget!
During my primary school days, my pocket money was 50sen a day. I could buy a skewer of fishballs (20sen) and a small plate of fried plain vermicelli at 20 sen. So you are not that older than me 😉
sama – sama .. I had milo every school day for so many years. I spoil my kids lo, their breakfast varies. At times, they had freshly baked bread like this morning. I did the baking the night before, then heat up a bit in the morning. I like them to have varieties that I didn’t have. Every weekend, it would be pancake day, made by hubs.
I grew up on Sunshine brown bread too…the one wrapped in waxed paper. Don’t know if it is the same bread you are talking about. To me, it tasted fine and I kinda miss it now that I think of it! As for now, Chloe takes a cup of milk with 2 types of fruits for her breakfast. I just change the fruits daily and she’s ok with it so far.
Yes yes, the one wrapped in waxed paper and one time, I was crazy over the bread as the bread came with Disney stickers. I was obsessed with the stickers back then. Till today, I still hv the Sunshine brown bread free Disney stickers with me! LOL! Chloe is such a good girl. My girls will have fruits first thing in the morning on weekends and holidays. School going days are just milk / Manuka honey / yoghurt drink with biscuits.