Over the past few weeks, I’ve read a few references to how parents certainly can’t allow their children to have ice cream for breakfast. It takes me aback every time.
Ice cream isn’t a regular star on our breakfast menu. But if my children want ice cream for breakfast, I let them have ice cream. Especially in the heat of the summer, if a child asks for ice cream, he gets ice cream. If that happens to be before 9 a.m., so be it. The world is still turning, and the children are growing and thriving.
Maybe this is not your parenting approach. Maybe you think less of me as a parent to know that I don’t have boundaries around serving ice cream. I’m OK with that. You do what works for you. I’ll be over here watching a happy child lick his spoon.
Here’s the thing. I say no to plenty of requests. That’s how parenting goes. There are many questions that can only be answered with “no” or “not yet” or “I wish we could, but….” That’s a long list.
But if a child wants to eat something fun at an unusual hour of the day? And they’re also getting plenty of great nutrition? And they’re growing like weeds? I don’t see this as a risk. I see this as an opportunity for Mom to give an easy yes.
Besides, I am fairly sure that ice cream is nutritionally not as bad as many carb-heavy, protein-lacking breakfasts that have been consumed for generations.
Also…life is short. If ice cream for breakfast makes someone’s day, then why not? There are many treats that are worse than ice cream.
When I was a child, growing up in an un-air-conditioned townhouse in Rodgers Forge, there would be some incredibly hot days. Every once in a while, my mother would decide not to cook dinner. She would leave the oven off for the afternoon, and we would have ice cream for dinner.
It was the best.
Each of the six children would get a bowl, and we could fill it with as much ice cream and as many toppings as we wanted. I felt like royalty.
There might have been bananas on the table. Maybe there were nuts and five kinds of fruit. I can’t recall. I remember the ice cream and the M&Ms and the chocolate chips. I recall the caramel I could drizzle over the top. Yum.
No dinner has ever tasted so good. It was decadent and sweet and fun. When I think of summer memories of my childhood, I remember being so, so hot and sweaty and sitting down with my cold bowl of fun deliciousness.
Because obviously ice cream for dinner was against the rules. But sometimes rules are meant to be broken—especially in the summertime, as the thermometer hovers around 100. Those nights we all went to bed happy.
God loves us so much. He gave us ice cream for a reason. And he gave us these beautiful hot summer days to enjoy fantastic frozen treats—and share them with our children.
So, if you want ice cream for breakfast, go for it. And enjoy.
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