O o O o O

Last night, I found myself cradling a box of banana flavoured Cheerios, stuffing my hand in, grabbing fistfuls and popping each Cheerio into my mouth one by one.

All of a sudden, I kind of felt like my son.

I don’t normally find myself stuffing my face with Cheerios, but last night I was feeling particularly not normal.  I was nauseated and craving some serious comfort food.  And apparently, watching a baby eat Cheerios all day has changed my view of this particular food staple.

Cheerios have never been a big part of my life.  Every once in a while I’ll crave some Honey Nut goodness.  And I just had to sample the previously mentioned banana flavour when it was released (the box has been in my pantry since then!).  I even enjoyed a few bowls of Multigrain Cheerios while I was pregnant.  But Cheerios have never been my favourite cereal.  We do usually have a box in the house but only because it gets eaten so rarely.

But then I had a little baby who started to grow up.  One day, I was looking in my cupboard at one of those baby snack bowls.  It was purple and green and had a cover that allows a baby’s hand to go in, but keeps the snacks from falling out.  I knew that none of the snacks that Cameron currently ate fit into the bowl, and I knew I had a box of Cheerios in my pantry, so I decided to try it out.

I poured the Cheerios in the Snack Catcher and gave Cam a little tutorial on how to use the thing.

Since then, Cam has been hooked on the O; The Cheerio.

Cheerios have been a lifesaver for me.  If I need to get a little housework done, or distract Cam while changing his diaper, I just hand him his bowl of Os.  And I rarely have a mess to clean up, because Cameron doesn’t give a hoot if his Cheerio falls on the floor before he puts it in his mouth.

So now, we’re a family who uses the Cheerio.  It has become a beloved snack and a parenting tool.  This probably won’t win me any Mother of the Year awards, but that is okay.  Because it works.  And sometimes, as a parent, you have to go with what works.

So be warned.  Next time you come over the my house, your foot may just find a forgotten Cheerio because we are now a Cheeri-O’Family.