vegetarian cereal

You may think that all cereal is animal free...but you would be wrong!

Yesterday Tim had a day off work, so I took advantage of the opportunity to have some extra help and we went grocery shopping. We had to go to Target first, so by the time we got to the real grocery store, Parker was becoming a little on the beastly side. We decided to divide and conquer, so we split up to get all the food we needed.

I HATE doing this. Tim loves it, because he has zero amounts of patience and he thinks it's more efficient. Well, it's only considered "efficient" if the work done is actually done properly...and it never is when we do this because we end up forgetting half the things we need. I get all flustered since I'm being rushed (and I always leave the list at home). Of course, this isn't Tim's problem, since he only goes shopping with us like once a month and the only thing on his list is beer.

So like a good wife, I agree to divide up, and one of the things I had to grab was cereal. This is not something I am proud of, but I don't eat grown-up cereal. I usually buy Fruit Loops. The most adult cereal I've ever bought has been Frosted Mini Wheats. I am walking down the cereal aisle and there is this little boy (probably 5 years old) with his dad trying to pick one out. The little boy says to his dad, "Oh look! This one has a frog on it!" (I immediately know he is talking about Smacks.) The dad replies, "Oh yes it does. But we don't buy cereal with animals on the box."
Son: "Why don't we buy cereal with animals?"
Dad: "Because that's bad nutrition."
Son: "Oh. EWWWW BAD NUTRITION!!"

Sir...you are a sneaky genius. Deep down, I feel that you are to be commended. You have clearly done a good job instilling healthy eating habits in your little boy. And your son is a total angel. And how the hell did your wife convince you to go do the grocery shopping AND bring your kid?? This is all well and good, however, now I feel like a total asshole. I mean, I am awkwardly standing near you, waiting for your son to move out of the way and, well, I can't very well shove your son aside and grab the box with Toucan Sam on the front.

I have a choice here. I can a) wait until they leave the aisle to get the cereal I really want, or b) I can grab a PETA-friendly box with good nutrition.

I chose the latter.

This is a man who should be giving nutrition speeches to his son's elementary school classes. Well played. Not only can he convince his son to eat well with a one-liner (with complete assent from his son)...he was capable of influencing my entire household's cereal choice. He also had the bonus of positively reinforcing his "bad nutrition" speech by having his son watch me choose a vegetarian cereal. Pure genius.

Are you wondering which nutritious cereal I chose? I went with Fiber One honey clusters (with 51% of your daily fiber requirement in one serving!). I ate it this morning and it was really good! I may convert.