We Roll Fancy Like Here...

So... I woke up to this this morning...

Yeah... 45 minutes later we were still at it.  Instead of being defeated, I decided to use all that edumacation I spent a whole lot of money on and try to relieve the morning stress of choosing breakfast for Adelyn.  That is usually where these tantrums and wrong side of the bed kind of mornings stem from.  Breakfast.  It's stressful in the life of a two year old.  No one being able to understand your rationalized arguing that cupcakes and ice cream are a perfectly good choice and sitting in your booster chair isn't nearly as good as an option as the floor for dining.  I'm such a mean mom.  But realistically, this battle is getting old and I'm just tired enough (but I refuse to let her know that although I think she's starting to sense) that I'm just at the breaking point.

Therefore, I thought back on my classroom teaching experience to what I did when I had a student that had a hard time communicating.    Adelyn wants to feel like she has a say, and I want her to feel like she does even though we all know that a two year old doesn't.  That's when the menu idea formed.  I know that many a battles have been won by me by simply giving the allusion that there is a choice.  I got my camera out and started taking pictures of the regular food options that are available in our house for breakfast.  I found this old miniature photo album that has been gathering dust forever and started tearing it apart.  I printed out the pics with their corresponding label and placed them in the slots.  I couldn't stand how unfinished the edges looked so I whipped out my hot glue gun and placed some leftover ribbon as a trim.

I put it all together on a decorated piece of cardboard.  One row for drink, another for main food, and a final for fruit.  She can pick one from each. I saved the front pocketed album cover to hold the ones I wasn't using and glued it to the back.

Viola! Free customizable interchangeable menu.  If I buy something different it's as easy as taking a picture.  I am also going to make a similar one for an incentive chart

I'm going to try it out tomorrow morning.  Wish me luck :)