I recognise some of those, I’m with your Mom about Lucky Charms.  Have you ever tried porridge with Lyle’s golden syrup?  That’s a REAL breakfast!

After a lifetime of unsweetened shredded wheat and raisin bran, I came to discover the cereal-related beauty of life in a hospital bed. The morning after I had my first child (following 3 days without food) a tray carrying jello, tea and a styrofoam bowl of Farina was left at my bedside. Farina was completely outside of my life experience up to that point and I would never have considered it under other circumstances, but I was hungry so I added on 2 packets of sugar and ate it.

That is a moment I will never forget: eating sweet, lumpy, almost-cold cream of wheat cereal while I stared at 8 pounds of human perfection, memorizing every part of him. Since that time, I acssociate Farina with all that is good in my life.

evi and I regularly compare the similarities of our childhoods, and this is yet another one—my mother never let us have sugared cereals unless we were on vacation. She was a dental assistant and therefore all things sugary were a menace to our good oral hygiene. Really sucked. My aunt, on the other hand, spoiled her son with whatever crap he wanted to eat, so on our annual weekend sleepover at her house I always got my fill of my all-time favorite cereal—Fruit Loops. You’re right, they still ravage my gums but it’s small sacrifice for the lovely flavors that crunch in milk. Eating them “raw” (sans milk) got me over many homesick spells when I went off to college. I don’t know why, since I never ate them at home.

what an enjoyable stroll down memory lane!!  team flakes!  i had forgotten about them, but now i can almost taste them!  yummmm....!

you neglected to mention that we could have froot loops when we went to visit our grandparents. going to ohio was punishment enough.....nana let us have sugared cereals to soften the blow.

Oooh, I used to read cereal boxes too. All of them. Every day. My grandmother hated it.

We never got Lucky Charms, because marshmallows have gelatin. Stupid vegetarianism. I no longer have such hangups.

Anji you have captured my attention with the Golden Syrup notion.  I sometimes get Lyle’s to make Marlborough Toffee, as served at Blenhim to the tiara-toter herself (we have an inside connection for the original recipe, it’s killer).  Putting it on hot cereal though - it’s so crazy it just might work!  That stuff is pure sweetness, I have no idea how something can be that sweet and not implode.  Great call on the syrup!

Lucky Charms - I used to dig through the box and make a pile of marshmallow shapes to be shoveled in and melted together against the roof of my mouth. My sisters were convinced that there just weren’t many marshmallows in a box.

But you ignored my personal favorite, the cereal that I buy once a year for a late night treat - Capt’n Crunch (sana berries). I agree though that reading the box is part of the whole cereal experience. Just wouldn’t be the same without it.

Jules I didn’t ignore the good captain, he just didn’t make the cut.  Too abrasive to eat, and the flavor didn’t “float my boat.” Plus, he’s a militaristic imperialist with a penchant for violence.  Frankly I never trusted him, whether with berries, peanut butter, or otherwise.  Hey, more for you.

You know Dan, I read this whole post thinking that you and I might be long lost brothers.  Kin.  Finally, a the search has ended… my long lost cereal-lovin’ relative from CA has been found.  He, too, shares the pure, unadulterated love for cereal that I do!

Then, you said you now eat cottage cheese on toast for breakfast.  I, I… I guess the search continues.

Dan. Dan. Dan. You left out one very important member of the childhood cereals.

Golden Grahams.

I used to eat these as a kid and still do, although now cereal eating tends to be at night rather than in the morning.

Also, there is Cream of Wheat, which was my staple sickness food coupled with buttered toast. I still can’t get over a cold without the customary bowl. Something about dipping the toast just makes the germs run screaming.

dan - not even peanut butter crunch?  that stuff fueled my doctorate, and salvaged me during more than one depressive episode (fueled by aforementioned doctorate).

plus, to quote joey from friends, the cap’n’s eyebrows ARE ON HIS HAT!!!!

i mean really.  what’s not to like?

Now I want to go buy cereal...Froot Loops, Lucky Charms (I did the same thing Jules), and Apple Jacks...but I gotta get me some Cap’n Crunch even WITH the damn berries it’s just cereal heroin to this girl.

grrrrreat

Childhood summers spent in Europe bring back memories of waking down to my Tante Hannelore’s corner bakery to buy fresh warm broichen. (Like a Chicago hard roll but sooo much better) Just thinking of the walk back with the smell of warm bread and my little rectangular jar of Nutella makes me homesick. Sigh. Funny, we were never allowed sugar either (I didn’t have my first choclate chip cookie until I was 12) but I could go through 6 hard rolls and a jar of that creamy crunchy hazelnutty chocolatey goodness everyday for 12 weeks without fail. Much better than cornflakes and what Europeans call milk. Thanks for the memories.