Japanese Twitter user Maruta まるた (@070kcW1ZbhU1Ky0) is a mother of two children, a three-year-old son and a baby girl who was just born in August.

On her Twitter account, she was talking about her son when he was going through his "terrible twos."

Since he often seemed to be in a bad mood in the mornings, she wondered what she could do to help smooth things out at breakfast time...

After thinking about it long and hard, she finally came up with the following lifehack which won praise when she shared it on her Twitter account:

Image used with permission from Maruta まるた (@070kcW1ZbhU1Ky0)

"I made a menu for my 2-year-old who has the morning blues. / It's so cute how he'll say "Hmmm..." as he ponders (his choices) and then say "this and..." / It's also cute that when I say: "One moment, please," he responds with "Okay!" / I recommend it to parents who want to raise their spirits by seeing their kids' cute (behavior)."

For those who know some Japanese, you can scroll past the box below, but if you're interested, here's what the menu says:

The menu uses only hiragana which her toddler can read, but we've put the standard version of the word in brackets for your reference.

  • あさごはん {朝ご飯 or 朝御飯} | asagohan | breakfast
  • なっとうごはん {納豆ご飯} | nattō gohan | rice topped with nattō (fermented soy beans)
  • ふりかけごはん {ふりかけご飯 or 振り掛けご飯} | furikake gohan | rice topped with furikake (a rice topping typically consisting of dried and flaked seafood, sesame, seaweed, etc.)
  • じゃむぱん {ジャムパン} | jamu pan | jam on bread or jam-filled bread
  • さんどいっち {サンドイッチ} | sandoitchi | sandwich(es)
  • ふるぐら | furugura | Calbee brand フルグラ furugura fruit granola cereal
  • しりある {シリアル} | shiriaru | cereal (corn flakes are popular with small children)
  • ばなな {バナナ} | banana | banana
  • ほっとけーき {ホットケーキ} | hottokēki | pancakes (or hotcakes, flapjacks, etc.)
  • のみもの {飲み物 or 飲物} | nomimono | drinks
  • おちゃ {お茶 or 御茶} | ocha | tea
  • ぎゅうにゅう {牛乳} | gyūnyū | milk
  • やくると {ヤクルト} | yakuruto | Yakult probiotic drink

This nifty idea quickly became a hot topic on the Internet, and many people commented on it, saying things like:

  • "It's a great idea. Please let me copy it!"
  • "What high quality! It looks like it would get (him) to look forward to (his) mornings."
  • "A wonderful lifehack!"
  • "Your parental love really comes through..."

Maruta used free stock graphics and drawing apps to create the menu.

As you may have noticed, all the items are easy to prepare, and only involve putting ingredients in bowls, pouring in or placing ingredients, or heating them up.

This will surely make it easier for toddlers to decide what to have for breakfast, and have fun while they're at it too!

With a little bit of ingenuity, breakfast blues can turn into a happy time of day.


By - grape Japan editorial staff.