Cereal Eater

Sunday nights at my house while growing up were cereal nights. The four of us would arrive home from evening church, and pour ourselves bowls of crunchy bran and puffed rice just in time to watch Life Goes On and America's Funniest Home Videos. Cold cereal was part of my childhood, so why shouldn't it have a place in my adulthood?

I was eating a bowl of Corn Flakes tonight, and I announced to my roommates that I could eat cereal everyday for the rest of my life. I'm not so sure I'm willing to stand behind my statement in a court of law, but I sure do love cereal. So, I got to thinking... Why do I love it so much?

Mom tells the story of when I was a baby, standing in my crib in the wee hours of the morning, calling out, "O's!" She would go to the kitchen, fetch me some Cheerios, and then return to bed, knowing she'd scored another couple of hours of rest. Cheerios are still my favorite. They taste like home.

Memories hang around in my head of Ben and I fighting over the last bowl of Kix, or the toy in the Golden Grahams box. I remember the awe of the Wheaties box, especially the ones featuring Michael Jordan. They were going to be collector's items one day, so we delicately removed the bag of cereal, and carefully pasted the tabbed top back in place. Empty Wheaties boxes collected dust on my brother's bedroom shelves for years.

Certain cereals are synonymous with members of my family. Dad always really liked Crispix. I thought Crispix were kind of boring. Grandpa ate Raisin Bran. And my Granny liked All-Bran. Bran must be a right of passage into old age.

And then there are those cereals that hold a special place in my heart...

--Frosted Mini Wheats satisfy my inner 6-year-old and 70-year-old at the same time.
--I will neither confirm, nor deny, that I used to suck the cinnamony-sugar off the little pieces of "bread" in Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
--Christmas would fail to be Christmas if there wasn't a bowl of Chex Mix lying around getting stale.
--Cookie Crisp are better eaten dry.
--Is there really such a thing as a Grape Nut? They are break-a-tooth good.
--It's worth eating the stale bits in Lucky Charms for the rainbow of marshmallows. You take the good with the bad.

So, what are your favorite cereals? Favorite sugar cereal? Favorite adult cereal? Favorite healthy cereal? Cereal that brings back memories?