Celebrating Cereal Bowl Sunday

When I was a kid, I had zero interest in football. My family was not what I would call “hardcore” about the sport, but we were right outside of Giant’s stadium in NJ, so football was a popular pastime around us. My Mom tried all sorts of tricks to get me to enjoy the games – apparel, collectors cards, and stickers. Nothing worked. It just wasn’t in my blood.

She seemed convinced though, that a young man should at least learn to enjoy watching the Super Bowl. She tried bribing me with all sorts of foods. Nothing worked until she exploited my natural fondness for breakfast cereal. So every Saturday before the Super Bowl, she would give me money to go to the store and buy a box of my favorite cereal — whatever I wanted. Then, as long as I was watching the game, I could eat as much cereal as I wanted.

It was a brilliant turn. I would eat and eat and eat. After 4-8 servings I was too full to do anything else and I was stuck watching the game. Eventually, I came to enjoy them.

After 2 years of this and switching to a large bowl, my sister who was disgusted by my gluttony, started referring to it as “Cereal Bowl Sunday”. It was a mocking term that stuck.

I stopped celebrating Cereal Bowl Sunday at some point in the 1990s, but this morning I decided to have a bowl of Quisp at the start of today’s game. That was followed by another heaping bowl of Fruity Pebbles. Now I am sitting in my chair, watching the game and unable to move. Do I regret not trying all the other tasty foods that have been laid out before me on this sport’s day?

NO! I REGRET NOTHING! Cereal Bowl Sunday is not for regrets folks. It’s for cereal! And lots of it. So plunge a spoon into your favorite cereal treat, enjoy the game and help me relive a Retroist family tradition.