Another problem solved by food

I've written here before about our EF parenting philosophy. I used food today to solve a problem. One of our sons has been having tremendous difficulties, at times, at breakfast time. At those times he can barely stand to be present at the table with us all, covering his ears, and exploding with anger if spoken to.

A friend posted a link on FB to this article about how food should only be used to nourish us. 

Food is for nourishing.  Nourishing bodies, nourishing relationships around the table, nourishing souls.  And when we use is properly, it's good.

The angst has been so bad in our house some breakfasts, that though we're nourishing our bodies, we've not nourished our relationships or souls and came away feeling emotionally depleted, even before we start the day. That's not how breakfast should be, in my opinion.

We have noticed, however, that he improves as he gets food into him. Once he's through his large bowl of porridge, he's usually fine. So we began to wonder if he had a snack when he first woke up, he'd cope much better. Last night I suggested that to him and he thought it was a good idea. He initiated finding something: a mandarine (as we call them in Australia) or mikan (as we call them in Japan). 

We had a very pleasant breakfast this morning. Complete contrast to yesterday morning. I hope it is the food. It's such a simple solution to a problem that causes great unhappiness to the rest of the family.