Think commercial. Lauri found plastic cereal dispensers — “the kind you see at every breakfast buffet and college dining hall in America” — through a restaurant-supply company after a quick Internet search. She placed them on a low kitchen counter that the children — Jack, eight; Lucy, five; and Henry, four — can easily reach so they can serve themselves. “They just grab a bowl” from a stack on the built-in shelves, “open the spout, and they’re done,” says Lauri. Meanwhile, she and Douglas get to steal the occasional sleep-in.

Cereal Dispensers
For commercial units: Displays2Go, $215 each, www.displays2go.com. For smaller ones: Fingerhut, $25 each, www.fingerhut.com.