Bee and Ken took a quick trip to Florida last week, and upon returning, I asked her what her favorite part of the trip was. The mid-day ocean frolics? The spotting of a sand dollar? Sunsets with Grandma?
The airplane snacks! she says with certainty before launching into a full-on recitation of the contents/flavors/exactness of each.
Kids, man. They are eating nonstop, all hours of the day, all summer long, and when their mouth isn’t full of food, they’re asking for more food. Snack requests in our home often arrive at the most inopportune times, bouncy appeals for bananas as I attempt to transfer the half-asleep baby from his car seat to his crib, ninja style. And so, in the spirit of prescience (and sleeping babies), a new shift has made all the difference:
Introduce a snack tray.
Approximately mid-morning, I make a snack tray to keep on the counter for the rest of the day. Ours is simple enough: some variation of baby carrots, sliced red and green peppers, grapes, an apple, an orange, a banana, pistachios, pecans, cherry tomatoes, one beef jerky (we love these) and a Lara Bar (especially the Minis). Bee loves serving herself and making her own snack choice, and it saves me from hearing the ominous “Mama, I’m hungryyyyyyy” ballad on loop all afternoon.
(Hint: Works on grown-ups, too.)
Here’s to working smarter, not harder – in the kitchen and beyond.
Tell me: what small steps are you exploring these days? I’d love to hear!
p.s. These are a series of small steps that will (hopefully) provide one giant leap to greater things. Not for mankind, but for me, and perhaps for you, which will always be good enough in my book. More here!
Awesome idea! We’re at work/school during the week, then weekends are often devoted to errands, but I always talk along a snack of some kind – crackers, banana, apple slices, PB&J. Forrest is at the point now when “I can do it myself, Mom,” so I’ll be putting snacks in the bottom fridge drawer where he can easily reach (fruits and veggies, cheese sticks, salami,etc); he figured out the cracker cupboard long ago. LOL
YES! the “i can do it myself” stage is in full force around here as well! ;)
I love this idea! I feel like I’m constantly feeding my 3, 4, and 13 year olds!
i can only imagine!!!!! :)
Oh, my gosh, the snack tray is a great idea!! I am going to implement it at home this week. No kids, but one gard workin’ hungry hubby.
oh, i think he’ll love it! :)
I have an awful feeling that my grandchildren would eat it in one Fell Swoop. I just had my ding area carpet cleaned after 5 visits of a three-year-old two Twins 1 year old and a three month old baby who’s not at fault here. I think the fault lies in me – Grammy being overwhelmed and their Mommy as well but she needs to learn to regulate their actions because they’re Hither in yon constantly. But I do know that they love to eat non-stop so I shall try being their Montessori mentor.
Oh, goodness, that’s a lot of mouths to feed! :) For reference, Bee is nearly 5, so this works well for her as she’s used to self-regulating. I’d assume your grandchildren are still too young for this stage, but you’d know best of course. (And I would certainly be quite overwhelmed, too! Their mother is very blessed to have your help!)
Oh my gosh – those Lara Bar minis are fantastic! I didn’t know they existed – perfect for smaller kids!
they really, really are! :)