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Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Fess Up No. 6

I find value in mothers exchanging ideas. We can always gleen from each others knowledge. And while some might find this a no-big-deal issue, other might be able to take an idea or two and implement it into their current methods.

So what is the thing I want your input on? Snack time for the children. Son One rides the child roller coaster of feast and famine. Probably sounds familiar to some other mothers out there. Some weeks, he is a bottomless pit and others, he is a complete beast about eating. I don't get too worried about one or the other because they are constantly changing. They seem to make up for each other.

The box of snacks with a picture on it of Jack eating,
so he can relate the snacks to eating.

During Jack's feasting seasons, he wants to snack all the time. My solution is what we call snack bags. In the pantry is a box of little ziploc bags of snacks. Pretzel, crackers, dried fruit, nuts- whatever is in the pantry at the time. I put a little of each into a bag and put the bags in the box. The box is kept at his level, so he can get a bag when he is hungry. When I first implemented the snack bags, we had a little meeting and I explained to him what the bags were and what the plan was with them. The rule is that if he gets a bag, he has to eat everything in it. I also like snack bags for snacks on the go. I can grab a bag if we are leaving the house and he can eat in the car or at the park.

Current snack bags:
pretzels, Wheat Thins, dried apple rings, dried pineapple and oyster crackers.


One thing that works well for Baby Van is oyster crackers. For a snack to keep him busy, oyster crackers are cheap and easy for him to chew on. They a scads cheaper than those dissolving Gerber thingies and even Cheerios. I think it was $1.50 for a huge bag of oyster crackers.

So fess up. What are your ideas? What works for your children? Here are a few ideas I have found around the internet:

Muffin tin snacks by O.C. Mormon Mommy
Snack plate by Hartmanation

7 comments:

keely said...

Thank you for this post! My 3 year old is definitely a snacker and, with a 2 month old constantly eating as well, I've become super lazy and have been known to just hand N the entire box of animal crackers or bunnies or whatever he's snacking on.
So, obviously no bright ideas for me, but I'm eager to hear what other moms are doing!

Nicole Shelby said...

To you this might seem simple - but, in reality? You are a GENIUS!

The feast or famine cycle is so familiar...and painful.

Thanks for sharing...looks like a great project to do today while my sicko is watching uncounted hours of movies.

Megan said...

Whit expansion on an idea stemming from our genius mother.

keely said...

Thanks for the encouragement! I've been meaning to post at least once a week, but so often my cooking is either uninspired or I'm just making the same things over and over again. Perhaps I just needed a little friendly motivation! And I must say, I have been inspired by so many of your recipes. Just yesterday I was scrolling through your recipe index and came across so many new things to try. So, thanks!

Mique (as in Mickey) said...

I agree with the others- you are a genius. I'm implementing this TODAY!
I have 3 kids- all with different appetites. And this will work for all 3.

{Erica} said...

Awesome idea of yours...going to have to follow suit :)

here's what my kids dig:
http://ericasbloggityblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/creative-lunches.html

Kylee said...

Hey-My name is Kylee and I head up the O.C. Mormon Mommy blog and just wanted to say thanks for noticing us! :)

I adore your blog-thank you so much for sharing all your yummy recipies-Im always excited to see what you come up with next!