This week I am not focusing on a specific task listed in the Weekly Household Planner instead I am sharing a great tip I read over at Roo Mag.com.
Posting lunch and snack options
This seems especially critical now, in the midst of summer. Are your kids asking you a bajillion questions each day, or is this something unique to my house? (Even more when you are a work at home mom!!) Well, to avoid question after question try having a list located in your kitchen that has ideas for lunch and snacks for the day. It will save your sanity -especially if you have older children who can fend for themselves.
You can create a master list and post it, but you can also have a whiteboard (love this one I found on amazon!) located on your refrigerator and list the items specific to that day. If you have left over grilled chicken that you know can be eaten, then you list ideas specific to that. Or fresh watermelon that was cut the day before, add that to the list.
My kids know that anything listed on the snack list can be accessed without having to ask permission from me. This creates independence, problem solving skills and self-direction, all which are critical to your child’s ability to grow. If they are hungry they can solve the issue instead of seeking me out to solve it for them.
We’ve also had fun making some of the snacks and lunch ideas from the Confident Mom Summer Survival Calendar – those are always a hit!
What summer lunch ideas are standard in your home?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome tip! I’ll definitely be trying that one. I have six children- three of them teenage boys- and they can never find stuff to eat.
I wish I could let my kiddos eat snacks when they want. My daughter would do fine at that, I think, but not my sons. They would eat and eat, and never want dinner!
Perhaps, when they grow like sissy!! Awesome idea!
Yes, they have to have a little maturity and self control!!
OH man, I bet the teens are the trouble makers!!! Hope this helps!!
Oh, this is as fantastic idea! My son especially seems to be bothering me CONSTANTLY about what he can eat (he’s had an 8-year growth spurt it seems
and it has been driving me nuts. Thanks for the link for snack ideas too. I am not naturally a snack eater, so it’s been difficult for me to remember to have filling but healthy snacks on hand.
Rachel would love for you to read….Socks for My Girls
Two things to share on this:
- When my son was a toddler, we did a modified version of this. I used a small poster board, and pasted pictures of some of his favorite (and reasonably healthy) snacks. I attached this to the front of the fridge at his eye level. When he was hungry, we walked to the fridge and he could point out what snack he wanted (eliminating the need for me to list all of the snacks he could choose from, for the 40th time that day).
- Now that the kids are bigger, we have a family ‘snack basket’. I found a nice basket that matched my kitchen decor and placed it on the counter within reach of the kids. I filled the basket with things like granola bars, cereal bars, fruit, pouches of apple sauce, snack-sized bags of crackers, nuts, dried fruit, etc. When the kids (or me!) need a snack, they go straight to the snack basket and know they can grab whatever they want. Each week when I go to the store, I pick up stuff to replenish the snack basket, so it’s always full of options.