Nothing gets a parent’s attention like a hungry child. It starts in infancy and continues through the voracious teenage years. And hungry children can be quite a distraction while you work. While you will likely stop work to prepare meals for younger children, kids' snacks are something those preschool age and up can handle themselves, if given some guidance.
Keep a shoebox-size plastic bin in your refrigerator filled with healthy kids' snacks so children can help themselves any time of day. (Kids' snacks should be something they like but nothing that they will go overboard eating.) Fill up sippy cups or pour milk into a smaller container so they can pour it themselves. Add a day’s portion of ready-to-eat fruit or other snacks like crackers or pretzels. It doesn’t all need to be food that must be refrigerated.
This will keep kids from
- rummaging through every cabinet in search of kids' snacks,
- eating unhealthy snacks or food saved for another occasion, and
- telling you they are hungry simply to get your attention.
This will teach kids to
- tend to their own needs,
- listen to their own body’s hunger cues, and
- regulate their own portions.
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