Calling all you seasoned Mommas…Advice needed!
My baby boy (okay, he’s my oldest of 3 munchkins, but he will still ALWAYS be my baby!) started his first full days at Kindergarten this week. And yes, his Dad barely made it out of the driveway with him before tears started streaming down my cheeks. I’ve spent the last almost-6 years with that sweet boy, hearing him laugh during tickle wars, soothing his owies with colorful character band-aids and a kiss, and playing countless games of hide-and-seek. It’s just crazy that someone else will be spending more time with him than his own Momma. :’(
Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled that our family will get back into a routine and I know he absolutely LOVES school, but it’s going to take some getting used to. Only cooking for 2 kids during the day. Only worrying about 2 children sneaking out of their beds during naptime. Only keeping an eye on 2 kiddos while we’re outside playing. It’s like a whole new world. Seriously. I keep feeling like I forgot something during the day.
Anyways, that’s not actually what I need help with. The issue, in fact, involves food. Or snack, to be more specific. Simeon gets home about 3:30 and from the way he attempts to raid the fridge, one would think he hadn’t eaten a single morsel all day. The child is an endless pit. Yes, he is a growing boy, and yes, I realize he has spent the entire day running around with his friends and engulfing in new school adventures. (Math makes me hungry too, buddy.) However, after some thorough questioning, I KNOW he’s eating well during snack-time and he definitely enjoys hot-lunch in the cafeteria. I don’t want to give him something “big” to eat and then ruin his appetite for dinner. I’m really having a hard time finding a happy medium here. So, what is a Mom to do?
Please help me out! What kinds of foods do your little ones like to munch on when they get home? Suggestions for quick after-school snacks that will tide him over but not fill him up to the brim would be greatly appreciated. Thanks lovely ladies! 🙂
I, too, have a child with an endless pit for a stomach! 🙂 We try really hard to let her decide to stop when SHE feels full, not when we tell her she’s full, but when it comes to snacks before dinner, we often have to step in and tell her that supper is coming soon and she can eat more then. When choosing what kinds of snacks to give her, we try to stick to plain old fruits and veggies, because they are typically the healthiest and lowest in calories, so if she does choose to eat six helpings, she’s really only having a couple hundred calories at most instead of thousands. Also, prepackaged carbs and “kid snacks” tend to be addicting, so she wants to keep eating them until she’s completely stuffed, just because they’re fun and taste good. So we avoid those. That’s a lot of words, but my short answer is “fruits and veggies”. Booorrrring. 🙂 haha GOOD LUCK, mama! 🙂
My kids love carrots and dip, apples and peanut butter, or smoothies after school. Healthy, but not overly filling.
It’s good to remember that the kids have a very short amount of time to eat at school. Maybe 15 minutes once they get their lunch tray. Even sending lunch along with my girls, I am amazed at how little they have time to eat. Kindergarteners do get a snack each day, but both my girls are starving when they get home. We try to do fruit and crackers, popcorn, or yogurt, and make sure to give him plenty of water. It could just be a sign he is thirsty. Good luck, and enjoy all the new-ness of Kindergarten!
When i talked to my kindergarten about what she ate and drank at school, it sounded like the only thing she drank all day was her milk at lunch. Maybe a sip from the water fountain so I started with water when she came home starving! But then a cheese sticks, fruit, veggies, or whatever she had left over from her lunch(she is a slow eater and lunch is SO short!) A little protein will help fill them up and tide them over till dinner. And we are moving dinner up to around 5 in order to get kids to bed at a decent time!
we like to make our own “lunchables” for snacks! some cubed cheese, a few slices of lunch meat and some crackers with plenty of water should make him feel pretty full for a little while and if you do dinner around 6 or 6:30 (we typically eat around 7:30 since I get home from work just before 7), he will be plenty hungry for dinner! Gwyndalin really likes Greek yogurt as well, which is packed with protein so that helps satisfy hunger but it wont make him feel stuffed!
Trail mix is popular in our house. Not the junky kind with a bunch of candy and peanuts, but one with a variety of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. Filling and nutritious!