Disappearing Snack Support Group

My name is Monica and my children have a snack problem.  Well, they are about to have a very long drawn out snack problem because they have nothing left.

I buy snack for the kids to bring to school at the beginning of the month.  More than enough to get them through the month especially with the adding in of fresh fruit every week.  We’re talking on October 1st I purchased over 2 pounds of animal crackers and a box of I think 36 granola bars.  Perfect thing to bring to school.  Easy to grab and go.

Here it is October 19th, in a matter of 18 days they have gone through all 48 granola bars and almost all 2 pounds of the animal crackers.  I know they are eating it for more than just snack at school and there in lies the problem.

It’s not like this hasn’t happened before either.  They have been in a position where they have been scrounging for things to bring for snack because I will not buy more, but yet here we are again.  Only somehow this month it’s a lot worse.  They have never gone through everything I bought for snack in two and a half weeks.  This is completely new.  Scrounging for a snack has just become that much more difficult for them because they will now have to scrape something together for two weeks.

Drastic Times Call For Drastic Measures

I am partly to blame for this.  I haven’t been monitoring the situation.  I know they are grabbing granola bars at breakfast and that has got to stop.  Instead of making a bowl of cereal my oldest has been munching on the animal crackers.  That has got to stop.

Mama’s taking a stand.  I don’t exactly know how yet.  I need to make these things less accessible to them. I’m thinking of rationing out the snacks.  Making up bags with each of the kids names on them.  Maybe getting a bin and giving them each their own colored drawer would work.  They can choose their snack for the day and once they run out they are just SOL.

I need to do something about breakfast too though.  This has been a struggle for some time.  My son doesn’t like any cereals so we have tried many different things.  Nutrigrain bars for him, but then his sisters don’t want cereal so they eat the nutrigrain bars.  Or my son gets tired of the nutrigrain bars and he wants toast.  Sometimes there’s just not enough time for the toast and then we have this power struggle.

The girls aren’t crazy about cereal either, but they will eat it.  And I have asked them what they want, they tell me, I buy it, they eat it a few times, and then stop.  I try to mix it up with special treats on the weekend of toaster strudel or occasionally donuts.  My oldest is allowed to make herself eggs and her siblings if they want it.  There’s plenty of options in this house, but they have somehow managed to go through it all in a very short amount of time.

And I’m looking at my pantry and I’m thinking what do I do to fix this problem?

I have asked on Facebook and so far the answer seems to be to hide stuff.  Perhaps a cabinet that I keep it all in under lock and key would work.  But you know kind of the plus of having older children is that I don’t need to pack snacks and lunches for them.  I don’t want to have to unlock the snacks every time someone wants or needs something.  They should be able to do it themselves.

So I want to make things accessible to them, but also keep them from going through everything I buy for a month in 2 weeks.  I think it’s important that they learn portion control and to make smart eating choices.  I can’t be doling out the proper serving size of things for the rest of their life after all.

So how would you keep the over grazing to a minimum while also making sure your children are learning to ration out snacks and make healthy choices without me having to hold their hand?

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