I have a lovely crystal "basket" on my kitchen ledge. I used to fill it with M&M's, Hershey Kisses and whatever other treat was in season. I had candy corn in the fall, red and green bells at Christmas and pastel candies in the spring. I loved it.......so did my kids.When I started to see chocolate rings around their mouth when I had not granted permission, I knew things had to change.
One night after the little buggers went to bed, I switched out their M&M's with boxes of raisins. (Yes, I am super sneaky like that!) They noticed the next day but I got the surprise of my life when they simply grabbed the box and started munching away. I thought for sure I would encounter some sort of moaning or gnashing of teeth.
Could it be that they simply ate whatever was in front of them and convenient?!
A couple weeks later I filled a cookie jar with granola bars, dried fruit and nuts and placed it on the pantry floor. I told them when they wanted a snack they could grab one out of Pooh without permission.
It has worked beautifully. They feel big getting their own snack and I feel good knowing that they are filling those little bodies with good things to eat.
And that works for this mama......(who still sneaks M&M's when they nap. SHHHHHH!!!! )
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1 comments:
This is a great tip! I'm sure the appealing containers help to make the food appealing. I think sometimes, people assume kids will automatically only want foods that are bad for them, but with a little encouragement they can find healthy foods very delicious too.
When I was a Girl Scout leader and took the troop for weekends staying in a lodge, we found that the girls would eat massive amounts of fruit (and not whine about hunger between meals!) if we simply set out a bowl of fruit and kept it filled. Sometimes the smaller ones would ask to cut a fruit in half and share it, but there was very little unfinished fruit wasted. This taught me to offer fruit first when my 5-year-old wants a snack.
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