While families all over the world have been practicing social distancing, some were even homebound during our collective fight against the coronavirus pandemic. During this difficult period, we all have been getting bored. But it’s not the extra free time that’s the problem, rather what we do(n’t) do with it. Many kids, for example, have just been snacking all day, every day.
Mom-of-three and parenting blogger Jen Hallstrom, however, got fed up with her kids munching so much and decided to put a stop to it.
More info: Facebook
Image credits: Jen Hallstrom
Image credits: Jen Hallstrom
It worked!
The mom developed this clever trick after seeing a similar idea on Pinterest some time ago. “My two girls are complete bored snackers,” Hallstrom told Bored Panda. “I am also guilty of this! So this really helped us in the weird downtime we were in! My son is a fairly decent eater but ‘wants’ 4 snacks at a time. We loved how this eliminated that over the top snacking.”
Image credits: Jen Hallstrom
“It worked really well,” Hallstrom said. “We are now back into a normal routine so there is not really a need for it now. But long breaks and summer break next year I will bring them back for sure!”
An additional rule was no stealing from the siblings’ baskets, but substitutes were allowed. “An example being ‘I don’t want an apple today, can I trade for a banana?'”
Hallstrom had usually put 3-4 snacks in there for the whole day and often found that they wouldn’t even eat all of those. “If it was a refrigerated snack like yogurt or veggies, it was stored in a certain bin in the fridge. They also only got one cup a day which really, really helped with my constant dishes problem.”
People absolutely adored the simple yet brilliant hack
Since everyone loved it so much, the mom decided to share more quarantine hacks as well:
Image credits: The JEN Life
Image credits: The JEN Life
Image credits: The JEN Life
Image credits: The JEN Life
Image credits: The JEN Life
Image credits: The JEN Life
I love this idea but those children seem well-behaved. My siblings would complete their snacks and jump on mine in the first 3 hours ( TBH I would be the first to do that ) ;D
Alternative suggestions: make snacking dependent on nutritional value. My children will get anything with added sugar only after a full meal as desert or if anyone has something (like getting ice cream on a hot day). Healthy snacks such as fruit bars only come at times not close to the meals. A plate with sliced fruit and raw produce (cucumber, bell peppers etc.) will be restocked whenever they ask for it. Little quarrel as the result, and if they occasionally ask for an extra I am easy.
I wish this worked for my kids. I tried this a couple of times but with both my kids having almost no impulse control, being oral sensory seekers they ate the whole lot in the morning. My daughter coped fine without snacks for the rest of the day as she is 14 and understands consequences. Even though my son is 6 and should understand the consequences, the fact is he doesn’t, he has a significant speech and language disorder so is quite difficult for him to understand especially with poor impulse control.
You could divide it up into three allotments throughout the day, that come at set times. After a while your son would get used to the pattern, I'd wager.
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Love this idea but unfortunately my nearly 3 year old niece is too clever. Crisps all gone? No more biscuits left in the cupboard? “Can you buy some more mummy? Just go to the shop Mummy”. She will repeat over and over. And her latest thing, “Alexa, add xxx to the shopping list” which leads to lots of random purchases shopping my sister and hubby think each other put on the list before realising it was my niece again! Honestly. Too clever!
love it! i am putting my hubby (and myself) on this! (we're our own kidz anyway!)
When the parents can benefit from the "snack hack" too.. #lose a few pounds. .. Especially American's 😒😔
This time we all were gifted (if your glass is half full, and not half empty) has been the perfect time to work together and pass on knowledge unlike some stuff we learned in school and never ever have we used it or needed whatever it was. I also is a time when the hidden curriculum, like manners, kindness, sharing and not destroying school supplies or books. My family ate many a weird dish when I was learning to cook as a kid. There were chores and never did I even consider speaking to an adult like I hear today. Quarantine has been hard. It brought out the worst and the best. I have been humbled by the patience and grace as I fumbled to parent a simple lesson in break out rooms. It's been frustrating at times because there's not a computer anywhere that can deliver on the fantasy trail consumers walk, seduced by creative geniuses and a dream team bunch of lawyers who know ways around stuff that has never has ever been thought.
This works for yourself, too, if you have a snacking issue. I ration my munchies or I'd eat everything in one evening.
At the beginning of the summer I discovered that although I had already done dishes, there were many more in the sink. I immediately went to the dining room and set the table. Then the children were informed that from now on if they wanted a drink or a sandwich, whatever, they had to go their place at table and remove any utensils they needed. Then they could use them, wash them and return them to the table. If I spotted any dirty items in sink I only had to look at the table to see who it belonged to. Best decision I ever made as a mother.
I love this idea but those children seem well-behaved. My siblings would complete their snacks and jump on mine in the first 3 hours ( TBH I would be the first to do that ) ;D
Alternative suggestions: make snacking dependent on nutritional value. My children will get anything with added sugar only after a full meal as desert or if anyone has something (like getting ice cream on a hot day). Healthy snacks such as fruit bars only come at times not close to the meals. A plate with sliced fruit and raw produce (cucumber, bell peppers etc.) will be restocked whenever they ask for it. Little quarrel as the result, and if they occasionally ask for an extra I am easy.
I wish this worked for my kids. I tried this a couple of times but with both my kids having almost no impulse control, being oral sensory seekers they ate the whole lot in the morning. My daughter coped fine without snacks for the rest of the day as she is 14 and understands consequences. Even though my son is 6 and should understand the consequences, the fact is he doesn’t, he has a significant speech and language disorder so is quite difficult for him to understand especially with poor impulse control.
You could divide it up into three allotments throughout the day, that come at set times. After a while your son would get used to the pattern, I'd wager.
Load More Replies... Love this idea but unfortunately my nearly 3 year old niece is too clever. Crisps all gone? No more biscuits left in the cupboard? “Can you buy some more mummy? Just go to the shop Mummy”. She will repeat over and over. And her latest thing, “Alexa, add xxx to the shopping list” which leads to lots of random purchases shopping my sister and hubby think each other put on the list before realising it was my niece again! Honestly. Too clever!
love it! i am putting my hubby (and myself) on this! (we're our own kidz anyway!)
When the parents can benefit from the "snack hack" too.. #lose a few pounds. .. Especially American's 😒😔
This time we all were gifted (if your glass is half full, and not half empty) has been the perfect time to work together and pass on knowledge unlike some stuff we learned in school and never ever have we used it or needed whatever it was. I also is a time when the hidden curriculum, like manners, kindness, sharing and not destroying school supplies or books. My family ate many a weird dish when I was learning to cook as a kid. There were chores and never did I even consider speaking to an adult like I hear today. Quarantine has been hard. It brought out the worst and the best. I have been humbled by the patience and grace as I fumbled to parent a simple lesson in break out rooms. It's been frustrating at times because there's not a computer anywhere that can deliver on the fantasy trail consumers walk, seduced by creative geniuses and a dream team bunch of lawyers who know ways around stuff that has never has ever been thought.
This works for yourself, too, if you have a snacking issue. I ration my munchies or I'd eat everything in one evening.
At the beginning of the summer I discovered that although I had already done dishes, there were many more in the sink. I immediately went to the dining room and set the table. Then the children were informed that from now on if they wanted a drink or a sandwich, whatever, they had to go their place at table and remove any utensils they needed. Then they could use them, wash them and return them to the table. If I spotted any dirty items in sink I only had to look at the table to see who it belonged to. Best decision I ever made as a mother.
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