[Seek] Peace When They Eat All the Food

[Lent 14]

Children eat a lot of food. Especially during growth spurts. Especially teens. Whether you homeschool or your children are off from school for an extended period of time due to a swiftly spreading illness, you just don't want to be going to the grocery store every single day.

What to do?

Hide the food.

OK...maybe hiding all the food isn't possible or practical.

Maybe just get a big bowl or container and put it in the middle of the dining room table or on the kitchen counter and fill it with foods they can snack on that day - fruit, nuts, granola bars. Talk with your children and explain to them that being home from school is not a free-for-all and that food shopping is not something one should be doing on a daily basis.

If all else fails, follow my 19 year old's advice - skip convenience foods like bagel bites and have mostly foods you need to cook in the house. It cuts down on unnecessary snacking and you can teach your children how to cook in their time off from school. It doesn't have to be anything fancy - start out with mac n cheese, grilled cheese, an omelette ... anything with cheese and work toward more involved dishes. 

My children have been cooking or helping to cook since they were very small. Learning life skills is important, and there's no time like the present!