Look at my snack table, isn’t it pretty?! I buy oranges, apples, and lemons. I have bunny crackers, granola bars and almonds. Tangerines? I’ve got twenty. Fresh spinach muffins, baked fresh daily. I have spent all morning arranging them all pretty. But who cares? Hungry kids, growing big, they want more!
Now imagine me in all my Stepford-Wife mom glory, twirling around in a beautiful ball gown skirt with perfectly coiffed hair and beautiful eyelashes. There’s an apron on my svelte little body and a hot, fresh, delicious breakfast already cooked on the stove. Out come my tiny little tots from their bedroom awaking from their sweet all-night slumber. Into their momma’s arms they climb with morning well wishes.
And then I wake up.
The hair that I never should have had cut too short is tangled and puffy. I have four day old mascara smeared across my already sleep-deprived raccoon eyes. And in reality I did not want to wake up. Instead, my teetering toddlers pried my eyeballs open and asked that I immediately get up. They don’t ask me to wake up, they tell me to get up.
Zombie mode: ON!
I don’t know how I managed to maintain my children and I on any sort of feeding/eating/food schedule over the past few months. I do, however, admit that those last few months have been challenging. Those last few months have been exhausting. Those last few months have been full of nonetheless beautiful memories.
I have also been severely sleepy for the majority of those last few months. The kiddos have been on a major growth spurt that never ceases to end. I feel like I have lived in the kitchen the majority of the time over the past months. From morning breakfast, to second breakfast, to supper, to second supper my children are constantly eating. Are yours?
Cook. Wash the dishes. Cook. Wash the dishes. Seriously, is that all I am supposed to do?!
The Snack Table
I decided I would combat the ceaseless appetites of tiny tots by having food ready and on-hand before they decided they were hungry. Insert “snack table” idea. Really, it’s just a table next to my kitchen table where I decided to have an assortment of toddler friendly foods for my children to easily access.
I pack it with bananas, oranges, tangerines, apples, granola bars, almonds, pecans, other nut bars, spinach muffins, etc. I have a section in the refrigerator with washed fruits and veggies and cheeses for them to easily access. There is a huge jug of water with an easy dispenser and their little mason jars next to them so that they may quench their thirst as necessary.
Of course, if you know me, you’ll know that I had to put those veggies in a cute ceramic bowl. Those apples, bananas, and rest of the fruit just had to be in a cute little market stand. My freshly baked banana-spinach muffins, in a cute little basket. I couldn’t help myself and I just had to make it cute. It is inherently in my nature.
My snack table isn’t just a place to hold piles of foods. It is meticulously arranged with beautifully colored whole fruits and veggies. And each type of snack is in its own little corner of the table. I know! I even felt compelled to place the toddler cutlery in a cute blue pitcher. Why? Because it looked pretty. Ha!
Darn you pinterest! I swear, before the mega-amazing idea of pinterest days I was already crazy all on my own. So the best part of my awesomely cool snack table? My children can feed themselves easily some yummy and good food as they wish. They ask momma for permission to have something and they can easily get it for themselves. This is so helpful, I repeat, helpful for way-too-early mornings when zombie mom mode is on autopilot. However, it seems like I need to add an imaginary fence around my snack table. The over-bearing clean freak that I am goes crazy after I fully stock my table and make it look so pretty. Then the little ones come and eat everything off of it. Seriously?! How can tiny little things eat so much? Oh my gosh, can you imagine when they are teenagers?
The snack table is so cool because it works for us. It is also so cool because it looks so pretty design-wise. Ah, the joys of motherhood. “Look, I made this pretty thing and my kids eat everything off of it.”
Any kid-friendly kitchen ideas you can share? We’d love to hear!