Central West Virginia's Guide To Life

ALWAYS AT HOME
By Lisa Sheldon

9/07 - Mastering the After-School Munchies

The children are now back in school. When they get off the bus each evening, right after the screen door slams, what are the first words out of their mouths? "I'm hungry." Whether you are mom, dad, grandparents, or sitter you need to have a plan to deal with this daily event just to keep your sanity till dinner time.

In defense of the kids, by the time they get home it has been somewhere between 4 and 5 hours since they had lunch at school. That is if they liked what was served and if they ate instead of played and chatted with friends. During the hours since lunch have worked and played plenty. They are hungry.

Here are a few suggestions for handling the after-school munchie monsters:

1) Get a plastic bowl or bucket and set it in a specific place to hold approved after-school snacks. This keeps them from asking…"but, can I have______ instead?"

2) Work within your budget. You don't need name brands, just easy access snacks.

3) Make a list of items you find acceptable for the snack bowl.

4) Ask your children for their input. You still make the decisions, but if they are involved they will be less likely to buck your choices.

5) Keep the bowl replenished on a regular basis.

In our home our snack bowl might have microwave popcorn, cheese and peanut butter crackers, fruit snacks, yogurt, granola bars, individual fruit cups, pudding, string cheese and individual bags of cheese crackers. This is just the list my boys and I agreed to and, no, we don not keep all of these around all the time. We rotate. Your list will be customized to your family.

We certainly don't leave out fresh fruit and vegetables. These are some of the easiest to eat and best snacks around. Fruits in season are less expensive and freshest. You can perk up your children's interest in fresh veggies by simply keeping their favorite salad dressing around for dipping.

Now, a word of caution: individual cakes, chips, cookies, pop, candy, popsicles and the like are very attractive to children when their bodies are begging for something. But, these items are shy on nourishment and heavy on sugar, oil and empty calories. These snacks give only a quick fix to the hunger problem and then leave their bodies feeling emptier and more tired than before. Give your child's more of what their bodies need and a little less of what their mind wants. Their bodies will thank you and so will they (when they're older, of course).

Having a plan to tame the munchie monsters will make everyone's evenings better and happier.