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When I did our last roundup of the best products for feeding your toddler, I saw this interesting bowl, which is designed to help kids avoid spilling food. We haven’t used it, because we’re kind of past the point where there are accidental spills (everything now is on purpose — yay toddlers!), but it looks very interesting if you still have kids in that stage. I like the bright colors (you can also get hot pink), and the bowl is $8.99 at Amazon with free shipping (not Prime). Meidus Non-Spill Toddler Gyro Bowl
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Sales of note for 9.10.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your purchase
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles
- Eloquii – $29 and up select styles; up to 50% off everything else
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off wear-to-work styles; extra 30% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – 40-60% off everything; extra 60% off clearance
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Extra 40% off sale styles
- Talbots – BOGO 50% everything, includes markdowns
- Zappos – 26,000+ women’s sale items! (check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kids’ shoe brands on sale)
Kid/Family Sales
- Carter’s – Birthday sale, 40-50% off & extra 20% off select styles
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off all baby; up to 40% off all Halloween
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Extra 30% off sale styles
- Old Navy – 40% off everything
- Target – BOGO 25% off select haircare, up to 25% off floor care items; up to 30% off indoor furniture up to 20% off TVs
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And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- The concept of “backup care” is so stupid…
- I need tips on managing employees in BigLaw who have to leave for daycare pickup…
- I’m thinking of leaning out to spend more time with my family – how can I find the perfect job for that?
- I’m now a SAHM and my husband needs to step up…
- How can I change my thinking to better recognize some of my husband’s contributions as important, like organizing the shed?
- What are your tips to having a good weekend with kids, especially with little kids? Do you have a set routine or plan?
Control... and lack thereof says
I’ve been reading a lot lately about how control is an illusion, and the more we try to control the people around us, the less we enjoy them. Same goes for work, garden parties, relationships, and definitely parenting. As a historically type A person, this is something I definitely struggle with– and the loss of enjoyment is profound.
How do you approach this issue? How do you discipline, generally parent, work (especially if you are in a caring or service profession), etc. without being a control freak, and yet without erring too far in the opposite direction? When I’ve tried to surrender the controlling attitude and behaviors, sometimes it is beautiful and awesome, and sometimes I overcorrect and feel like “this is why I have to try to control everything!”
Just a question I am noodling at the moment, and I’d love your thoughts.
MomAnon4This says
I took a Positive Parenting class, which emphasized letting children feel natural consequences of their actions, so that they learn and really, it doesn’t affect you that much. Examples I can think above — we never used non-slip bowls or dishes, our kids learned not to swipe their food on the table. I don’t know how they learned this, but it was ok for us if the food ended up on the floor or if the kid didn’t eat as much. The kid won’t starve. The floor will get cleaned. The kid will eat.
Another example because I learned it from the class and then applied it directly that week was with my preschooler, who dawdled or refused to get dressed in the morning. He was late 3s at this time, almost 4. So old enough to know what people usually wear out — but that morning I picked him up in his pajamas, threw his street clothes in to his bag, and drove him to preschool, yes, in his pajamas. He was crying, of course. I explained to the teacher that I had taken a Positive Parenting class – she knew exactly. I guess she got him in to his pajamas, but after he felt pretty embarrassed and we didn’t have that problem again.
I think about the serenity prayer a LOT – accept the things we cannot change. Can I change my husband’s attitude? no. change the things we can’t accept. Can I ask him to do X? Yes, but I need to say it specifically. The wisdom to know the difference….
NewMomAnon says
I’m struggling with the same thing. I think it comes down to “boundaries” versus “control.” Like, you can set boundaries and say, “I will not tolerate intrusions,” but you can’t force a situation or a person to be a certain way.
For instance – my daughter has a hard time falling asleep at night and prefers to climb on me. I can’t force her to sleep, but I can say that I won’t stay in her room unless she stays in her bed. I can’t force my work colleagues to call me during business hours, but I can consistently leave at a certain time and enforce that, even when a call is running late.
Have you identified why you feel the urge to control things? Usually for me, it’s because something is making me anxious, or I’m frustrated with a situation, or I’m overwhelmed. When my daughter is being loud and messy, I can’t stop her (well, I could try, but it would turn into a big battle), but I can say, “I can’t be in here with you when you’re being loud and messy. It makes my ears hurt and I worry about that big mess. I need to leave unless you’ll quiet down and help me clean up.”
Anonymous says
I focus on the few issues I really care about and let the rest go. Properly installed rearfacing carseat? Zero flex. You want to wear mismatched pyjamas to bed and then odd socks to daycare? Sure.
Rainbow Hair says
I try to focus on my inputs more than the outputs (which are out of my control). Did I focus and put my best efforts into this work project? Yes. Then the fact that it failed stinks, but what else could I have done with the info I had then? Did I do what I could to model patience/boundaries/respect to my kiddo? Yes. Then the fact that she is screaming on the floor because she didn’t eat her breakfast/whatever, then what am I gonna do?
Another thing that helped was having a well-laid plan go completely sideways. It was not pleasant while it happened, but basically I had this career plan of A–>B–>C and instead it was A–>NOTHING–>JKL *but* I found a ton of joy in the process (really!) and there were lots of great things in JKL-land. And knowing from experience that “[wo]man plans and god laughs” but that I have a lot of internal and external things to keep me going — that helps me keep it together when my plans crumble.
EBMom says
This is a great comment. I only recently learned to focus on the input side and it is life changing. For so long, it seemed as if I could control the output by controlling the input. Parenting threw a wrench in that perspective, for sure.
Cb - paging Pogo says
I didn’t see your post until this morning about evaluating nurseries and my reply got eaten but here’s where we’re at:
Criteria: close to the office rather than home, outdoor space, open from 7:30, full week availability. Prices are fairly standardized here and they all provide meals. With the exception of fancy nursery, they seem much for muchness, seems more of a logistical decision at this point. My goal in life is to do less than half of pickups and dropoffs. Booking visits for spring recess.
Currently looking at 4 contenders:
1) Fancy nursery – amazing outdoor space and free play, but baby unlikely to get a place in the next two years. Submitted application to get on wait list.
2) Closer to home – gorgeous, brand new, but would require my husband to drop me + baby off about 10 minutes before opening and then walk or cycle to my office but super easy for him to do pickups.
3) Close to husband’s work – good but only works if the parking situation remains doable (street parking), annoyingly located if I had to do drop offs and pickups solo.
4) Midway between work and home – husband might need to drop me and baby a few minutes early but easy for pick-ups
Any thoughts or suggestions are very much welcome. Things would be easier if I learned how to drive but between PhD and baby, I just can’t wrap my head around it.
anne-on says
I’d do 2/4. Also – who will be the primary parent in case of sickness? Do not underestimate how often you may have to run to daycare to pick up a sick kid/drop off a forgotten item/pop in to nurse/cuddle/participate in an activity.
No what you asked about, but I would highly, highly recommend learning how to drive. With a small child it just makes it SO much easier to get to the doctor in an emergency (instead of calling a cab, waiting for your husband, waiting for ambulance, etc.) if for no other reason. My best friend got her license at 32, while pregnant, for this very reason. There are excellent programs geared towards older ‘first time’ drivers.
Cb - paging Pogo says
Thanks for those thoughts. I have longer hours but more day to day flexibility when not teaching, while his job is capped at 40 hours. I think given this, we’d probably try and split the sick days as much as possible. We have no local family so that’s a consideration as well.
Driving is a very good point and one I’m going to have to come to grips with and sort the admin that comes with it as an immigrant. I learned to drive at 16 but in the US / automatic transmission and haven’t driven consistently since about age 20 (32 now). The wrong side of the road, manual transmissions, and roundabouts terrify me.
Pogo says
Hi! Thanks everyone for the feedback yesterday, I saved it in a word doc :)
For us it really only makes sense to pick someplace near home – husband has a longer commute by far, and closer to the city so anything there would be expensive anyway. Close to home means we can both do drop off/pick up, and can wfh and still take kiddo to daycare. It does mean I’ll likely be the default ’emergency pick kid up when sick’ because i’m closer, but since husband has more flexible/more wfh days, he’ll be more likely to stay home with kiddo when we know he’s sick ahead of time, so it should even out. Closer to home also means closer to my parents, who actually could get there faster in the event of emergency than husband if I were out of town.
Can you do the dropoff/pickup at place #2 on your bike with a carrier? In the US it seems insane but I had a Swedish colleague who always cycled with her kids in their carrier, including taking them to daycare. I get the sense Europeans are kinder to cyclists than we are in the US.
Anon says
Potty training right now. Day 4. I feel like it’s not going well. We are following the Oh Crap method. Positive stories?! Advice?
Anonymous says
How old? Not going well might be a sign that it makes sense to take a break and try again in a couple months.
Bootcamp says
I just went through it with my twins – so a good control group. My daughter got the hang pretty quickly (biggest obstacle was being upset at the no pants/diapers but moved on after about five mins) and we did the bulk of it in two days. It became obvious my son wasn’t ready and bootcamp would only punish us (cleaning poop off the floor for the fourth time), so we re-diapered him and will try again once it’s warmer and we can spend time outside
Having gone through it, I would take Oh Crap with a big grain of salt. When it works, it’s great, but if it’s not working maybe it’s not the right time or method.
Anon says
OP here – 25 months… sounds like we may want to take a break and try again later!
Anonymous says
I have 26 month old twins – they know when they are wet but they aren’t ready yet so I’ll give it a try in 3-4 months. Totally depends on the kids and when they are ready. Some are ready at 18 months and some 3 years.
Bootcamp says
Yeah, the author makes it sound like it’s just a matter of following her guidance with discipline. I’m sure that works for some kids, but certainly not for all.
bluefield says
keep going! 4 days is nothing. You can’t look at day to day differences, you need to do it for several days and see if day 8 (for example) is better than day 3. The Oh Crap book makes it seem like in 3 days you’ll be done, but that is not the case. More like 2 weeks. Keep going – the only way out is through.
October says
I posted an article here a few days ago from a pediatric urologist that warned against training too early / before kids are really ready, as it could lead to long-term toileting issues. He defined “early” as before 3, so if it’s not working for your kid now, I’d recommend giving it another 5-6 months and trying again.
LSC says
We used the Oh Crap guide with our 25 month old. There definitely comes a time when you think it’s not working. For us, we pushed through and had success after about two weeks. Not easy, but possible!
Rainbow Hair says
My kid is about that age and she is just not physically ready. I think she would *like* to use the potty because she sees us/older kids doing it, but she’s surprised every time she goes (this is clear — and gross — when she runs around naked). So right now I’m just working on helping her think about the feelings in her body related to potty stuff, and helping her get used to sitting on the potty (and all the fun stuff, flushing and hand washing!) and then trusting that she’ll let us know when she’s physically there.
Anonymous says
Perspective and/or reassurance needed. Yesterday I thought I recognized clear signs that a very bad event was about to occur at home, one that would require my presence. I immediately canceled a work trip I had planned for later this week. The very bad event did not actually occur, and looks as if it probably won’t happen during the time when I was supposed to travel. Now I feel like the little boy who cried wolf and am worried that I have destroyed my credibility at work. Things are still pretty bad, though, and I really ought to be home. I am so distracted worrying about things at home plus the impact on my reputation at work that I can’t concentrate.
Anonymous says
You made the best decision you could at the time with the information you had. It sounds like it was the right decision. It is very unlikely that your reputation sinks or swims based on this one incident. Hang in there.
NewMomAnon says
As someone who tried to play both fronts, unsuccessfully – sometimes you need to pay attention to just one and leave the other on the back burner for a while. Is it an FMLA-worthy event that would warrant some time out of the office? Sick parent, sick spouse, sick kid, mental health issues, etc?
And one thing I learned after the fact; everyone has big things that interrupt their work focus. You probably haven’t noticed other peoples’ disruptions because it’s not as obvious to outsiders as the affected person thinks. This is probably a blip in your career and possibly not even visible to your coworkers. (And if you’re like me, you are probably reading this and thinking, “No! It’s disastrous! Everyone has noticed!” – but they probably haven’t, or at least not to the level you are experiencing).
Anonymous says
It would be FMLA-worthy if the very bad event had occurred, but unless/until that happens I don’t think so, and I would not be inclined to take FMLA for this anyway. I would just muddle through the way I did the other times it’s happened.
The difficult part is that I am already having issues at work because this has been going on for so long and because our group is overloaded with so much work that it’s just not possible to get everything done. So this just feels like I am digging myself into a deeper hole.
MomAnon4This says
No, you’re not digging yourself deeper. You needed a break, and the travel would’ve made everything worse for you, for your family, and you wouldn’t be able to focus at work.
You did the right thing.
Anonymous says
Thanks for the reassurance!
bluefield says
Perspective: the mayor of NYC cancelled school twice over snow that was expected to be over a foot and ended up being drastically less. Causing hundreds of thousands of parents to scramble for care and the NY Post to write mean headlines. He got over it and you will too.
LSC says
You’ll never regret staying home as much as you would regret being away when your family really needed you. You made the right choice with the information you had. Even though I love my job, I am constantly reminding myself that ultimately the day-to-day work stuff is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. What matters is the ones we love and how they remember we treated them. You’re doing fine.
Laine says
Our six month old has started solids and seems to get constipated if she doesn’t have water during the day. She won’t take water straight from a bottle. Any recommendations? Add it to a formula or breastmilk bottle? Use a sippy cup (it seems so early for that . . .)? Another method? TIA!
NewMomAnon says
Try a soft-spouted sippy cup. I started leaving one in kiddo’s bed at night because I found she drank a lot of water right before falling asleep (not great for potty training, but…we’ll fight that one later). We liked the Nuk branch for simplicity and ease of cleaning, but the Munchkin Latch was also good.
Also – pear juice, prune juice, purees that start with “p” (pears, peaches, peas, etc), and oatmeal are good for helping with constipation. Rice cereal, bananas and apple sauce cause constipation.
NewMomAnon says
Nuk *brand, not branch
H says
Yeah, we did lots of jars of prunes at that age. My LO loved them so he usually had a jar at breakfast. Seemed to help quite a bit.
Anonymous says
This. Jar of prunes at breakfast and a sippy cup with water at meal times available if she wants it but don’t need to push the water.
Em says
+1 prunes
October says
Not too early for a sippy cup, though she may not actually drink much at first. And I don’t think babies that little are supposed to have more than 1-2 oz
of water per day. How long has she been on solids? The constiparion could just be her body adjusting. It took a couple weeks for everything to work itself out when my son started, but no issues since then.
avocado says
My kid used a soft-spouted sippy cup at 4 months because she refused the bottle after we got nursing established. She made the transition to a regular sippy at around 6 or 7 months, so yours might be old enough to try.
HSAL says
Don’t dilute the formula or bmilk – if she doesn’t drink the full amount she might not be getting enough calories. Try a sippy (my kid wasn’t good at it for several months, though), the prunes, and time. After starting solids, my kid didn’t have consistent (both in consistency and time) BMs until after a year.
jlg says
Pouches with chia keep things moving.
OP says
Thanks! Nuk cup ordered.
Elle says
Any tips or strategies for helping our toddler (almost 3) respond appropriately when she doesn’t like an answer/is told no to a request? She rarely responds this way at school but at home she will yell or freak out or argue.
Anonymous says
Daniel Tiger. We just watched an episode on the weekend where Daniel learns to stomp three times when he feels frustrated. I didn’t love the physical aspect at first but I think at this age, they need an outlet for all the big feelings and my 2.5 year old really connected with it.
Carla S says
We received this as a gift from grandparents for our oldest. It’s pretty useless IMO. It does prevent spills if they’re carrying it around, but honestly it’s large, bulky and really not worth it. . It also has so many layers that really keeping it clean can be a pain, and the dishwasher didn’t really do it. I’d avoid and try other methods. We ditched it pretty quickly.
Love some of this advice. I have a 7 year old and a 2 year old. Going through a lot of the same things with the 2 year old: defiance, upset at “no”, etc. I think I’ll have to try some of these – like the pjs to school, etc. What has helped a bit is ignoring the crying for a minute and if it doesn’t stop, I’ve crouched down to his level, and calmly said, I know you’re upset. If you’d like to cry, you may sit on the stairs. (our “crying stairs”). This way he knows he can go there to get it all out. He sometimes will do that, and other times, he’ll try to calm himself and I just let him. But I don’t give in if at all possible. A friend had a “crying cushion” and it seemed to work for her, so we’re trying it with the stairs, which are as far away from our main living area as we can safely get.
Love the support and ideas. :) Thanks ladies!
Anonymom says
We also received this bowl as a gift and I really love it! My girl is a maniac and tends to spill everywhere. I didn’t find it hard to clean either but were only using it for snacks like cheerios, puffs, cheddar bunnies, etc.
avocado says
This bowl looks like something the Wolowitz baby would have on Big Bang Theory.
EBMom says
What snow day activities are people doing today? So far, we have watched a musical, played “birthday party” with some dolls, emptied a bottle of shaving cream all over the shower and tub, and will likely make some sort of savory treat after nap time is over. Screentime this winter has been crazy because of illnesses and snowdays, but I don’t feel bad about it.
avocado says
I bribed my tween to go to after-school (open all day on snow days) by letting her take her ipad, downloading a new book onto her Kindle, and stopping at Starbucks on the way there. Her preferred snow day activities are to stay home and watch movies all morning in a pillow fort, then pester me all afternoon to make cupcakes and go sledding.
Anon in NYC says
Coloring, a tea party of sorts, Daniel Tiger, cooking breakfast and preparing dinner, reading, bubbles, and some indoor wagon rides. I’m exhausted! Thank goodness for nap time.
Rainbow Hair says
Not a snow day but I had to keep kiddo home last week and I did this awesome science experiment: I put different colors of food coloring in an ice cube tray (one drop in each hole is plenty), then filled the tray with water mixed with baking soda. Froze, then put in a glass casserole dish. Gave kiddo a squeeze bottle full of white vinegar. Bubbles! Fizzing sounds! Smells! Colors mixing! She enjoyed it so much.
We also (almost accidentally) made home made play doh. We mixed cornstarch and water and we were touching it to feel the weird way it’s hard and soft, and then it was annoyingly wet so we added flour… boom, play doh!
Betty says
My six year old is currently running in circles in the living room while our au pair watches. He has so much energy that I’m tempted to send him out to play in the blizzard, but I can barely see the edge of our backyard. We are planning on a movie watched in a pillow fort after his little sister wakes up.
I have to say that trying to read a complex legal document while listening to him running and screaming, with the bulldog snoring loudly in the background makes me miss the quiet of my office.
Super Anon for this says
My husband has lost all interested in gardening. I know it’s at least in part a Depression / Anxiety issue that he has started to medicate for, and I know that pressure from me – on any front – is difficult for him to deal with.
But I’m 39. We have a 3 year old who we both adore, and at one point we both wanted him to have a sibling. But these days it’s like pulling teeth to get my husband to sleep with me even once a month. Aside from the hurt feelings (which are substantial), every month I get my hopes up that maybe that one begrudging time was enough for a pregnancy, but so far no luck. It’s been almost 2 years, and the potential window for any future biological child closes a bit more each month.
Our communication in other areas is good. We are excellent co-parents. To accommodate his mental illness, I’ve become the primary breadwinner and take responsibility for with the routine things that used to cause him great anxiety (dealing with bills, arranging for household repairs, etc.) I don’t mind the extra work that I’ve taken on in order to give him space to get better … but I do resent that because any conflict or tension results anxiety / shame, I feel powerless to really have a frank discussion with him about this. I’d almost rather that he just tell me that gardening is off of the table then have to go through a monthly cycle of nagging and prodding, then hoping, then being crushed. I’d be upset for a while but I could at least start warming up to the idea of 1 and done. Can anyone relate?
Also Super Anon says
Hugs. This is so tough. I have no experience dealing with the gardening issue, but way too much experience with the rest. My husband also suffers from a serious mental illness and just cannot take any kind of pressure. Like you, I’ve had to take on a lot of the heavy lifting, and on top of that I have to try to make it all invisible to him because it makes him anxious to see me doing it. I also have to try to get our child to behave perfectly at all times without any nagging or yelling, because any misbehavior or tension means that I am not parenting correctly. It is exhausting.
Is it possible for you to let go of the need to have a conversation about gardening and just make your own decision that gardening is off the table for the time being. It sounds like your husband is in the beginning stages of treatment, so things may change in the future. I’d also start thinking about what it would really look like to bring a second child into this situation. Will your husband be capable of providing the support you need? If not, is family help or paid help available? What will the impact on your older child be? If you make these decisions yourself in response to the constraints you face, it may help you to feel more in control of the situation. I don’t know if that’s the advice a therapist would give, but it always helps me to feel that I’m making my own decisions within the realities of the situation.
It’s also very important for you to have time and space to yourself away from your husband outside of work. I take my child with me to do errands every weekend so we get some one-on-one time without the pressure of having her dad around, and I also try to take a couple of exercise classes alone every week. It helps a lot.
anon says
Speaking of frank conversations, I hope that you have at least one with your kid at some point. Because when you grow up in a situation as messed up as what you’re describing, you start to think you’re the crazy one if all the adults are acting like what’s happening is normal. It would have helped me immensely if my mom would have ever had an honest discussion with me about my dad’s severe mental illness issues.
bluefield says
If your goal is having another kid, can you talk to your doctor about scheduling an insemination? No gardening required. I know there’s a bigger issue going on here, but it could solve one problem.
Anonymous says
This is exactly what I was thinking. I would look into reproductive technology for sure. Then you can solve the second kid problem independently from the other problems.
Anonymous says
I’m your DH. We are just coming through a rough period in our marriage where there was no gardening at all and I have zero interest which is not typical for me. Our therapist told us to focus on non-s@xual touching and to take s@xual touching off the table for now to reduce the pressure. Snuggling on the sofa, back rubs, holding hands and that will lead to an interest in gardening.
Also Anon says
I know you say you feel powerless to have a frank discussion, but you need to have a frank discussion. This is your life too and you deserve to have a voice in it. Besides, if you are anything like me, a frank discussion is much better than stuffing your emotions down for so long that you explode and end up having an awful argument when something finally pushes you over the edge.
The discussion doesn’t have to be a huge thing. Something like “At one point I thought that we both wanted to have two children. Have you changed your mind?”
And then close your mouth and listen to what he has to say. Thank him for letting you know one way or the other, and then walk away. You can have follow up conversations related to what he said after you’ve had some time to think it through.
anon says
I agree with this, in combination with bringing up artificial insemination as an option. Your husband may actually appreciate getting everything out on the table; he may be assuming you feel worse than you do. If necessary, could you go with him to his therapist’s office and do a joint session to discuss? Try to separate the two issues (gardening and conceiving baby # 2) – he may want to have a second child but not be able to make it happen by gardening. You probably already know this, but some antidepressants (SSRIs like paxil, prozac, zoloft, etc) also make gardening really unfun – it’s hard to get to the point where seeds can be released. Having experienced the lady version of this personally, I can say from experience it is extremely frustrating and persistent.
SC says
Does anyone have suggestions for freezer meals or meals that can be prepped/frozen and then cooked in the crockpot or heated up instantly? I eat meat and don’t have allergies, but I’m not a big fan of soups or stews. I need to have dinner ready within about 10-15 minutes of walking in the door though.
RR says
There’s a whole bunch of recipes for “dump” meals that you put together in a gallon ziplock, freeze, and then dump in the crockpot to cook. Here’s an example link: http://helloglow.co/25-freezer-slow-cooker-meals/
Chicken meals work well for this.
MomAnon4This says
10-15 minutes is really short.
Definitely dump meals – the night before, cut up some potatoes. Stick some chicken – almost any kind, thighs or thick breasts are good – some sauce, some seasonings – into a bag to marinade overnight. In the morning, put potatoes in crock pot. Empty bag into crock pot. Put on LOW for 8 hours.
Walk in door. Grab frozen bag of side vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower). Stick in microwave. Set table, get water for everyone. Eat dinner.
SC says
I know 10-15 minutes is really short. Kiddo eats lunch at 11 and, despite a couple of snacks at daycare in the afternoons, he is hungry every single night when we walk in the door. He signs and says “hungry,” whines and cries, and eventually pushes his high chair against the wall and tries to climb into it. If I try to give him a snack while I prepare dinner, he asks for more and cries if he doesn’t get more right away, then fills up on the snack before we have a chance to eat dinner. The best case scenario is to have dinner ready when or shortly after he gets home, and we’d prefer to eat with him instead of doing separate meals all the time. We have a couple of really fast meals, but I was hoping to expand to things that reheat well or cook in the crockpot.
Butter says
We’ve started giving our little guy Plum Little Yums crackers when we walk in the door to buy us time to make dinner. I don’t love how regular they’re becoming, but these teething crackers are the ish. There are three crackers in a packet, and each cracker takes him ~5-7 minutes to get through, which gives us ~15-20 minutes to figure out what we’re doing.
Yesterday we were out of Yums and gave him a tiny granola bar instead. He finished it in 3 minutes and then had a meltdown when there wasn’t more. We are buying all the Yums today. (Also a lifesaver for buying time in the grocery store. Or anywhere.)
Anonymous says
Toddler crudités have been mentioned on here before and might buy you time without guilt. Ahead of time cut up bell peppers (red, yellow and orange ones) into strips and cucumber spears or coins. Serve with hummus, tahini, romesco sauce, or Greek yogurt (mixed with ranch flavor?) dips. It’s not a snack, it’s a first course!
Also, do his afternoon snacks have enough protein/is he getting whole milk then? Any way you can bump that up?
EBMom says
Here is something to think about. Give him veggies to snack on while you make dinner, or whatever food you want him to eat more of. If he fills up on broccoli or carrots before dinner, I wouldn’t feel bad about it. Most likely, if the only option is vegetables, he will just eat a little bit and wait for his dinner. I definitely would not use this time to give him yummy snacks or treats. Take advantage of his hunger and your need to have a little extra time to make dinner. We do this with my daughter–she usually gets some fresh cut veggies as soon as she gets home. Just a thought.
Em says
If you have a Trader Joes, once a week I make their frozen gnocchi (they have a few flavors) with chicken sausage and either green beans or asparagus. It takes 5 minutes to heat all of it.