So DD woke up and has already gone through 2 bowls (raspberries and cheerios), and I made her a scrambled egg and then she didn't want it and had yogurt. My DH is going to wake up any minute (He works late) and I will probably make him coffee and breakfast while he plays with DD. By the end of the day my dishwasher will be full of sippy cups and plates. AND I feel like I am always in the kitchen! Does any SAHM have tricks on things to make the meal prep of the day easier? I don't want to constantly be flipping pancakes, scrambling eggs, making grilled cheeses etc...
Anyone have ideas...what works for you?
TIA, Future line cook
Re: I feel like a short order cook...
If they ask for something and don't eat it, they won't get something else. In your case, I would not have given the yogurt unless she ate the egg.
DS 3.12.08
DD 7.11.09
DD 8.01.13
Yes. Don't do this. Make her something and if she doesn't eat it, tell her that her snack or next meal will be in two hours and to go play.
That's my rule too. Breakfast and lunch I tend to only serve things that the kids like. At dinner, they get whatever I choose to make and that's it.
That's my rule too. Breakfast and lunch I tend to only serve things that the kids like. At dinner, they get whatever I choose to make and that's it.
C 7.16.2008 | L 11.12.2010 | A 3.18.2013
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
Absolutely this. She didn't need to have all that for breakfast... 2 of the four options would have been fine, and if she's not interested in eating them, she can wait until snack time. Allowing her to refuse food and then making her something new will start a bad habit that you'll be struggling with foooorever! It's worth it to nip it in the bud now.
Also, why so many sippies?? DD has one for milk and one for water (we only own two), and I fill each at the beginning of the day, keep the milk one in the fridge, and wash them at night. Easy peesy.
This.
During the week it's usually cereal or oatmeal for DH and DS. On the weekends I do a big breakfast one day and the other day everyone's on their own.
Thanks. I was hoping for more advice like pre made food that could be quick or easy. Like if anyone makes a big batch of pancakes and freezes them, etc. I just get nervous like PP said, because if she doesn't get something she is in the mood for she will just go days without eating. She has no interest in food, so I make her different things to try to get her to eat. I cannot give this kid one more squeeze pouch and call it a meal. Its insane. As for the sippy cups, I just go through a billion. She has spinach smoothies, milk, water...
I know I shouldn't offer her a billion things and for lunch and dinner what she gets is what she gets. Is dry cheerios and raspberries a substantial breakfast? Could I have stopped at that?
Check out my blog ----> http://minismama.com/
All of this is great advice. The only thing I would add is teach your child how to make food she can make on her own as early as possible. I don't think you are to that stage yet, but if you start with easy stuff now, you'd be surprised how quickly they pick it up. By 3.5 (when she started preschool) DD was in charge of her own breakfast - we always had frozen waffles and pancakes (homemade and frozen from previous meals) that she microwaved (the rule was she put them in, pushed the buttons, and then she was not allowed to take it out of the microwave - that was an adult's job). Also, yogurt, cereal - all things she could get herself at a young age. The other rules were/are she had to ASK before making food (otherwise she would snack all day), no sharp knives, and no stove. At 6, those rules have changed a bit, but the idea is the same - she is capable of feeding herself, and doesn't need an adult to cater to her all day long.
That being said, I always cook a big dinner for us almost every night, and some days I do make lunch for both kids, so it isn't like I am NOT cooking for her - I just choose not to be a short order chef.
How old is she? I don't think raspberries and dry Cheerios are a substantial breakfast. We do make pancakes and then freeze them, or make oatmeal. DS1 has been eating a banana with peanut butter on it for breakfast for years.
There's nothing wrong with feeding your kid until they are full.
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
Unless she is underweight or has other issues other than being non interested/picky ... I see no reason to force food into her. Yes, to me, raspberries and cheerios is enough for a kid. Neither of my kids are big breakfast eaters. DS is 2, and generally only gets a cup of yogurt for breakfast - maybe cheerios if he still seems hungry.
Yes, cereal, fruit and milk is a good breakfast. Or an egg and fruit is good. Or yogurt and fruit if she wants that. You are way over serving her. Not to mention making it easier for her to be picky.
Ditto this. My kids eat fruit, cereal and milk every day for breakfast. On the weekends we do pancakes and bacon and usually one night for dinner they have eggs and toast.
I make coffee for H but if he wants something to eat for breakfast he gets it himself
DS 3.12.08
DD 7.11.09
DD 8.01.13
I only make one meal per day for my DH usually - dinner. The rest of the time he is on his own.
I do think cereal, a fruit, and whatever to drink is probably a fine breakfast. Mine eat very little in the morning. For my youngest it is usually an apple, chocolate milk, and maybe a few crackers? He is VERY picky, sensory issues, so I can't just give him whatever I make. He will not eat. I've tried and he'd rather not eat at all than eat something that tastes *wrong* to him. I've done it for a week before, and all I end up with is a cranky kid who loses weight, and he's already pretty thin to begin with.
I do actually have a zillion little plastic containers in my kitchen with foods that he will eat, crackers, cookies, snacks, ect. I freeze my own pancakes or buy frozen waffles. At dinner time, when I make my one meal, I will give DS#2 a plate with VERY tiny portions of everything we eat, plus a medium size amount of 1-2 foods I know he will eat (We call them Cam foods in my house :-P )
My oldest, while not a huge breakfast eater, is a big eater in general, not picky at all, and will eat most anything.
Cam 6.6.10 - Autism, Global Developmental Delay, Mixed Receptive/Expressive Communication Disorder
this is me as well
you could absolutely have stopped at that.
With DS, he gets what I serve him and if he chooses not to eat he can wait until the next meal. If a kid is truly hungry, they'll eat what you put in front of them. And I know his likes/dislikes so I'm not serving him things I know he won't eat. So there's no excuse for refusing it except not being hungry. And if you're not hungry for the egg I must made you then you're not hungry for XYZ either.
And yes, we make up a bunch if pancakes, waffles, muffins, eggs muffins (eggs with cheese, lunch meat, etc. baked in muffin tins) and then just reheat throughout the week.
My son gets a frozen waffle, a banana, milk, and water for breakfast every single morning. Some days he eats all of it, some days he barely touches it, but either way, that is breakfast. So I would think that cheerios and raspberries would be perfectly fine as a complete breakfast. I don't make my husband breakfast, ever.
I'm puzzled as to why you feel overwhelmed by the dishes, though, especially the sippies. We literally have two straw cups in play in our kitchen at this point. One is for milk, one is water. After every meal, they both go back in the fridge, they get topped off before every meal, and while I'm waiting for his waffle to toast in the morning I wash them both and start fresh. If it hasn't been sitting out and congealing in the cup, it takes very little effort to give it a quick wash (and I say this as someone who is lazy as hell about housework, seriously). I reuse his knives and plates frequently throughout the day, too, if they haven't had anything seriously gross on them - I'll go ahead and put the morning banana plate in the dishwasher, but if the lunch plate just had a ham sandwich sitting on it? Totally using that one again for dinner.