Snack, Anyone?

Snacking is huge deal at the Ball Team house. Whenever the kids ask for a snack, I always say, have whatever is open. But, invariably, they want whatever is not yet open. Or worse, (and often....) there's nothing in the house. Seriously, is it just me? Or, do your kiddos attack when you return from the grocery store, too? I literally hide food in my own house.

The kids do usually ask for a snack. It's not like they have free reign. Well, I guess I only have a loose hold. They are growing; they are busy and they are healthy. And they have the appetites to prove it. So let me share with you our latest system for curbing the the snacking.

Snack bins. Here's the way it works. (And so far, it does.) I go to the store. I then take the snacks I bought and divide them into snack-size ziplock baggies. (You could buy the snacks already divided in the packaging, but, I thought that was too expensive.) I make enough snacks in enough variety for each lady to have enough snacks in her bin to last two weeks. Equal share for each lady and they ranged from DingDongs (found those on sale at the bread store) to fig newtons. Also part of this system is the fridge - all the veggies and fruits in there are free at all times. We have one lady who could live off of fruit alone and another who loves fresh veggies. I stocked them up on their own designated shelf of the fridge.

On the first day we did this, the ladies thought it looked like Christmas morning. By the end of the two weeks, something interesting happened: one lady had lots leftover; one lady had only a few leftover; two ladies had nothing leftover. The four of them had created a micro-economic community and the currency was a snack bag.

More random rules of snack bins: (1) You must ask before snacking. (2) Don't touch each others bins. (3) If your friend comes over, they eat out of your snack bin, too. (4) Any snacker must share with Jay Michael, who does not yet have a snack bin. (5) All trading and negotiating must be agreed to by both parties and approved by the Mom.

We will continue. I'm thinking it's working...