Eat a Snack

This is your annual reminder that before you head over the river and through the fields…

eat a snack.

This isn’t a diet culture thing, it’s so you don’t end up on an episode of snapped.

I care not if Christmas dinner is in an hour. Everyone in your household, eat a snack on the way. If you’re hosting, take a snack break before guests arrive.

A quiet moment and a snack never hurt anyone.

You’ll be cooking all day, the children will be feral riding that holiday high asking “how much longer til we leave” followed closely with “how much longer til we get there.” Even if you homeschool, the wild will settle over your home like the untamed wilderness of Plymouth. You will be cooking, and cleaning, and gathering outfits and keeping the kids clean …and that’s before you or anyone else arrives.

Upon arrival: the house will be 1.8 million degrees from cooking all day and will increase to 2.8 million degrees once more family and friends arrive. Different sights and sounds AND people will be present even in a familiar place.

There’s always a bit more pressure at the holidays, unnecessarily but we all know it’s there. We want the kids to eat their “polite bites” and sit and eat with their manners, and not complain about their itchy shirts or dresses, and for no one to comment on their behavior, our parenting or whatever else might be. But since most adults can’t manage their basic etiquette for a few hours why do we think kids will!?

Anyway: There’s way less pressure for the kids to eat “a good meal” if they’ve eaten a snack. Eat a snack, you might feel less frazzled overall if you eat one. Read: less likely to throat punch anybody.

Eat a snack.

I can’t guarantee that if you and your kids eat a snack before any major event that it will mitigate every meltdown, but it will likely mitigate some of them. (Not medical advice) Do everyone a favor and don’t go anywhere hangry this season.