Whether you are working outside the home or not, is immaterial. Come 5pm, regardless of how the previous 12 hours have been filled, the ante is raised. Little people are tired and hungry.
But satisfying that hunger isn’t always straightforward. Going to the effort of making something nutritious from scratch isn’t always rewarded.
(Please tell me I’m not the only parent who has almost been brought to tears after painstakingly preparing a dinner only to have it – literally – knocked away by a small person whose health and well-being I am seeking to sustain?)
Feeding little kids is hit and miss. For a start, they can be fickle. One day, a three year old might declare fired rice her favourite meal, only to brand it “asgusting” when it is served to her the next week.
When there are three mouths to feed, finding a meal all three will eat can be tricky.
At our place we subscribe to the practice of only providing one dinner: if it isn’t eaten there isn’t anything else served. And while this might be terrific in theory, in practice it’s difficult.
Watching your child not eat the food in front of them isn’t enjoyable. In part, I am certain, it’s because in Maslow’s hierarchy feeding them is fundamental.
My broad objectives for feeding our children are as follows:
- nutrition
- taste (chance of being consumed)
- time
- cost
In an ideal world I want to serve something that is nutritious, will actually be eaten, can be served efficiently and won’t send the household broke. These objectives do occasionally compete so it’s a juggle to get the balance right on any given day.
Speak to any parent and they will provide you with their cheat sheet for feeding small children: the various shortcuts and tricks they have devised to ease the pressure of the nightly dinner dash.
Cooking dinner at lunch time is tried and tested. Stocking the freezer with prepared meals. Bulk cooking on the weekend.
And, of course, resorting to the holy grail of easy dinners: a boiled egg with soldiers. Or, even easier, porridge, as my seven year old requested one night last week.
She had been sick and asked if “as a treat” she could have it for dinner. Her younger sister immediately jumped on the bandwagon and who was I to deny them?
Porridge with banana, it was, for all three girls. All of them demolished it and there was almost no washing up, so I declare that a resounding victory in the dinner arena.
What are your top tips for making the dinner dash more enjoyable? What do your kids love? Have you ever cried because they didn’t even try something you spent hours making?