Now that parents everywhere are homebound with their kids, it has come to light that there’s one thing families might need even more than toilet paper or hand sanitizer: an abundance of snacks.
If your kids have devoured your stock piled boxes of Pirate’s Booty and every last cheese stick in exactly one day and you would rather eat glass than head back to Costco for a replenishment already, you’re not alone. Thankfully, a mom named Andrea Traynor who writes the popular blog Mommy Gearest was in the same boat and came up with a smart snack menu solution.
The mom of a a 9-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son devised a way to get her kids to think about how much they are eating a day, plus a way to sharpen their math and budgeting skills:
“This is starting today,” Andrea wrote on her Facebook page. “I couldn’t keep up with their snacking, so they’re each getting “$10″ a day from now on. Hopefully they’ll make better choices overall and it’s math. Win-win.”
The copy accompanied a photo of her customized snack menu listing the price of certain snacks she had in the fridge and pantry. Fresh fruit and vegetables were less expensive, while junkier packaged snacks, chocolate and candy were more expensive. She gave her kids a preset budget of $10 with Monopoly ‘cash’ to use to pay or their snacks. Since the kids are only allowed milk with meals and water for the rest of the day, beverages weren’t listed.
When one reader pointed out that kids may try to game the system, Andrea pointed out that she had already thought of that:
“I’m way ahead of them. I don’t have a printer. I took ALL of the other $1 Monopoly money and hid it, and I implemented a running tally where they have to pay ME and I write down the daily spend so I know if they’ve stolen $ from each other or tried to re-use Snack Bucks. Mama ain’t no fool.”
No food, indeed!
