When the kids were little, I started to notice a weird trend…wherever we went, there had to be snacks. It wasn’t the kids’ doing, it was totally the parents. Snack sign-up sheets were passed out at the first parent meeting of pretty much EVERY activity my kids did from toddlerhood on. Playdates were carefully planned so that snack time became kind of stressful, like a “WHAT AM I GOING TO FEED THESE KIDS?” sort of experience. Instead of just letting them play.
Back in the old days, there were no snacks. We didn’t have snack time, parents didn’t bring snacks to sporting events, and we sure didn’t expect anything after an every.single.activity. Halloween, Christmas, and birthday parties at school were a HUGE deal…probably because they involved treats. Something which was….well, a treat. We also walked up hill both ways to school, for the record.
In fairness, I’ll be the first to admit, I am a grazer…which is totally different than a snacker. I like to graze on small portions all day–I get that aspect of snacking. But, I don’t get the need to build a snack time into every single thing you do. I really don’t see the need to provide all kids with one uniform parent-bought snack that inevitably only appeals to about 50% of the kids. It seems like a huge waste of money, time, and food.
I thought I was just kind of getting crotchedy in my near-empty-nester age, but it turns out I am totally not alone. My buddy, Lola, told me she once suggested that they cut out snacks after her kids’ soccer games, and the other parents “looked at her like she was a leper.” She felt like she had broken some sort of cultural vow to provide goldfish crackers and juice boxes to 10 other kids plus her own. I felt a little better about my resentment toward the snack-happy trend after that. Then, fast-forward a couple of months, and I found an article on treehugger about this.exact.thing. Vindicated, I tell ya! I just knew I couldn’t be alone in the single-serving-snack-pack obsessed world.
So, what do I do when I have a thought or opinion? I write it all down for YOU to see, in hopes that somewhere in the comments, I’ll find other people who would love to jump off the Teddy-Grahams-after-an-hour-of-playing bandwagon…
~Mavis
Kirsten G. says
I agree with you. It seems like kids need to snack all day long on some prepackaged treat. I fall into this and give my kids snacks. They see everyone else eating snacks at the park or whatever outing we happen to be on. Then we all wonder why the kids don’t want to sit down and eat at regularly scheduled meal times.
Mavis says
So true! Unintentional peer pressure because everyone else around us is doing it!
andrea d says
Totally agree. When my kids played tee-ball a few years ago I was surprised by the snacks people would bring, and were expected to bring, on their ‘day’. I would have gladly done away with it, but instead brought the same thing I remembered having after sports activities as a kid- orange slices.
And if you bring your kids to my house for a ‘playdate’ (can I just say that i hate that word? when did we go from just getting together to hang out and play to having to set up dates for kids to play?), when/if they get hungry i’m sure we can find something. And the tap is always flowing with cool clear water.
Mavis says
The “playdate” thing is a pet peeve of mine. So glad someone else shares my view on that!
Donna says
I thought it was just me. Drives me crazy. I refuse to do them. If kids want to come over and play that’s just fine – but a ‘play date’ – I don’t think so. Seems so formal and forced. Let kids be kids.
Marcia says
The point of “play dates” is the era of busy families. I’ve got friends who stay at home, but more friends who work. That means week days are out, and weekends are full of chores and other obligations. If your kids want to play with their friends, your best bet is to set up a time.
We still get together with the neighbors to hang out sometimes, but most of my older kid’s friends (he’s a boy, his friends are boys) live far enough away that we have to drive, and everyone has “other things” to do. If we don’t ask ahead of time, 90% of the time it won’t happen.
Mavis says
That makes sense. We never had “play dates” when my kids were growing up and now they are old enough to drive themselves to see friends. So it’s such a foreign concept.
Kari says
I agree 110%. I allow my kids to snack if they are truly hungry, but it’s usually something like string cheese, apples, or nuts. Most “snack foods” are processed garbage. At our grade school, they now require we send two snacks a day for our kiddos, as the school lunches are so tiny (and junky) that the kids are starving. I could go on and on about school lunches, but I will spare you . We never had snacks at school. Child obesity was not a problem, either. Hmmm, is there a connection here?
Kari says
I will add that my son gets teased for bringing his apple slices and bag of fresh veggies for snack at school. Apparently real food is quite foreign these days.
Mavis says
That is so sad! Makes my heart hurt for him and for our society!
Janine J. says
I totally agree! Unfortunately as a hockey mom I am often overruled and designated snack days are handed out. There is another blogger I follow who I think you would enjoy, if you aren’t already aware of her, Lisa Leake. She agrees as well. Here is her blog about it from over a year ago. http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2014/03/04/kids-dont-need-snacks-recreational-sports/
I tend to stick to her ideas when I am required to bring snacks. I know many parents look at me like I have two heads when I show up with organic milk, carrot sticks, and small oranges, but I feel like if I am required to bring a snack I am going to make sure I am feeding these kids right.
Gloria says
Yes! I was going to say the same thing. It is pretty crazy. Especially with all the food allergies out there. Lisa’s blog is a great place for real food ideas.
PattyB says
When my kids were little and in sports. not every parent attended practice. My boys played football and my husband coached. So by default, I was the team mom. I didn’t ask parents to bring snacks. I did it. I had a huge container with iced Gatorade and a big bowl of cut up orange slices. These we gave to the kids at half time. That was it.
My kids didn’t have any play dates, except for the sports. At the end of the season we would ask for donations from the parents and we would go to a pizza place to celebrate and hand out awards. It was fun, rowdy, and a great way to end the season. These days I see teams of kids in the pizza places all the time. After practice or a game I just wanted to get home, feed my family and get away from all those nit picky parents.
Mavis says
I loved being team mom! But my husband didn’t coach, so we could avoid the crazy parents!!
Kris says
I completely agree! I never understood the snack after every t-ball, soccer, basketball game. Especially when it ended at lunchtime! My child would have their gummies and cupcake and juice box and not eat lunch. Last year I brought string cheese and baby oranges. The kids reluctantly took the string cheese. I came home with all the oranges. Many times we’ve had friends over and they don’t want any of our “snacks”. I think they’re too used to the processed stuff at home.
On a similar note: My son recently had a friend over and he asked “Where’s the water?” My husband replied “In the faucet.”
Mrs. Chow says
HA!
And I agree, the snack craze is unnecessary.
Maxine says
Can we outlaw Goody bags at kids birthday parties too please?!?! I’m with you Mavis!
Marcia says
Now THIS I can get behind!!
Ashley says
Please please please !!!!! I really dislike party favors and putting together party favors! The party favors my kid has received are usually junk or not age appropriate like glow stick bracelets and plastic whistles in gravity bags for 2 year olds…
Tammy says
I read a different, but similar, article about a month ago. I agree that snacks everywhere are silly and unnecessary. Especially when parents are “forced” to bring them. I get annoyed at the treats that are passed out everywhere my daughter goes. Since we don’t eat very much sugar at home, she doesn’t deal with sugar well at all. So when she gets it, inevitably she’s on her sugar crash all the way home! (Not pleasant!) I’m not always with her when the snack is passed out, especially as she gets older, so I often don’t have a say in what she consumes.
I will say though, that even at 6 years old, my daughter does seem to need smaller amounts of food more often, rather than three square meals.
Christy says
I think you are feeding your daughter the right way. Toddlers and young childrens stomach are not fully developed( or should I say not yet stretched like ours ) so they need to eat more often than adults.
They can’t squeeze all the calories they need in just 3 meals.
I have three teenagers but they have been doing karate and ballet and I was never forced to bring snacks so I wouldn’t know what everybody’s talking about but I do think those individual packaged cookies that I see at the store is a waste. More trash.
Kayla says
This makes me not want my kids to join any sports. 🙂 My kids are not old enough for any of this nonsense. I would be the “crazy parent” who would tell everyone no more snacks. I can understand cold drinks on a hot day, but not as a requirement. Ish. People are strange in the things that they consider important.
Brenda says
Then be prepared to be annoyed by the parents who don’t send water or a drink with their kid when it is 90 degrees out and they are sweating like mad in the sun. That annoys me more than the crazy amounts of snacks all the time. They are so worried about the snacks for after the game that they forget the water for during the game!
Rosemary says
Amen Sister! I want my kids to be hungry at meal times and eat what a take of lot of work to put in front of them. Also, this opinion is particularly relevant since my son has food allergies. Talk about stress for me and for every other parent bringing food to the event. I agree with you 100%. Celebration should not mean food and our children should feel pangs of hunger every now and then to know that it’s time to eat–not have food pushed at them all the time to get fat with.
Tricia@OurProvidentHome says
I read “French kids eat Everything” by Karen LeBillion a few years ago and it has completely changed how I feed my kids. We have one planned “snack” in the afternoon that consists of fruit, veggies or bread & butter and that is all. I have several in-laws who ask why my kids eat so well at family meals and I just shrug and say they are starving. 🙂 But, seriously, we use food as a pacifier for our children. Instead of listening and dealing with them (and teaching them when to talk and when not to) we shove food at them to keep them quiet and out of the way. Treats have become normal and expected not a “special treat.” No wonder we have a childhood obesity epidemic.
Mavis says
That book is awesome!
Melissa says
If you pay attention to commercials these days, it isn’t just kids the snack food companies are targeting: now it is the office working adults. I am so annoyed by their ads that make it a thing to have a desk drawer full of prepackaged food to ban that “three o’clock feeling.” Ridiculous.
Marcia says
Well, there are “snacks” and there are “snacks”. For sports, in high school (in the dark ages of the 80s), we took turns bringing orange slices.
These days the snack depends on the location.
At school, they provide a morning snack (or breakfast).
I pack my son’s lunch.
In the afternoon, the after school care provides a snack (mostly healthy)
Thus, the lunch I pack is rather small
For his sports groups (like rec soccer team), there are no snacks. Maybe that’s a local thing, or “poor school” thing. But they recommend you send your kid with water at least.
He’s in summer camp right now.
Some of them provide lunch but no snack.
The ones that don’t provide lunch, we are requested to send lunch and a snack.
I generally have no problem with this, as he’s in camp from 8 to 5.
Both my children are pretty hungry right around 5 or 5:30 pm. I don’t get home until 5:30 pm and dinner is around 6:00 or 6:15. So often, that means a snack. In the summer when they are very active, I try hard to remember to bring one with me to work, and they can have it in the car. These snacks, though, are fruits and veggies, maybe a cheese stick.
Yes that means they often aren’t as hungry for dinner, but I don’t really care as long as they are eating their veggies. (My toddler is especially a grazer. However, he wants crackers a lot. Well, I don’t buy crackers because I want him to eat other stuff.)
Anyway, I can’t speak for other areas of the country, but the snack thing really depends on how long the day is and if the kids are hungry. I have no problems with snacks as long as they aren’t processed.
Marcia says
One more thing though!!
I am the member of a large local quilting group. I’m too busy to go to meetings, I only join it because I’m a member of a smaller group, and it’s a requirement.
For years and years, we had snacks at our monthly meetings, which are at 7 pm. Now, why do a bunch of old ladies need a snack at 7 pm? (I was in my 20’s when I started, now I’m in my 40’s, and yes sometimes I consider myself an old lady. But the average age is a lot higher.)
Anyway, they used to just have people sign up. Then one year, they decided to have the satellite groups each take a month. Fine. So our group took our month and actually kind of went all out for fun. Christmas was the month that there was no sign up and everyone brought a lot of food, and July was a summer potluck.
That was all fine, except then the next year…and the next year…they made the satellite groups sign up again. And never thought it would be prudent to go back to the general membership (not all members are part of a satellite group). So one year, I got in trouble for not even showing up (because I never got the email), and the next year, we all boycotted. We essentially said that we aren’t taking snacks, and there’s a water fountain for goodness sakes.
Well I think we started a trend, because I hear there aren’t any snacks anymore.
In any event, if only I could get my group to not sign us up for other stuff. I seriously NEVER go and now they signed us up for block of the month. Really? I have a full time job, two small kids, and I’m on the PTA board at the school…and you did not get my permission. Anyway.
Kristina says
You are not alone on the snacking issue. A one hour soccer game or baseball game required a snack. My husband and I were both really annoyed with it. We have a child with several food allergies so most of the snacks he could not have which was even more irritating because we had to explain to our son that he couldn’t have the snack. A lot of times he would have the snack handed to him then he would have to hand it to one of his sisters. Most of the “snacks” I would never give to my child to begin with.
sarah says
The only snack was orange slices for soccer. Baseball was always right after dinner so they never had us bring more than water. And due to allergy issues most places don’t allow kids to share snacks with classmates. You have to get it preapproved for b’days or such. So i just don’t do anything.
Delorise says
And we wonder why obesity is rising in the children of America–could it be because nothing can be done without food as a part of it.
Wendy says
We snacked all the time… my kids were starving. (and thin). I tended to buy crackers and pretzels in bulk, and repackage them at home for travel. It didn’t matter where we went or how long we were gone for, they were always hungry. And they ate full meals at home.
But the thing is – they were starving. I had no idea that the crap I was feeding them was crap. ‘Organic’ didn’t become a catch phrase until my oldest was about 10. And then it still took a few years before I really started looking at real food, baking, cooking from scratch, etc.
Please, if you get sucked into the snack thing, bring the good stuff and spread the word.
*Funny side note* My oldest is allergic to oranges. Nothing serious, but his face breaks out in a rash. He went to a birthday party once where the mom had a big bowl of oranges sitting on the table. He asked if he could have one, she said yes. Then he asked for another, and another… After four or five oranges she commented that he really likes them, and he told her yeah, my mom never lets me eat them because I’m allergic. She called me in a panic. She was just so happy that someone was eating the fruit, and then he tells her he’s allergic to them… Poor woman. I think he gave her a panic attack. He still loves oranges and doesn’t care if his face breaks out in a pimply rash for 3 or 4 days, lol.
Casey says
Is it sad that the snack “thing” makes me not want to participate in particular groups or activities? My kids will tell you, I am a lame Mom. If you’re thirsty, there is water. If you are hungry there are fruits and [gasp] carrot sticks. If you aren’t interested in the water, you probably aren’t really thirsty. If you can’t eat the carrot sticks, you really aren’t that hungry… My poor kids.
Sallie says
I agree with you… I’ve often thought “when/where did all this snack stuff start?” I’m a class parent for my older son (10 years) and every time I suggest a craft or activity at school the other parents always want to include a snack??? I’m left thinking “They just came back from lunch?” As always, thanks for sharing your thoughts! At least now I know I’m not alone with this kind of thing 🙂
Teresa says
Man, i would have LOVED to have had snacktime at school as a kid, esp. in high school. My first class was 7am and lunch wasn’t till 12ish. Class before lunch, my stomach was gnawing. Then I’d eat lunch and have trouble staying awake. Turns out my whole family is hypoglycemic on my mom’s side. We get hungry, we have problems. My husband told me that soon after we were married, the in-laws all got ahold of him to discuss the FOOD thing. So now i know that i need to eat when i am hungry instead of waiting for “meal time”. Who made up meal times, anyway? Most countries don’t eat according to U.S. meal schedules, and many even have the sense to nap in the afternoon!
Eat when you’re hungry, don’t eat when you’re not, eat real food. Also, i tend not to make my kids finish things, but instead let them stop eatig when they’re no longer hungry, and put the leftovers away. We mark it on the fridge and they eat the rest next time they’re hungry. No force feeding (except when they are actually hungry and just aren’t buckling down. Then we do a ” read and feed”: i read to them while they eat, “take a bite to find out what happens next!”) almost no waste, no starvation breakdowns. Also, they eat what i serve, or they wait til they are hungry enough to. Sometimes i will let them feel hunger to develop empathy for the poor. Otherwise, they eat when they’re hungry, don’t when they’re not, and eat real food.
Amanda S says
I am definitely not against snacks if they are healthy and eaten because you are actually hungry! I eat breakfast around 6-6:30am and am already hungry by 10-10:30am. Yes, I know I should be eating a protein-rich breakfast instead of just cereal, but even when I eat Bob’s Red Mill Quick Cooking Oats (which I do think is a healthy breakfast), I still get hungry a few hours later. So I’ll eat fruit or a rice cake with almond butter or something else (I try to stick to healthy snacks) around 10-10:30am. I usually eat lunch at 1pm and have another snack around 4:30-5pm. If I drive straight home from work, I don’t get home until at least 7pm, if I work out it’s around 8pm, and if I have to do errands it could be any time up to 10pm! I don’t usually eat dinner until 8-9pm (unless it’s leftovers, so I can eat sooner than if I’m cooking), so I definitely need to have an afternoon snack! And I certainly need it if I’m going to be working out. Yes, I do sometimes have sweets for snacks or a dessert after dinner, but I try to eat mostly healthy when I’m at work. I don’t see how people ONLY eat three meals a day and aren’t starving between them! And I feel like growing kids need to eat even more than adults. But yeah, they probably shouldn’t be eating only the processed stuff.