Yesterday I posted about the children sapping my energy.
Some days I post to be helpful, some days I post just to rant.
So today I decided to put to good use yesterday’s rant and discuss what we can do to change the situation.
Let’s face it, some days are just going to be awful but my little afternoon session of whining, screaming and wining (that’s not a typo, that’s me on the wine!) is getting out of hand.
My thoughts and suggestions on turning this around also ties in brilliantly with the amazing lady Jude Blereau that I was lucky enough to meet on Sunday at a Thermomix cooking class.
After the class I went home and re-read Wholefood Cooking for Children. The beginning section is well-researched information on the best nutrition for children and an outline on how their little bodies tick.
Jude writes that we should be making the afternoon snack a substantial and nutritious meal for children because that is the time of day when they are ravenous. By five thirty or six o’clock their little bodies are slowing down and beginning to prepare for sleep – which is kind of like trying to make you or I eat at 9pm every night….
The other problem I had was that Leo was going to sleep at 11ish and waking up just after two or sometimes just before school pick up. He is eating lunch at 3pm and dinner at 5:30pm.
So, on the grounds of that fact that the children do my head in at this time of day and then they won’t eat their dinner anyway…..
I am going to change up the routine:
- I am going to give Leo lunch at 11am before he goes to bed;
- Julian and Leo will have a substantial and nutrition-heavy afternoon snack and then I will give them really small plates of dinner or if the snack is big enough, make dinner for Daniel and I after he gets home;
- We will head out for a little while in the afternoon – take the dogs for a walk, stop at a park.
Hopefully the new routine will kill boredom, the begging for snacks, the excess energy to whinge and keep my sanity.
Wish me luck!
You know I think that’s the answer! Tire them out, give them a good afternoon tea, prepare bath and get them to bed , I think that is what I did with u two, I didn’t drive so you walked everywhere and this would tire u out, Steve couldn’t make it to fat cat , usually was fast asleep on the carpet at 6.30pm .x
sounds like a plan!
Fingers crossed ladies that this is it – also nice to get some fresh air and get the doggies out too!
I hope that works….. I wrote last week about how my toddler was grinding me down. I hit the wine too….. in fact, on a good day I celebrate with wine so that was not really different.
I find outdoors really helps mine. Run him ragged.
I think that is a good plan. I have the 1 year old going to sleep by 10.30-11am and sleeping until past lunchtime most days. I think I will need to flip it around soon as well so he has his lunch around 11am and then bed. The 2 year old is constantly asking for snacks when he wakes from his afternoon nap (usually eats around 12.30pm and then sleeps 1-3pm give or take). They both do have dinner early-ish, some days we start at 4.30pm, but on average it is around 5pm. They both go to bed at 7pm on the dot each night and wake around 7am (or a bit after if we are lucky).
Great post, thank you. I need to check out that book 🙂
‘Wholefood for children’ lives next to my bed (except when I’m cooking!) and I read it every night! I completely agree. Your new routine sounds great. We get home from school around 4pm so instead of dolling out the snacks, I give my kids dinner at about 4.30-5.00pm. They are starving and I can get a really good dinner into them. Sometimes they might have a light pre bed snack or ‘dessert’.
sounds like a book i need to read, maybe a green smoothie mid afternoon might help fill them up goodluck
Yea they have their green juice or smoothie then say what’s next! Drives me crazy. Making dinner during Leo’s naps has been working a treat!