The Snack Plate I Didn’t Mean to Start, but Did.
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Have you ever accidentally started something, just once, and now your kids expect it forever? That’s exactly how our snack plate tradition started.
When my older daughter was little, she always wanted two snacks… or a snack and “something with it.” You know how that goes. It started to feel frustrating, so one day I decided to simplify things. I put everything on one plate and said, “This is what you have until dinner. No more.”
She was three at the time, which meant pacing herself was absolutely not a skill she possessed yet. The entire plate was gone almost immediately. Lesson learned 😅.
Because of that, we don’t do snack plates very often anymore. They tend to turn into something much bigger than I originally plan more prep, more expectations, more snacks disappearing in record time. But today was one of those calm, uneventful afternoons. After nap, no rush to be anywhere, no meltdowns brewing. So I made a snack plate.
I wanted to share this one because it surprised me. You’d probably assume the M&Ms would be the very first thing they went for but they were actually the last. They worked their way through fruit, veggies, crackers, cheese… and only circled back to the candy at the end. A small parenting win I didn’t see coming.
I’ve looked at some of those bento-style snack containers before, and while they’re adorable, they just feel like so much to wash. A plate keeps it simple, flexible, and low-pressure for them and for me.
Some days the snack plate is chaos. Some days it’s surprisingly balanced. Either way, it gets us through that in-between part of the day, and honestly, that’s enough.
Find some extras here to make snack plates a success.