Ohhhhh yayyyyy…it’s that time of day again to try and cook dinner. Keyword…try. Some days, preparing our family meals can be easy peasy. Then there are the other days! Those “other” days are the ones where it is a lot more challenging to meal prep with kids underfoot. Thankfully, there are ways a mom can survive cooking when you have kids.
{ Guest Post by Megan Anderson at Megan’s Life with Littles }
1. Engage with your Kids
The first step that you can do to help meal prepping with kids underfoot, is to engage with them.
Narrate to your toddlers what exactly you are doing. This is such a great learning experience for them! This is prime opportunity to teach new vocabulary words they may not have heard before.
Engaging with them, will help keep them entertained while you are trying to cut veggies and bread the chicken. I will say, they are still going to be underfoot and not out of the way by any means! Engaging with our kids in this way is so important for their development. It will help completely change the quality of time you have with them too.
2. Let the Kids Help
If your kids are younger, this will be harder to do, but it is still quite possible.
Simply, let the kids hold some veggies and put it in the bowl for you. Show them how they can help stir the cornbread batter with a spoon. They can dry off the tomato with a paper towel after you wash it off.
A lot of kids want to be mommy’s helper. The ones that don’t want to assist, will still be curious as to what you are doing. Place your precious angel in the high chair and scoot it over into the kitchen. Give them something to play with. They will feel a sense of warmth seeing you right there next to them.
You are busy meal prepping of coarse, but at least they are right next to you! This will also alleviate the feeling of mom guilt. Mom guilt that you are busy doing something else, and do not have your undivided attention on your kids.
How do you know what to have your kids help with? Unlockfood.ca has a nice chart on what the kids can assist with at what age.
3. Pre Plan the Meal
This mommy survival skill is a very important one. Pre plan what you are going to cook that evening.
Starting after lunch, lay out the non-perishable items next to the stove. Get out your mixing bowl and a spoon. Place your cutting board on the counter.
If planning your meals isn’t something you normally do, definitely make it a point to try it! It will make meal prep with kids underfoot so much more doable!
This is great to have your kids help with what needs prepared before you actually start cooking. If they are standing in the kitchen observing what you are doing, that is a win too! Observing and watching you is a wonderful learning experience for the kids as well.
Do you have kids underfoot while you’re trying to cook?
Let us know in the comments below!
Meal prep with kids underfoot is not easy but it is doable! We all find ways to survive it, and we find ways to get food on the table one way or another! Practice these tips for cooking when you have kids, and you will find that it’s a smoother process.
Megan Anderson writes motherhood lifestyle articles. These articles are to help moms have a smoother journey through motherhood. Megan’s articles focus on situations that all moms encounter, and solutions to help alleviate them. A few examples include having mom guilt, how to cook dinner when you have a toddler underfoot etc .
Visit www.meganslifewithlittles.com for more mom life topics. Follow Megan on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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