Snack attack

It’s generally a no-brainer that kids need healthy food to function well, but sometimes we need to think beyond the basics and break it down a bit. Lately when my daughter has been coming home from school, she’s been eating food like apples or carrots & raisins, maybe a banana.

She would be happy long enough to tell us about her day and then she would melt down and be a mess for the remainder of the afternoon and evening, throwing tantrums that rival any toddler. Since selling her to gypsies wasn’t an option, I started thinking about what might be going on. I came up with food being the issue. The fruits and vegetables were healthy, yes, but they weren’t enough because she needed protein after a long day of school. The choices we were making for her weren’t sustaining her long enough.

I tested the theory yesterday. Since we have a nut-free school, and my daughter loves peanut butter, I made her a peanut butter sandwich, and also sliced an apple for her. She ate the whole plate and even ate a bit of yogurt afterwards. She got cranky early in the evening but overall, she was much better yesterday. Today I gave her another peanut butter and jelly sandwich and she ate an avocado after that, and again she was in better spirits than she had been.

I don’t think two days of testing only one child is enough to say this is the only right choice. However, I do feel comfortable saying that if your young child is having a rough time in the middle of the day but napping doesn’t happen anymore, it wouldn’t hurt to try a bit of protein to prevent the afternoon slump. So far it’s working for us.