Car Snack Parenting Hack
This may look like a really simple picture. But if your kids are young enough, this will save you TONS of money and it will give you a much healthier option for snacks.
We usually do not eat in the car. But as the tiny humans have gotten older and we take longer car rides, we have started snacking in the car a bit more. If we drive for 45 minutes or more I usually plan on having the kids snack on the way home. That keeps them happy for the long drive after a fun activity. It also helps them not fall asleep since we usually try to get home before our afternoon naptime.
The most convenient option is to stop at a fast food place and grab some French fries. But I have two problems with that: it is not healthy and it gets expensive. So I decided that we would save a French fry stop as a rare treat.
For most of our trips we just eat nuts. I always have a variety of nuts so the kids still feel like they are getting something special because they get to choose. Our personal variety includes dry roasted peanuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts and raisins, walnuts, and pecans.
I also keep 3 of these tiny empty containers in the car. That way I can control the amount of nuts they get. I usually only give them about half of the amount so then two kids can have the same thing or I can have a serving ready for the next trip.
This is a much healthier and cheaper option for snacks. If your kids are young enough then they’ll never know the difference and this will just be ‘usual’ for them. If you have built the habit of stopping for fast food or eating chips or candy in the car, this will take some getting used to. But the idea of them getting to choose each time is pretty exciting to kids so I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how well this can work out for your family.