Winning the after school snack cunundrum in the car

I’m putting a stop to eating in the car, actually it’s the van – Betty the Bus.  But after three years I still have have time saying I drive a van. So I don’t say it. Even though I just did.

But damn that van! It gets crumby, and sticky and nasty with food. So much so that when we our dog sees the door open and has a chance to bolt from the yard to the sidewalk, she makes a beeline to see what kind of snacks she can find on the floor. Honestly, the basset hound Scout does the same thing to us during piano lessons.

My husband (the saint that he is) vacuums out the thing every weekend for me. So don’t think it’s crazy nasty and we never clean it. There are just three hungry kids in there everyday after school. And the one thing that cures cranky kids the best is FOOD.

That’s why being the mean-ey mom who says no more food in the car feels like such a hard thing to do.

That is why when my oldest daughter was got grossed out by the crumbs in her seat last week and declared we should no longer have food in the car – I jumped on the opportunity to side with her make a new rule. Knowing not all the little Simmons people would agree it.

This is a big deal because our afternoon school pick-up schedule goes like this – 2:15 for my toddler, 2:30 for my kindergartener and 3:00 for my second grader. This equals lots of waiting time, and being in the car time, in addition to my twenty minute drive to school and then home. This is why saying no to food in the car feels like such a brave mommy move.

At pick up time instead of packing a basket full of apples, bananas, cheese, hummus wraps, snack bars and such – I now pack three drinks. And that is it. 

So far the smoothie in a mason jar with a hole poked in the lid for a straw has been a winner. I put them in a small cooler for the trip, and for the wait time from one kid’s pick up to the next. They are all happy to have them. They all smile and say yum.

And I am SO thankful to have one less bag to unpack when we get home – when the dishes from three lunches practically fill the dishwasher as it is. And then snack happens at home, at the table all together, conveniently located next to the dishwasher.

Unless it is piano lesson day. Then we share our snack with Scout. It’s a good thing we like dogs.