One of the things I talk about in my book, Chaos to Order, is to eliminate decisions.  Well, recently our house has been filled with more snack foods than usual.  My parents come in town in December, and we saw them again in January, and each time we get together, they bring snack types of food for the children.  Since I am not really accustomed to having all these choices of snacks in the house, everytime snack time rolled around,  the kids would ask me what snacks they could have.

Well, I do not care for sugary snacks much, so I would try to remember what was in there that was not too "dessert-like" and that they could eat.  Then, of course, they would appeal for something different they had seen in the pantry that just had not come to my mind at the time.

So, I decided to get through these snacks (not wasting them, or letting them go stale), I would make a master snack list of "approved snacks" that they could have at each snack time without me asking.  Now, they just check the list and choose the one that appeals to them.

Our list consists of fruit, yogurt, carrots, and the variety of pantry snacks like Nutragrain Bars, Kashi Bars, nuts, rice cakes, etc.  Now,  I do not have to stop and make a decision each time they would like a snack, and I know the things in the pantry will not be forgotten.  As we use up an item, we simply mark it off the list.

Happy Homemaking!
Malia