Do you separate snacks per child?

[Anonymous]

I usually shop a few different stores off instacart, so I stock up on items cheaper at certain stores. Which means I might have 4 boxes of favorite granola bars from one order or 4 boxes of mini muffins from another.

Recently my kids (12 and 9) have started counting servings of packages and arguing over who had more servings for all items. It's annoying AF and i can't deal with it. I'm considering getting them each their own boxes of everything and they have that amount and that's it. Maybe I just give them their own box of stuff in the pantry?

Any advice is appreciated

[Anonymous]

If you don't cut it out, you both get nothing at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you don't cut it out, you both get nothing at all.

This is the approach I would take. They are snacks, not essential, so if there is arguing, they go away. They can have celery or boiled eggs as snacks instead.

Also, if you do with this snacks, what comes next? Do you have to make sure each has the same number of of shirts? that their rooms are exactly the same size? Do they get their own toothpaste tubes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you don't cut it out, you both get nothing at all.

Yep. And if one plows all of the snacks, same thing.

[Anonymous]

This is something they need to work out on their own, and if they make it your problem, you will stop buying those items. Period.

[Anonymous]

Tell them that if they care about keeping things fair, they can divide up the snacks as they come in and put them in different containers, or label them with a sharpie, or whatever. You are not going to get involved.

[Anonymous]

This isn't a teen problem. I'm done policing teens, they can figure it out on their own. I think you need to repost in elementary forum

[Anonymous]

In my house, it's dependent on nutrition needs of each kid: one is underweight and has allergies to peanuts and tree nuts, the other has to guard against her sweet tooth and is borderline overweight.

So... yes, I do supervise snacking. Nut free and calorie-heavy for one, and light snacks for the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
In my house, it's dependent on nutrition needs of each kid: one is underweight and has allergies to peanuts and tree nuts, the other has to guard against her sweet tooth and is borderline overweight.

So... yes, I do supervise snacking. Nut free and calorie-heavy for one, and light snacks for the other.

Gosh I hope you have little kids, and not a teen daughter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
In my house, it's dependent on nutrition needs of each kid: one is underweight and has allergies to peanuts and tree nuts, the other has to guard against her sweet tooth and is borderline overweight.

So... yes, I do supervise snacking. Nut free and calorie-heavy for one, and light snacks for the other.

Gosh I hope you have little kids, and not a teen daughter.

PP here. My child with a sweet tooth is 10. I know DCUM people are obsessed with eating disorders and self-image around food, but I have zero concerns regarding this. We're not American, which probably helps - our parenting is rather more direct and blunt. My mother told me not to eat too much of this and that otherwise I'd get fat, and it worked, so I do the same for my kid. I don't have food issues, no one has in the family, I don't anticipate my kids will have either. She's learning to self-regulate but still needs guidance, especially with her sister who's been on a weight-gaining diet since birth.

[Anonymous]

The dynamic you're suggesting sounds off, OP. Why do the kids have so much interest in the number of each snack in the common pantry?

I don't mean this unkindly but the nexus of sibling rivalry usually comes from the children's perceptions of how one/both parent/s treat the children differently, with one child being more favored. I think you should examine how you may have (unwittingly) contributed to your kids' perceptions that the number of snacks reflects how you feel about each of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The dynamic you're suggesting sounds off, OP. Why do the kids have so much interest in the number of each snack in the common pantry?

I don't mean this unkindly but the nexus of sibling rivalry usually comes from the children's perceptions of how one/both parent/s treat the children differently, with one child being more favored. I think you should examine how you may have (unwittingly) contributed to your kids' perceptions that the number of snacks reflects how you feel about each of them.

This happens with my teens but only with a couple items. So for those items, I have bought 2 and labeled.

[Anonymous]

Buy more. I think its fair that they split it equally.

[Anonymous]

I tell my kids we don’t count food in our house and that they should be considerate of other family members and check before they eat the last of something and generally try not to eat way more than their fair share, and to let me know when we are out or close to out of something so I can but more.

I can’t abide pettiness and bean counting, and won’t tolerate it with my kids.

[Anonymous]

Maybe ask them if they want to divvy up the snacks. And if they want to, buy them binds (they are 9 and 12 not teenagers).

I am all for letting kids work thing out, but I know if my son is worried about eating his share of something like cookies, he might eat too many out of fear they will be gone. But if I tell him he can put a few in a container and label then his, he will not overeat.