Discover how to deal with the snacking hours before dinner in this story sponsored by  Jif™Bars and Socialstars. #TeamJif

The snacking hours. It’s that time after school but before dinner that can make or break a mom and child. Trust me. After much trial and error, Ayva and I have finally come up with a system that works for us regarding afternoon snacks. In the past, she’d come home after a full day of school completely famished. Me, being the wonderful mother I am, and not wanting my baby to be hungry, I’d give her dinner leftovers from the night before, or a pre-dinner snack that was more dinner than snack. 

The problem with that was by the time Terrence arrived home and it was time to eat supper together as a family, Ayva would pick at her food and barely eat anything. Thus began my quest to make over our after school snacking. It’s not as easy as you’d think. Trying to find a snack that would satisfy my desire to not load Ayva full of sweets right before dinner, but that would satiate her enough that she wouldn’t end up back in the kitchen while the chicken / pasta / stir-fry was cooking was more of a challenge than I had expected. To let Ayva tell it, I was trying to starve her on purpose!

I soon realized, that I needed to make the after school snack more of an experience. Kids love them some pomp and circumstance! Instead of just focusing on the snack itself, I started picking a book for Ayva to read, or preparing a simple project to do as soon as she gets home. Since we don’t do screens during the week, I realized that boredom might also be contributing to her after school need to eat all the things.

I hate to brag and say I was right, but…I was right.

In addition to the books or a project, my snack of choice lately has been Jif Bars Crunchy Peanut Butter Flavor. They’re part chewy granola bar, part crunchy Jif peanut butter, so they’re basically perfect. Ayva loves to deconstruct the bars, and eat them bit by bit. Of course, I’m happy because they’re made with the Jif peanut butter that I’ve loved since forever. Not just for after school, Jif Bars are a perfect addition to any lunchbox, too. Now, a good book and a delicious snack like Jif Bars Crunchy Peanut Butter Flavor are all I need to hold my girl off until I can get the food on the table in the evening.

Another snack problem solved! Yeah, I’m totally getting the hang of this mom thing!