a parenting dilemma solved

I actually made up a solution to a parenting dilemma that was driving me nuts!  I'm not a super original mom for the most part -- I often ask friends for advice, scour the internet, post a facebook plea...  Why reinvent the wheel when I can stand on the shoulders of giants, right?

A plate of snacks = harmony between mom & daughter

So, our issue was that a certain little Miss was asking me constantly for a snack.  Like every 30 minutes, at least.  It was making me crazy because she wasn't hungry, she was bored and it devolves into pestering and whining.  She also wasn't eating meals because she was snacking so much through the day!  It was making me miserable and her too.  So, I decided to do something about it.  I got out a plate and put a variety of healthy (yogurt, fruit, vegetables, string cheese) and neutral (I'm looking at you graham crackers and pretzels) snacks on it and dubbed it her "snack plate" and put it on the bottom of the refrigerator that she can get whenever she wants.  And once she's out, she's out of snacks.

To this writing, she has asked me far less for snacks and not even eaten the entire plate once!  This tells me that she really was bored and not actually hungry when she was asking before, which is something I want to nip in the bud with her right away.  I think this has allowed her to feel much more in control of her food, which in turn has made her stop obsessing over it.

Now, I'm sure that this isn't an original idea and probably everyone else does this and I'm finally just catching on now :)  But it's been a revelation over here!