Scavengers

I was told after the birth of two children, to thank my lucky stars both were girls, because I would never have to face 'empty fridge' syndrome.

I was lead to believe that the "Y" chromasome was directly responsible for the emptying of pantrys, the tornado in the kitchen, the lack of food in a household.

Well guess what? WRONG! I don't know what I am doing wrong, but these kids, at 6 and (almost)  4 are always ravenous. Even after a decent breakfast they return again and again to the kitchen. I make sure there are healthy options available to snack on: fruit, vegie sticks, popcorn, muesli bars etc, but the words "Mum, can I have something to eat?" is like fingernails on a blackboard to me.

Very familiar scene in our house!

Now we are in school holidays, I know it will get worse. I know some of it may be out of boredom, so we have lots of things to do/make/watch in our time at home. However, there are only so many diversionary tactics up my sleeve, and short of putting locks on the cupboard, I cannot patrol the kitchen 24/7.

I admit, I am a grazer by nature, so it should not come as a surprise to me that my kids are doing the same. I would worry more if they were not finishing dinner, but more times than not they will clean their plates.

My worry is that I am being too soft by letting them help themselves, and in the future, mindless eating will become a habit for them. I would love to hear what the 'rule of the land' is at other homes. Is the pantry open to all, or are three meals a day the way to go?