Oct 16 2009

it should have never happened

I was feeding Littlest Brother some yogurt and suddenly Baby Sister needed something. I sat the yogurt down and as I reached for her, Littlest Brother reached for his food. In a matter of seconds he was covered in yogurt and happily feeding himself. Since he was already a mess I just let him finish it up while I took a few pictures of him. Now here’s the deal. This should have never happened. I know better….if you have toddlers or preschoolers that love yogurt you know how messy it can be….

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Now here’s why it shouldn’t have happened. I’ll never forget the day I learned one of the greatest mommy skills. I was sitting at Red Robin after church with our friends Adam and Liz. Liz and I were both first time moms and we both had boys that had just turned one…and we both had brought yogurt for their lunch. There I was trying to juggle adult conversation while spoon feeding Biggest Brother yogurt – which was still making a mess. AND there was Liz, enjoying her lunch and conversation while her son happily ate his yogurt mess free. My life as a mom changed that day. Thank you Liz! I don’t share parenting advice because quite frankly the minute I tell you something about parenting you’ll see me at Target the next day with 2 screaming kids and an open box of animal crackers trying to calm them down. However, I will pass along what Liz taught me that day….PUT A STRAW IN THE YOGURT TOP. Genius. Thanks Liz!

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(Yes, that is just adult yogurt. We’ve tried the kid versions, but my kids have bigger appetites than those small containers…

and I just use a short straw that came with a sippy cup)

Do you have any fun genius mom tips…leave them in the comment box…

Posted in personal

by AshleyAnn

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Jill R - Genius! We have had MANY self-feeding yogurt messes at our house. I love the straw idea! Thanks for sharing.

Jeannette Swan - Wow, that is great advice…never thought of it. Only by about age 2 does a kid eat yogurt relatively mess free! The pictures are great though.

Christy - Awesome idea! Thanks

Alba - really good tip! but how funny is experimentation mum ;-) though is not funny for the mum who has to clean it. and I think it goes with the genes, I have one really clean one, and the second, the-extra-super-messy-boy who loves to apply yogurt on his hair whenever you don’t look at him. Life is hard ;-)

monica - I would have never thought of using a straw ! Liz is a genius !
My daughter is 8 and still is a messy eater ( she gets it from her mama I’m afraid ). I might even try this with her using a crazy straw – fun and she would love to wear the same shirt after a meal ! Thank you for sharing and I’ll be reading for further suggestions.

Miranda - Just wanted to let you know that I have SO fallen in love with your blog. Your blog made the list of happy places I’ve found during my “Mono Vacation”. Thanks and nice to find you!

Rondell Jenkins - All that baby need is a wetnap. That’s what I use after I eat my wings down at the Spices Tamales and Wings.

Jill J - Well, that IS genius. I wish I had that advise when my kids were that young. I don’t know if my idea is genius, and maybe everyone already does it, but I lift the two top edges of juice boxes to give them “wings.” (There are two folded down flaps at the top of the box.) My kids know to hold the box by the “wings” so the juice doesn’t squirt out through the straw when it’s full. I don’t buy a lot of those, but we usually get them for road trips.

Dina - just found your blog after following a link from your diy pallet/bed @ designsponge…gorgeous! after just a few moments perusing here i notice a few similarities from the get go: we both love JC, both have 4 kids, i’m turning 30 next month, and share a love for photography. granted, you’re a little ahead of me in age (by a few months), a lot ahead of me in photography, but still… ;) oh, and the header pic with the shoes? i have one very similar to that which i’ll have to dig out later today!

beautiful pictures, beautiful family. congratulations! i’ll be returning here again soon!

patti - wow, that is awesome and i’m totally trying it next time i feed my 2 year old yogurt. she still makes a big mess with the spoon! thanks for sharing!

nichole - I use a large pizza cutter to *quickly* cut food for tiny fingers into small pieces. I did it one day to cut up waffles and the rest is history :)

Heather - Ashley, thanks so much for sharing your life and photos. I get so much inspiration from your photography. This is a great tip and I’m drawing a blank on a “genius” mommy tip, but the one thing that has helped me so much is teaching my kids to use a fork at age 1…they eat better and don’t get as messy.

Valerie - This isn’t genius, and I can’t take credit for this because I read it somewhere (but can’t remember where), but for popsicles, I have an old plastic lid in a drawer that I cut an “x” in the middle of. Insert the popsicle stick through it, and voila! An instant base to catch all the drips.

Sophie - I should try this!
I turned seventeen last week and I still can’t eat yogurt without spilling it somehow!

Thanks for the tip, Ashley (:

Casey - that’s an awesome idea! even my non baby kids would love this!

Emily Lusk - What a great idea! I would of never thought of that! It sounds like a good one to take with you when you are eating out!!

Mandy Metcalf - I love the mess! Yogurt in China actually comes with a straw! It IS genius!

Gina O. - This just changed my life!!!! Thanks Ashley! Btw….baby #2 is due in April!

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