Did you see those blissed out family vacation photos down there? Is that what your family vacations look like? If so, feel free to stop reading and go to a different website. If your vacations look more like disgruntled children and hangry parents – keep reading, because this post is for you!
The step by step process to feeding your family while on vacation
| Step 1: | Plan to get your meal before people get hungry. Check in with everyone’s hunger levels and if possible bring snacks to avoid reaching crisis hunger levels when things take longer than anticipated. |
| Step 2: | When coming to the meal figure out who in the party is the most hungry and check in with what they are in the mood for. |
| Step 3: | Decide on your location considering: 1) Who is the most hungry and what their preference is 2) What is going to fit your timeline (fast food vs sit down meal vs stopping at the grocery store) 3) Decide on your meal goal – is it nutrition, enjoyment or preventing reaching a hunger emergency? |
| Step 4: | Get to your desired location and look for something on that people will eat. Look at the all the options. At a restaurant check out the available sides, beverages (milkshake for lunch kids?) or desserts. |
| Step 5: | Order the food – but don’t force. If someone has told you that they do not want to eat a hamburger (or sub in some other food), don’t order it. It’s not likely to go well and will likely end in frustration. If they don’t want to eat anything, Great! Save your money, order them a drink and pass them a snack afterwards. |
Rationale and Explanation for Each Step
Step 1: My family is constantly running behind schedule on vacation (it probably has to do with my extreme impossible to-do list tendencies). However, coming up with a game plan for what time and where our meals could be can help prevent our family members from getting to hunger-emergency type stages.
Step 2: Has a lot in common with Step 1. This is about preventing the hunger emergency. If someone is about to get hangry, prioritize getting this person something to eat and choosing the food venue accordingly.
Step 3: Consider all your options for a venue. A fast food restaurant can be quick and if you are traveling with my kids – they always have fries, which is like 100% guaranteed to please. And if you are on the verge of a hunger emergency, fries sound like a great option. But also consider things like stopping at the grocery store or planning your day to go to a farmer’s market and picking out something from there. Grocery stores or markets are more likely to have fresh fruits and vegetables, enabling you to choose nutritious options.
Step 4: Consider all your options. If you are at a restaurant and one person is more challenging to feed, make sure you consider all foods for the meal. If you want to enjoy a nice piece of fish at a seafood restaurant and your child doesn’t like fish – see if you could order them some bread or fries or a bowl of soup or check out the desserts and order a bowl of ice cream! Do whatever you need to do to make as many people as possible enjoy their meal.
Step 5: Order the food – but don’t force. You remember that time your kid told you they didn’t want a hamburger but you ordered it anyways and told them they would like it… but then they didn’t eat and you felt mad. Me too! Like it was yesterday. So if your kid really doesn’t want something, save yourself the frustration and don’t order it. Order them a drink or do whatever you need to do get everyone through the meal and then pass them an apple or a granola bar after. Eating on vacation is rarely the time when we eat for nutrition, so do your best to make it fun and to keep yourself from getting too frustrated.
I hope this helps make your next family vacation more pleasant for everyone!
