snacking with a toddler

I have a two and a half year old.

Correction: I have little ears around that hear absolutely any packaging that could possibly contain a snack being opened within a two block radius. Maybe three.

But  sometimes  all the time I need a snack. And she doesn't because, well, have you tried to get a two year old to eat a full meal even when they haven't been snacking?

So I sneak in the kitchen. At this point Becks could care less that I'm headed for the Oreos but is slightly distraught that I would dare leave the room. I make a run for it anyway. Blythe is semi-occupied with stickers and paint and a book [yes, simultaneously]. I open the cupboard door, glad I shot some WD-40 up in those hinges, and reach for the bright blue package.

I open the "easy- open" top [which, let's be honest, IS a better way to keep those puppies fresh because it re-seals…until you're trying to get the last Oreo out of the corner of the back of the package and I'm all, "GET THE SCISSORS!!" It's a minor crisis every time.].

Where was I?

Oh, yes.
I open the package…

and it is as if a thousand chandeliers have dropped two hundred feet and shattered into millions of pieces…on a glass floor.

I realize I shut my eyes during the initial onslaught of noise, so I open one carefully. And there she is, her brown eyes looking up at me with wonder and joy thinking that her mom is finally going to give her a cookie at 9 in the morning [what? You don't eat Oreos for second- breakfast?].

Sigh.

It's not any better during nap time if your child's room shares a wall with the kitchen like mine [design flaw. I'm about to give her the master bedroom.] .

What is a mama that needs her snack fix to do? And maybe your snack of choice isn't Oreos, but I guarantee it's something in a loud package, am I right? Cheetos? Animal Crackers? [Don't say you just eat an apple. Liar].

I know you all think this is just one of my sarcastic posts where I exaggerate a problem. It's not. This problem is real, folks. And I found a solution.

Ziploc bags, my friend.

Not just regular ones, but the slider ones. You can open these virtually noiselessly.
I have a couple bags in my cupboards right now holding my glorious snacks. Sneaking away is still an issue, and I'm not kidding about keeping those hinges oiled, but if I can get to the bag itself my odds of not rousing the attention of my toddler have improved drastically.

Snack on, friends. Snack on.

Now, about sneaking snacks in the car once your toddler is forward facing…