Samm Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 I'm supposed to bring snack for my 12yo's basketball team game which starts in 39 minutes. There are 11 players on the team. I thought they had aged out of even getting snacks parent-brought snacks post game, but I was wrong. How many would you bring? 11, 12, or more for little sibs who show up to watch? I prepared 12 but am I supposed to prepare more like 20? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 I'd show up with a bag of washed apples and call it a day. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samm Posted November 6, 2015 Author Share Posted November 6, 2015 Thanks. Gotta go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Bunny Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Maybe a thing of muffins to go with the apples? Cheese strings? I'd bring a snack for each team member, one for the coach and something special for me on the ride home. Unless some other mother has set the precedent of feeding siblings. In which case, take her out in the parking lot before presenting your 12 snacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Maybe a thing of muffins to go with the apples? Cheese strings? I'd bring a snack for each team member, one for the coach and something special for me on the ride home. Unless some other mother has set the precedent of feeding siblings. In which case, take her out in the parking lot before presenting your 12 snacks. At 12 years old? No way. Not for just one game. They are old enough to eat before the game. They are old enough to know if they need something during the game (like low blood sugar or something). They don't need a snack for a single game, much less that much extra stuff. They should be happy with apples. Now if this was a playoff, with back to back to back games, I would say yes, they need a snack, but for this, a single game,at 12 is pushing it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 I'd have some extras for siblings, only because I'd hate to have to say "no" to some little kid that meandered up to me and asked for one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Well I think snacks can be nice especially if the kids actually hang out while eating. And if the snacks are healthy. Neither of which generally happen IME. But I don't think age should be a cut off factor for offering snacks. My 12 yo is always ravenous, especially after a game or race. He definitely needs to refuel, more so now than when snacks were more common at age 7. Now those I thought were kind of silly, more for fun than necessity. At this age and level of competition it's absolutely necessary. I Guess I'm not understanding the controversy. Anyway, hope the game went well (and the kids liked the snacks!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abba12 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Can't 12 year olds bring their own snacks from home? Really?? I'd grab a bag of apples and a box of crackers. done. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Good lord, why can't everyone bring their own food?? 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 The snack thing is so weird... I can see arguments either way. Not having snack rosters is easier on parents, encourages kids to follow their own routine for eating or be responsible for themselves, and discourages using more wasteful packaging and processed foods. On the other hand, it can encourage good community and sharing time, create a bond between families (sometimes the snack roster conversation is the icebreaker for parents to actual talk to each other), and kids at some ages are genuinely hungry all the time. Plus, it doesn't have to be bad... a bag of clementines or apples or a bunch of string cheese isn't a terrible thing about playing hard for an hour. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 I don't get it. I never liked the idea of snacks being provided at every.dang.event my kids attended. I mean it looks like the game started early evening. Did the boys not go home after school and perhaps get a snack there, or even eat dinner already? Are they not going home after the game? Can't they eat a snack when they get there? They're not going to starve to death for Pete's sake. Yes, I'm sensitive because I have a dd that's overweight and has zero self control. She plays three sports and almost every practice and game have a freaking snack involved. And it's never, ever a healthy snack. It's always brownies or cookies or doughnuts. And don't forget about the pasta and garlic bread parties (heavy on desserts of course!) that take place every week before a meet or a game. I understand the whole camaraderie thing, and I really wouldn't mind every once in a while, but it's all.the.time. Food scrooge is signing off now :) 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Good lord, why can't everyone bring their own food?? You are singing my song, friend. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 I don't get it. I never liked the idea of snacks being provided at every.dang.event my kids attended. I mean it looks like the game started early evening. Did the boys not go home after school and perhaps get a snack there, or even eat dinner already? Are they not going home after the game? Can't they eat a snack when they get there? They're not going to starve to death for Pete's sake. Yes, I'm sensitive because I have a dd that's overweight and has zero self control. She plays three sports and almost every practice and game have a freaking snack involved. And it's never, ever a healthy snack. It's always brownies or cookies or doughnuts. And don't forget about the pasta and garlic bread parties (heavy on desserts of course!) that take place every week before a meet or a game. I understand the whole camaraderie thing, and I really wouldn't mind every once in a while, but it's all.the.time. Food scrooge is signing off now :) I don't have an overweight child, but all these things are VERY annoying to me. I don't like the (seems like mostly American) view that everyone has to have food and caloric beverages available at every moment. I think it's good for kids (and a fair few adults) to learn that, barring some threatening medical condition, it is not just fine, but desirable, to learn to sit with hunger from time to time. To learn that nothing horrible will happen if you have a fleeting wish to eat, yet you don't immediately satisfy it but rather, just go on with your business and have food later. It's a good skill, though it seems a dying one. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TX Native Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 It's too late to advise , but I take a bag of baby carrots, cheese cubes, and some grapes to things like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 My husband has run in several races. There is always food at the end of the course for the runners, and they are all adults. It is normal for athletes to need to replenish their bodies after physical exertion. He usually eats a piece of fruit and drinks a couple of bottles of water in the thirty minutes following the race. I think that if the teams customarily do a snack list so everyone doesn't have to remember a snack for themselves every practice, that is fine. It would also be fine if the team had each member responsible for their own food. Food really isn't the big deal many American's make it out to be. It isn't worth it to get all worked up about a snack after a ballgame, or a snack anytime for that matter. Provide healthy food, educate your own children about making good food choices and don't worry about anyone else's kid. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abba12 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 My husband has run in several races. There is always food at the end of the course for the runners, and they are all adults. It is normal for athletes to need to replenish their bodies after physical exertion. He usually eats a piece of fruit and drinks a couple of bottles of water in the thirty minutes following the race. My kids attend an athletics event that runs for 2 hours. All the children who attend manage to survive until they get home to eat dinner, or a snack if they ate dinner before the event. As a child at school in Australia, cross country was a compulsory part of primary school. No snacks after that either, we waited until recess or until we got home. Kids are allowed to snack at reigonal competition, but they eat whatever their parents pack them. (having said that, packed lunches are also normal here, no cafeteria and 'tuckshop' is usually one or two days a week.) A 2 hour tae kwon do class had no snacks. There's no snacks at any other event my kids go to at this point unless it's specifically a morning tea event, like a morning playgroup. To my understanding, most of the world has set times to eat meals. This concept of constantly snacking is quite strange and frustrating to be honest (frustrating because I see it slowly creeping in here). There's nothing wrong with being a little hungry for awhile, in fact it's probably a good thing to learn. We don't really do snacks at all in my house unless there's a reason, and many families I know are similar. Snacks are treats when mum bakes something, or extra food for a reason such as returning from sport or playing extra hard outside. If your DH genuinely needs a snack after his races, surely as a grown man he is capable of bringing one along in his backpack. But an adult running a serious race is rather different from a bunch of kids playing. I don't want my kids eating junk every time they go to an event, but I also don't want them to see everyone else eating junk and missing out themselves, they're already different enough from their peers by homeschooling and not already being part of their school-based social groups. If it was fruit and vegetables on offer, fine, no problem, but it isn't. I have a friend who's child is allergic to basically everything due to an infection as a baby. It's hard for her as a toddler to be constantly surrounded by food she can't have. Not that things should change just for her, but, there's many kids with allergies who end up left out when unhealthy or baked snacks are a part of every single activity. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Bunny Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 At 12 years old? No way. Not for just one game. They are old enough to eat before the game. They are old enough to know if they need something during the game (like low blood sugar or something). They don't need a snack for a single game, much less that much extra stuff. They should be happy with apples. Now if this was a playoff, with back to back to back games, I would say yes, they need a snack, but for this, a single game,at 12 is pushing it. Yeah, I was mostly offering other ideas of a "snack" that didn't involve any work on my part - certainly not offering up a smorgasbord, lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikin' Mama Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Another food scrooge here. One of the things I planned on doing when I had kids is, well, feeding them. In whatever situation they needed food. Not that difficult. (I'm sure someone will tell me why it IS difficult. :) ) I, too, have run in many races, several of which are 13.1 miles. I always bring my own food because I have celiac AND I can't stomach food right after a race. (I usually am traveling a couple hours.) But guess what? Before that race, I spent a ton of time training, coming home hungry, and, wait for it, making myself some food. (Disclaimer: sometimes dh will go to the taco truck and bring tacos back for me after a long run. I think I'll keep him around.) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 What I don't get it is, if they eat a snack after practice/game...then you've ruined their appetite for dinner. We NEVER once had snacks at softball practice/games growing up. We had dinner afterwards, why would we snack first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daria Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 What I don't get it is, if they eat a snack after practice/game...then you've ruined their appetite for dinner. We NEVER once had snacks at softball practice/games growing up. We had dinner afterwards, why would we snack first? I don't think that ruining appetites is something that happens to preteen and teenage boys. I don't think that kids need a group snack after events, but I also think that most kids have a snack mid afternoon, and if you're playing a game at that time, then a snack after game is fine, whether it's something your mom stashes in the car, or something shared with teammates. I don't know how we get from one snack after one game to "snacking all the time", unless your kid is playing three sports a season. I agree that I'd prefer fruit or cheese sticks or hummus and carrots to cookies. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 I don't know that it's necessary at all, but I take no issue with a group snack in this situation. Kids this age are always hungry. A group snack means I don't have to remember to buy, send, or remind anyone about snacks until my turn comes up. Also, it means you don't have kids eating in front of the kid who inevitably forgot his snack. It seems kinder and less disruptive if they all have the same. You avoid Steve forgetting AND George packing a flippin' three course meal. I can see it being more efficient from the coaches perspective to have everyone on the same page. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samm Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 Every kid who wanted one got a granola bar and an orange. A couple rejected the orange. Did I mention I was only 1/2 of courtside snack service? There was a beverage lady too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 I don't think that ruining appetites is something that happens to preteen and teenage boys. I don't think that kids need a group snack after events, but I also think that most kids have a snack mid afternoon, and if you're playing a game at that time, then a snack after game is fine, whether it's something your mom stashes in the car, or something shared with teammates. I don't know how we get from one snack after one game to "snacking all the time", unless your kid is playing three sports a season. I agree that I'd prefer fruit or cheese sticks or hummus and carrots to cookies. Our practices ended right at dinner time, so maybe that clouds my opinion. I can't imagine feeding kids a snack at 5 or so, then taking them home to eat dinner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Ds15 has played baseball for years. They did snacks up until about age 13, iirc. He doesn't like to eat before practice or games and sometimes they are very long. (Double-headers can be especially gruesome.) When he was younger, some of the practices/games were 45 minutes away from home, so the snacks were appreciated to put something in his stomach until I could get dinner on the table. Usually the boys got snack chips and a drink. I was That Mom that brought (frozen) full-sized chocolate bars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Times have changed a lot. When I was a kid you drank and used the toilet at break times only and you waited until PE was finished to grab a drink from the water fountain. We really are not so fragile we need a drink bottle within reach at all times although not waiting for the toilet is an improvement. None f the sports my kids do involve snacks although sometimes someone will bring cut up oranges. I give them something before hand and if we are not going home for a while I have something in my bag just in case but really being hungry for a little while is okay for most people. A group snack once or twice a season while the coach talks to them would be fine but not every time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 What I find interesting is that some sports (IME) have no snacks and others have them for a bazilion years. Wrestling never had parent-run snacks (although tournaments do have a concession stand). Wrestling is a physically intense sport and it's not hard to imagine kids needing a refuel. But parents bring their own coolers with snacks and lunches, or they buy their own concesssions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 I don't know that it's necessary at all, but I take no issue with a group snack in this situation. Kids this age are always hungry. A group snack means I don't have to remember to buy, send, or remind anyone about snacks until my turn comes up. Also, it means you don't have kids eating in front of the kid who inevitably forgot his snack. It seems kinder and less disruptive if they all have the same. You avoid Steve forgetting AND George packing a flippin' three course meal. I can see it being more efficient from the coaches perspective to have everyone on the same page. See, that's interesting because when I was in the thick of it, I thought it was much worse to have to remember which week I was snacks and to have some large quantity of snackable items at those times. I was already likely to be bringing a drink and snack for the youngest child, so it would have been much easier to just pack up a cooler with food and drink for my family. That way, there is no issue with whatever food the snack-bringer brought (alllergies, junky option). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daria Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 What I find interesting is that some sports (IME) have no snacks and others have them for a bazilion years. Wrestling never had parent-run snacks (although tournaments do have a concession stand). Wrestling is a physically intense sport and it's not hard to imagine kids needing a refuel. But parents bring their own coolers with snacks and lunches, or they buy their own concesssions. Wrestling, with it's emphasis on making weight, has it's own culture around food that's got the potential to be at least as damaging to kids' long term habits as cupcakes after practice. I'm not saying it always is, but I wouldn't hold up wrestling as an example of a sport with a great culture around food. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I would bring 12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Now that my kids are a lot bigger than their snacks, I don't fuss and just do whatever the group is doing. Sure, I'd rather they didn't get a snack right before a meal, but whatever. I've lightened up a lot over the past few years. :P 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Yeah, when I was a kid, "snack" was something I saw on foo foo tv shows. We didn't do "snacks," and believe me, it wasn't because we weren't as active in those days. :) Never saw a kid drop dead from hunger, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Or water bottles for that matter. But I'm sure I'll get an earful for saying that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Wrestling, with it's emphasis on making weight, has it's own culture around food that's got the potential to be at least as damaging to kids' long term habits as cupcakes after practice. I'm not saying it always is, but I wouldn't hold up wrestling as an example of a sport with a great culture around food. True, but this isn't done anymore, at least at the rec level. I don't know if it is at high school level the way it was when I was in high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.