A Fun Way to Serve Dinner

Since my other half is away visiting his grandparents and picking up Cutie Pie’s new big boy bed, I’ve been trying to keep the boys occupied.   Luckily, today was a preschool day (Pajama Day to be exact) for Wildman.  So, Cutie Pie and I ran errands until it was time to pick up brother from school.  We met some friends at a nearby park for a picnic lunch then came home so Cutie Pie could take a little nap.  Wildman and I did a few art projects, spray painted some wooden hearts for Labschool and played a his new board game.  When Cutie Pie woke up we played with Hot Wheels, built towers with blocks, set up a toy train, played with a sensory table and tried out some Thomas Colorforms.

I was running out of ideas to keep the kids busy by the time dinner rolled around…  I really wanted to cover Cutie Pie’s new sports table with the 20-gauge clear vinyl I had purchased earlier today. I opened up two of the new Diego play sets that Cutie Pie got for his birthday as a distraction.  The munchkins would want to assist me with the scissors and staple gun if they weren’t otherwise engaged.  Diego is always a good distraction.  That and remnant vinyl pieces…  Once the table was sufficiently covered in a layer of protective plastic Wildman declared that he wanted to eat dinner on it.  I saw no problem with it but I wondered what I could fix that would be a special treat for them to go with the new dinner locale.

Then it hit me- muffin pans!  The new silicone muffin pans would be perfect serving dishes for the boys.  Presentation is everything when you’re trying to get preschoolers and toddlers to eat.

I filled each cup with something different.  The boys feasted on drinkable yogurt, chicken nuggets, ranch dip, TLC Fire Roasted Veggie crackers, baby carrots and cheese sticks that I cut into disks.  Both of them cleaned their plates without much coercion encouragement from me.  Yeah!  I’m going to have to do this more often.

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