How do you fix supper?

My two have started constantly being underfoot when I'm trying to fix supper. I used to be able to turn Sesame Street on long enough to get supper fixed. Now, they only want mommy. They push themselves between me & the stove or cabinets, between my legs and all over my feet. DD was not happy this evening unless I held her. It's impossible to fix supper like this! What do you do? I don't know if this makes a difference, or not, but I just started staying home with them all day (I am a teacher) & they weaned themselves over the weekend. We're getting lots of quality time together during the day, but it seems like they just want more & more time with me.

 

I put them in their high chairs with a snack and some milk. like goldfish, or crackers of some sort. that seems to buy me some time :ibiggrin:

 

I do the same - get them set up in their high chairs where they can't get out - and are safe if I'm doing boiling water....

ANd 2nd - I make a menu! I know it sounds weird, but if I have a menu for the month (some people do by week) then I KNOW what I'm cooking and I KNOW in the morning what to take out to defrost - it just makes it so much easier than scrambling to make something - which makes me stressed and they pick up on it - which makes them clingy - and makes me MORE stressed.....

 

I do as much of the cooking and prep work as I can while they are napping and then there's not much to do at dinner time. I also have a menu and know what we're having when which takes the guess work out of it.

When I'm getting everything together at dinner time I give them their milk sippys, turn on The Wiggles (a HUGE hit in our house, the only thing all 3 of them will sit and watch for more than 10 min) and then they have to sit in their plush chairs while I'm getting things ready. I used to have gates up so that when I was cooking they physically couldn't get into the kitchen area but we took them down a few weeks ago, right around the time I discovered The Wiggles and the power they have over my kids (they are my new best friends, lol)!

 

I often will put something in the crockpot in the mornings, or I will make a bunch of freezer meals one weekend and just have something to pop in the oven. Lucky for me, DH also cooks, so he fixes stuff half the time. But I agree to try the high chairs and see if that works.

 

I do as much prep work during nap time (I just chopped veggies and chicken for dinner tonight). If that's not possible, I put them in their highchairs and give them playdough or let them color. Since they've gotten a little older I can now let them sit on the counter and help for 5 minutes at a time. All in all, dinner preparation most days is the hardest time of the day for the three of us.

 

I also did a lot of crockpot meals - they didn't seem to need to be as underfoot in the mornings as they did in the evenings. As they got a bit older though, I would give them their own pots, measuring cups & "ingredients" (usually some kind of pasta) to make their own dinners - or sometimes let them measure things out for our actual dinner. We also taught them that they needed to move to the carpet (we can't gate our kitchen off) when I was opening the stove, or handling boiling water. I did also have some luck with giving them a "time-in" - if they were too much in the way, I'd set the timer for a couple of minutes, tell them I could cuddle until the timer beeped & then I had to make dinner. GL!

 

These are all great ideas! I knew you ladies could help. Thank you!!

 

I remember when mine were that young, I'd put them in their high chairs with a little snack and do "mommy cooking show!" I'm not sure it entertained them, but it did keep them occupied (and probably thinking that I lost my mind!).

 

Prep during nap and then gate them into the living room while actually cooking. Our living room opens onto our kitchen, so I can keep an eye on them. I don't like them underfoot when the stove is on!

 

I plan my meals a week in advance, and then prep as much as I can the night before. Then when we walk in the door from work it is a race to the finish line to get dinner done! Definitley my least favorite part of the day.

 

Mine are only 13 months old but we get these times where they want me. I usually leave them in the living room, we have a gate between living room and kitchen, with daddy or big sister. If one is just totally out of control with mommyitis I throw on the moby and hold him or her while I cook.