Thursday, July 25, 2013

a prayer for snack time

I'll admit it... there are times (more than I'd like to count) when our family does not pray before meals. I don't think I'm alone on this one (feel free to leave some love and encouragement in the comment section!), because the day kinda goes like this...
Breakfast: "What do you want for breakfast? No, you can't have cake. Pick something! Eat. Please eat. Eat your breakfast! What spilled over here?!"  And on school days... "Hurry up - the bus is coming in 5 minutes!! Well, where were you when you took your shoes off yesterday?"
Lunch: "Yes, we're having bologna sandwiches again. Stop complaining. Eat your lunch. I'll give you the cake if you eat your sandwich. Where's your brother? Eat!" 
Dinner: "It will be ready soon. I'm cooking it now! Yes, I'm making vegetables for you, too. Stop complaining. Wash your hands, please. Don't touch that!... get some paper towel and clean it up. Wash your hands again. Who left the door open?! It's ok... we'll just scrape off the burned part. Stop complaining - there are hungry people all over the world who would be happy to eat this food!" 

Whew... I'm exhausted just from typing that! Does any of that sound familiar? And while a prayer before each meal is the intention, it just doesn't always happen. But Snack Time is oddly different. There's usually no stress when one of my kiddos asks for an afternoon snack. There's nothing to prepare... usually it's just rinsing some fruit and finding a little bowl. The kids aren't in a rush, and neither am I. Occasionally, the kids want their afternoon snack at slightly different times, which means some quiet one-on-one time for a few moments. 
I found this simple prayer that little ones can sing, and I thought that right before snack time would be a good time of day for it. 
Have children fold their hands and sing this prayer to the tune of Farmer in the Dell. Now you have a simple prayer for snack time that's easy enough for children of all ages.

2 comments:

  1. Holy Cow it's good to note that someone else goes through the same stuff I did in raising my 4 children! And the prayer before snack idea? Genius. I will be incorporating that on days I have my grandchildren visiting.

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind comment, Barbi. Glad I could spark an idea for you!

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