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Preschooler's Snack Breaks: More Than Just Munching Moments

I can vividly recall the first time I left my three-year-old alone in his preschool. It felt like my heart sank inside me. A thousand questions raced through my mind: What if he needs something? Who will feed him? What if another child hurts him? Today, he's a 17-year-old young man who tells me, "Take a break, you need rest. I'll take care of things." It's amazing how parents grow alongside their children.

When our children start going to preschool alone, they're confronted with new people, environments, and routines. For parents, it's one of the most anxiety-inducing experiences. Having been in the preschool environment for almost two decades now, I've seen that children take a day or two to realize they're safe and can have fun in this new environment. However, it takes much longer for us as adults to trust and have faith in the caregivers. Every moment in these environments teaches children something or lays the foundation for their future life. They're busy in this learning process, while we as adults constantly look for reasons to worry and add the energy of fear to this beautiful process.

Recently, while discussing snack breaks for children during school hours with another parent, I realized how much more a mere snack break offers to a child. When I was looking for a preschool for my son, I visited a facility during snack break time. I saw a group of children aged 2 to 3 sitting at a table with their lunch boxes in front of them, feeding themselves. As a mother, I felt proud seeing how much my son was capable of doing, as he was the same age but I had always fed him at home. When children eat together, they learn sharing, respecting, cleaning, independence, and so much more. While one child learns not to take food from others without asking, another learns to share with friends. These moments of eating together turn into cherished memories. They might not finish their whole lunchbox, but slowly they start enjoying these moments, and snack breaks become much more than just a break for food.

Today, when I try to recall such moments from my son's early years, I struggle to remember. I wish that instead of always worrying about things, I had cherished those moments of joy, happiness, and wonder he was experiencing then. If you're a young parent, I encourage you not to miss out on these magical moments of your child's first step towards independence.

Exploring more, Manika 🌟

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