Stacie Billis

No, you don't have to take on extra kitchen projects right now or try to feed your kids more vegetables.

I remember the headline as clear as day: Mom Spends Beach Vacation Assuming All Household Duties in Closer Proximity to Ocean. It was published on The Onion, a satirical news publication, five years ago, but is still memorable — and hilarious — because it’s true. So painfully true.

I have a confession: I never feel 100% absorbed in my self-care rituals during the day, even when my children are apart from me. As a busy working mother, I’m always managing something as mom. And while I’ve taken great strides to make time for myself during the day — to exercise, have coffee with friends, and allow myself open-ended space to be creative — moments when I can truly lose myself without worry about where I or my sons need to be next are fleeting.

Dinner gets all of the attention. Understandably, since it demands our time at the end of the day, when we’re exhausted and the pressure is on to feed our families in the short span between returning from work, school, and after-school activities and managing homework and the bedtime routine. But you know what? I’m also tired in the morning, and the a.m. rush is even less forgiving.

Snacking has taken over the way we eat and, given our propensity for unrelenting schedules and processed foods, this is a mostly bad thing. But I found one way that snacking can serve the greater good. And by greater good, I mean us parents who have the tedious job of packing (literally) hundreds of school lunches year after school year. I’m not a huge snacker myself.