When I work with families to create new routines for their child’s school life, I am sometimes asked, “But where will I find the time to do this?” Hmmm…. If we all have the same number of hours in a day, is it possible to “find time?” The real question is not “Where will I find the time?” It is either
- “How will I become more efficient?” or…
- “What am I doing now that I could stop doing in order to be able to do this?”
Once framed in this way, answering the question becomes a bit easier. In my own life, I experiment with efficiency. When I find something that works, I stick with it.
The phantom container stuck.
We just finished dinner. It was a spaghetti night. I made a huge batch and had quite a bit leftover. That’s where the phantom container comes in.
When my children were little, I read a book entitled Super Babyfood. Though the days of making babyfood have passed at my house, I am still using author, Ruth Yaron’s concept of the phantom container.
What does this have to do with spaghetti?
As I cleaned up our spaghetti dinner, I pulled muffin tins out of the cupboard and loaded each muffin spot with spaghetti. Then I covered the muffin tins and put them in the freezer. The next morning I removed the muffin tins, let them sit on the counter for about two minutes and then loosened each frozen little puck of spaghetti from it’s spot. The pucks go into a freezer Ziploc® bag and are ready for throwing into a school lunch. (My children’s school allows use of a microwave at lunch time.) You don’t have to use muffin tins as your freezing container, but for my crew it seems to be a just-right portion size. I use this method for taco meat, cut up grilled chicken, mashed potatoes… The possibilities are endless!
Packing homemade, healthful lunches is a snap. The children can do it themselves and it sure beats messing up the kitchen with sandwich making supplies just after you’ve cleaned up dinner or when you’re trying to get out the door in the morning.
I don’t have all the answers. I don’t know the best way to do everything. I am on a journey, just like you. But the next time someone asks me “Where will I find the time to do these routines you’re suggesting?” I just might say, “Let me tell you about the phantom container…”
