By Funmi Ajumobi
Parents should be the happiest during the long vacation because their children, whether in boarding school or day school will be around them at home if many of them are not thrown back to school for holiday coaching where their brain is tasked again.

Osinbajo teaching the children at the Abagana IDP camp the song “I am a winner in the name of the Lord”

Holiday is a time for children to have good sleep, eat good food, play and add knowledge in a relaxed way.   It is important that parents should know this to be able to plan their meals.

During school, it is possible to maintain a routine in planning their meal but it gets difficult to do so once the vacation begins. This makes children end up eating all kinds of junk food.

For many parents today, the food choices for the family are made primarily according to what is fastest and easiest like pasta, noodles and all kinds of processed and packaged foods.

As Homemakers, take your stand to ensure your child eats right because of the adverse effect of wrong diet on health. Do not abdicate your responsibilities to your children by allowing them   make choices for which they are in no way qualified to make. Many parents focus on the children being happy and liking the parents instead of making the choices and decisions that will lead to healthy children.

Making thoughtful choices every day about what your children absolve into their bodies will make or break them.   The foods we eat are supposed to make us physically, mentally, and emotionally alive, energised, and joyful.

How do parents take responsibility?

Plan their meals weekly recognising that they will eat more than what they used to eat before the holidays because they exhaust their energy quickly.

Reduce purchase of fast meals like pasta and noodles and if they must eat them everyday, provide what will make it a balanced diet.

Buy any fruit in season and ensure they are available for them for snacks.

On weekends, learn and teach children how to make smoothies to make eating fruits interesting.

Research available says a glass of milk everyday is good for the children. Get sachet milk which is cheaper if you can’t afford the tin milk. Ensure to mix a sachet with water for your child to drink.

To save parents the stress of what to give their children  during the holiday, a chart of complete diet for our children will be made available to Homemakers in our next publication.

Ensure to enjoy quality time with   your children this holiday.