If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

I have two young kids. We don’t indulge in things like smoothies and ice cream cones every day while running around on errands, but once in a while I find that there’s nothing quite like the bribe of a treat to extend my kids’ patience.

I can’t be the only parent out there who has noticed how incredibly large most kids portions are. My guess is that the portions restaurants and other establishments give kids are probably the correct size for adults, while the adult portions are about the size a giant would need. I didn’t like giving my kids these portions which were obviously too large for kids, let alone toddlers. My kids didn’t finish them anyhow, so I felt like I was wasting food and money.

So here is what I did: Instead of ordering two smoothies or two ice creams or whatever we were indulging in, I ordered one and asked the clerk to put it into two containers. It sounds like a simple enough change, but once I started doing that I noticed that I was not only saving a lot of money, but there was a lot less mess to clean up too. It was such a small change, but it made a big impact.

There are only a couple of places around town who get a little annoyed at my request, like the coffee shop down the road that makes me pay an extra twenty-five cents for splitting a drink into two cups. Places like Starbucks and Dairy Queen have always been quite accommodating, though, and I like the fact that I’m saving money while also controlling portions for my kids better.

If you’re like me and have two Little Ones, give this a try the next time you zip through a drive-thru for a quick treat. Your kids probably won’t even notice the change, and you’ll save some money while you’re at it.

Tags: kids sizes, saving money, treats