The Goldfish Standard
Your stopwatch as a new parent.
As a new parent, there are many skills and techniques that you will need to pick up: diaper changes, bottle feeds, sleep routines for babies, etc. With all the new skills, you’ll find you also have new ways of measuring things, like time. Our sons taught us the hidden, productive value of snack time.
Goldfish are multi-purpose.
They can track time, hold your kids’ attention, and keep them full.
Using goldfish to buy me some time started with our first kid, but it’s something that still comes in handy. I avoid making the older son watch his younger brother (as much as I can, at least) so I go back to what I used to do with our first son when I need both hands. I would sit him down and use goldfish crackers to keep him busy while I did tasks and chores that needed more of my attention. It worked, and I got some stuff done.
Trying to accomplish a task when you’re with your kids can be tough. When you only have one kid, it’s easier to maintain their attention with games, small puzzles, or simple toys (like a cardboard box). When there is more than one, it gets a bit trickier. Our second son is still a toddler, and the oldest is about 2nd grade age. Trying to maintain the toddler’s attention is harder, because he wants to do everything his older brother does. Fortunately, he’s like me and likes to eat so using goldfish to buy me some time is perfect.
Here’s a list of chores/tasks and they’re corresponding goldfish count for reference:
- Laundry (one basket) = 15 goldfish
- Dishes (sinkful) = 10 goldfish
- Vacuuming (one room) =8 goldfish
- Cooking = 12 goldfish + some distractions
One serving of goldfish crackers is 51 pieces. In order to get some chores done, I wouldn’t have to give our toddler an entire serving so I felt better giving him snacks while I got stuff done. I’d sit our toddler into his high chair then give him a small batch of goldfish at a time. If it was laundry, I’d break up the 15 goldfish into 3 sets of 5 to stretch the time I had. It was great for both of us. He was happy and fed, and I got work done; win-win if you ask me.
Don’t Only Use Goldfish
You can use apples, other fruits, or vegetables.
Although goldfish can buy you some time to be productive while you have your kids, you do have to balance how much you give them. They are still salty treats. To counter overusing goldfish, I included healthier treats. I cut up some fruits or vegetables that they can munch on. I didn’t restrict myself to just cutting up the healthy treats either. Our youngest son loves grated carrots. I can sit him down and wash a sink full of dishes while he eats the grated carrots. One grated carrot would buy me about two or three sinks full of dirty dishes.
Goldfish Won’t Last Forever
Your kids’ appetites and attention will change.
If you’re feeling bad about having to rely on goldfish or snacks to be productive, don’t worry. You won’t always have to rely on goldfish. At some point, your kids will be able to safely play on their own and keep their focus and attention on anything other than feeding snacks. There are just more options when they become a little more self sufficient. We would let our older son ask any questions he had on how things worked then we would explain it in a fun way for him. Other times, we would set him up to draw, color, or practice his handwriting.
You can come up with what works best for your kid, but just try to fill the time with something of quality. Recently, our older son has been folding his own clothes while my wife and I fold clothes so we’re all doing chores together. Sometimes the clean laundry sits for a few days before being folded, but we’re not perfect.
There’s only so much you can do with your time, especially when taking care of your kids. We try our best to get things done around times they’re doing things on their own, and it doesn’t always work out. You’ll learn that kids aren’t always as predictable as you’d hope. Some days they may not even want to snack on anything, like when their new teeth are coming in. In cases like that, just take it easy and don’t worry about productivity. You have more important people to take care of.
