About a week ago my husband and I were at the craft store where he spotted this little lap desk. It’s essentially a plastic tray with pockets on either side that can sit on your lap as you work. My husband’s idea was to use it as a little dinner table for Cam by slinging it over a stool and placing it near our table. We tried it out, but it wasn’t nearly as helpful or popular as we thought it would be. In a moment of inspiration, though, I set it on the floor next to our cabinets, placed Cam’s water cup and a little snack bowl on it and turned it into her snack table.
It has been a huge hit with everyone. Cam is able to get herself a drink and little snack whenever she wants. I can monitor when she is hungry and thirsty, but allow her some independence and choice. It has also cut down on a lot of fussing that went on when she would try to communicate that she needed a drink or a little pick-me-up snack. I can still control what she’s snacking on, of course, but she really seems to like it.