Ideas to keep lunch time prep sane

[monkeymama]

For my group, lunch prep is the beginning of winding down for them. Everyone goes and picks a book for before nap or a puzzle and sits quietly while I prep. The 12 month olds get in their highchair with a toy or sit and have a "big" kid read to them. This works for me as I know where everyone is, they are starting to wind down and will be ready for nap after lunch and it is safe so no where is running around the kitchen while I am cooking. Like the others have posted, if its been a particularly busy today, I turn on pbs but that is a rare occurence

[AmandaKDT]

I do exactly as gramma describes. I like having the little ones already in their chairs so they can't get into anything or be under my feet while I'm getting the food ready.