Packing Lunch for Your Children Doesn’t Have to Be a Headache

July 29, 2011 I Love My Family,SugarSpawn

Photo credit: Lisa Storms

Let’s face it. Coming up with lunch ideas before you’ve downed your caffeine is a bit of a challenge. School is already back in session for some children, and making the transition from lazy mornings to organized chaos once again could go a little smoother if you prepare for it.

Personally, I’m all about doing things frugally while I feed my kids healthy, local food whenever I’m able. I don’t like to waste food, and with three of us in school (yes, me too), I rarely throw out food anymore.

Thomas’ Goodbyn loaded up one day in the winter.

Your best defense is a good offense.

When you bring home vegetables & fruit, wash and cut them up right away.  I find if I take the extra 15 minutes or so to do this, grabbing everything I need for lunch prep is super easy. When I have a lot of fruit on hand, I use a covered fruit tray and pull out the one container to stuff lunches.  Lots of veggies? Same thing – one container. My kids and I don’t care if our chopped bell peppers are touching our baby carrots.  And when dinner is running late, I throw the container on the table to stave off the whining, thereby tricking them into eating healthy.

Invest in a lunchkit.

My oldest (12) doesn’t care if his lunch comes in an insulated bag (in fact, he thinks the lunch kits are pretty uncool for a near teen), and he is old enough to poke through his lunch and not miss the good stuff. My youngest (now 7) took a Goodbyn to school last year and while the presentation was great, as he could see his entire lunch and ended up eating more of it, he couldn’t close the lid properly and I ended up cleaning out his backpack about twice a week because of spilled food.  We’re going to hang on to these for my lunch this year, and use it for car & beach trips and times when there’s an adult around to close it.

Photo credit: Barb Dean

This year, we are investing in a Planetbox, on the recommendation of my friend Barb.  She runs a Facebook group called Landon’s Lunches, where she posts pictures of well, Landon’s Lunches.  Barb shares tips and answers questions about her Planetbox, even though she doesn’t work for them. It’s great to see the different ideas she comes up with and I’ve happily stolen a few of her ideas for my guys. You can join here!

Make lunch the night before.

One of the things I did last year was make lunch the night before.  I’m told it’s great to put the whole Planetbox in the fridge. In the morning, the metal kit is cold and stays cold in the insulated bag until lunchtime rolls around. This saves time in the morning while dealing with the morning rush, and allow more time for finding those elusive library books or filling out the field trip forms on the last day they are due.

If you have time, get creative.

Photo source

You don’t have to create a bento box with an intricate sushi rice & meatball-formed monster dude (and a lettuce-wearing meat lady!), but you can add things to your kid’s lunch that he might try, especially without the pressure of Mom or Dad around.  Last year Thomas enjoyed turkey pepperoni, pita bread, and pineapple and loved them all.

There’s also no shortage of lunch ideas on the internet, if you’re willing to search. Laptop lunches and Pinterest (search “lunch”) are a good start.

Making lunches really doesn’t have to be the huge pain in the butt that it used to be. I find that having a lunch kit cuts down on time as well because you aren’t bagging every little snack and running around the kitchen trying to find everything.

Disclosure: even though this totally sounds like a sponsored post, it isn’t. I just found much less frustration last year by using a lunch kit and it only took me 12 years of parenting to get this part right. Now where are those stinking library books?

My 7 Year Old Will Make a Great Manager One Day

July 27, 2011 I Love My Family,Sugarpants Family,SugarSpawn

Thomas was in his room this afternoon, as I told him he had to tidy the floor before I made him a snack (it seriously would take 5 minutes – the kid wasn’t in there starving). Do your kids pull the “I’M HUNGRY” card when you ask them to do a chore?

UGH. My guys? Every time. Now I make them do the chore while I make the snack/meal – it tends to hustle them up, most of the time.

Not today, Zurg.

This note shot out from under Thomas’ bedroom door, into the hall:

Fiction for Dummies: Bathroom Jenga

Fiction for Dummies

She pressed her lips together as she peeled off yet another crimson toenail, the underbelly pale pink and soft. She wondered if the skin of a fetus looked this way before the harsh air of life hit it upon arrival. There was no pain; only raw, new, perfect skin; a beginning so very small on a 37 year old body.

Moments before, she had bounded into the house after her run; a laboured exercise she continued to pursue despite injuries and pains that woke her from sleep many nights. She wondered if she was running toward skinny or away from fat. Most days she felt as though her legs were true saddlebags, heavy and pulling on every joint that had already seen war from childbirth multiple times.

Some days she felt as though she could run forever; like a gazelle – light, quick, free.

She placed the toenail in her palm and examined it. She’d always been fascinated by the human body and it’s odd miracles that could misfire without warning. After a few moments, she launched the nail into the bathroom trash can, which was overflowing with toilet paper rolls and the paper backings of pantyliners. Bathroom Jenga was on once more, and though she’d lost to her husband the last three times, she was determined to make him lose this time by waiting until he changed the garbage, if she could. It was a silly game they bantered about their whole married life and each time, it brought a laugh, no matter who won.

She snagged her tweezers out of her make-up bag & pulled the magnification mirror closer. Chin hairs were growing increasingly bold and popping up in stranger spots each week. She tweeted, “Dear Whore Moans, I don’t need eyelashes on my chin. Cut it out.” She hoped it would make some woman smile, somewhere.

She surveyed and poked, plucked and prodded, until she was satisfied that she still looked like a woman and not a prepubescent boy. Being 37 seemed like an age where one could squeeze out the vanity and switch it for something more dignified, but in truth she just prayed her eyesight wouldn’t go bad anytime soon and leave her a blind billy goat.

She stared at the trash can once more. It was hard to let it go so long. There was even a bag lining it – she could scoop it and get it to the garage without him noticing (this was also part of the game – you had to be caught) and maybe he’d forget that the can had been overflowing. Oh fuck it, she thought, I can’t stand it and he knows that.

“You win again, honey,” she said out loud to the empty master suite.

Leaning over the toilet to grab the trash bag, she felt a pull in her chest. She paused for only a second, shrugged it off, and leaned again.

Pull.

She stood up and tried to straighten her shoulders back. These pains were often fleeting – a rib out of place, a weird twinge in the knee.  It’s nothing.

Push.

It felt as though someone was sitting on her chest and she couldn’t inhale all the way. She managed to flip down the toilet lid and sit on it, bracing herself on the counter.

Push.

The weight of an elephant was crushing her and her eyes widened.  We learned this in first aid. Am I? No way. Am I having a goddamn heart attack?

Push.

Tears filled her eyes. I am going to die. 

Think quickly. No one is home. Phone.

Phone!

She dialed 911.

Yellow stars filled her field of vision.

She managed a muffled help me into the phone and fell to the floor.