It’s that time again….August. Back to school. End of summer, start of schedule. And we are SO NOT READY.
Oh, I admit that the routine will be nice because with all that’s been happening around here this summer, we have not had one, but it will take some adjusting to say the least. So, we’re going to start small with…shopping!
Yes, shopping.
For school supplies. And accessories. Backpacks, pencil boxes, lunch boxes, etc. Fun stuff.
As a child, I would agonize over which lunch box to choose until I was forced to make a decision and then I spent the rest of the rest of the school year feeling I’d made the wrong choice. I’m not kidding. When you’re seven, what you carry your lunch in is very important.
When you’re a mom, what’s in the thing your kid is carrying is much more so.
In my mind (or rather, my dreams), I’m that mother who is always packing a perfectly balanced, nutritious lunch. In reality, I’m the mom who forgot to pack anything on more than one occasion last year. And on others, I frantically threw whatever I could find into the pink Hello Kitty lunch box my daughter held open as we ran out the door.
So, in an effort to avoid that happening again this year (or at least during the first week of school), I’m working on a plan for some pretty good packed lunches.
Here are a few things I do (or plan to do):
- I’m a firm believer that every kid needs a cookie. (Okay, not really, but I know they almost all like them, right?) So, instead of throwing in packs of processed cookies, I have found it’s really easy to make a large batch of more healthy cookies that can be flash-frozen then stored in the freezer. Pull them out, pop them in the pack and go!
- Think outside the sandwich. My daughter loves to have things rolled in tortillas. She also likes to have cut up fruits, veggies and meats without bread at all.
- Ask your kids what they would like to eat. The answer might surprise you. My daughter would take hummus several times a week. Seriously. I had never even thought of packing it before she asked me to.
- Put a little something special in the pack. If your child loved last night’s dinner (or dessert!), send leftovers. If she’s a “no-crust” kind of girl, cut that crust off with a cookie-cutter and send some silly shaped sandwiches.
- And finally, go ahead and keep some packets of snacks, mac and cheese and Lunchables on hand just in case…everyone is running late sometimes, right?