It’s Lunchbox Time

Tis the season for mommas to gather ideas to keep the drab lunchbox with the same lunch over and over from creeping into existence!  It’s hard to keep it interesting, inexpensive, and nutritious.  I mean, that’s a pretty tall order!   Oh, and it would be helpful if they LIKED their lunch too, yes?  Well, my little men get lunch with some thought put into it.  I mean, food is food, and my preschool-age boys just want something to eat.  So, food they get, but I like to add elements to their lunch experience that may impact their life while they’re at school as well as our conversations when they get in the car after school.  May I share with ya?!

Well, let’s talk food first!  My boys like things such as: applesauce, granola bars (Cliff, Fiber One anything, Great Value, and almost any other kind), whole wheat goldfish, dry cereal (Fiber One anything, Great Value's cheerios, GVs Crunchy Raisin Bran), fruit (tangerine, grapes, banana), raisins, craisins, fruit chews, rice cakes, water, Powerade Zero, Gatorade, and, of course, pb & j.  We do not do juice basically at all in our house.  So, for their drink I will send a reusable cup for water or a reusable thermos with Gatorade or Powerade Zero – no juice.  For their meal, I give them an assortment of 3-4 items from the list above.  And, as they find other foods that they like, we add them to the assortment options.  But, I strive to keep away from anything that would require a ice pack or anything like that.  Since they like the options in our assortment, they’re always happy and rarely bring anything back home in their lunch box.  But, the lunch box has in it more than just food.

I utilize the lunch box as a tool to spark conversation.  Yep!  Instead of focusing on the food in the lunch box, I focus on the experience they’ll have each time they open that puppy up!  So, lets talk some logistics.

Jackson loves shapes, so I would draw a shape on his napkin (or his paper towel).  Some days I’d write the verse he was working on, a word he was learning how to pronounce, or a word only he and I knew because he’d made it up.  So, when I picked him up from school, I’d ask, “So, what was on your napkin today?”  He ALWAYS remembered!  And so sparked a conversation about school!  It’s always fun when it’s a word or something he doesn’t know because he asks for help and involves the teacher.  But, my goal is to connect with him even when I’m not there, and bring a bit of the love and fun from home into his classroom where he is on his own.   It makes it fun for me to know that he’s got a tiny piece of the comfort of home in his lunch box waiting for him.

The boys love COLORS.  So, each day they take a utensil, it’s a different color.  I have the “disposable” child spoons, which you KNOW that I put in the dishwasher and re-use all the time.  They come in all different colors!  So, each day a different one goes in!  Simple.  To them it’s like a new spoon every day!  And, when I have colored napkins on hand, I’d send one of those instead of a paper towel.  We are all incredibly VISUAL.  So, by switching up colors, it makes the lunch look different each time!

Now, you know that I love to make a penny bleed.  So, this is a total Tisha Thing….when the boys were tiny, I started recycling the People’s Choice plastic baby food containers.  They were such a great, tiny size and came with a LID!  I’d just put them in the dishwasher and reuse them for snacks in my diaper bag.  Turns out that those lids fit all individual applesauce containers too.  So, I save the plastic applesauce containers and recycle those for lunches.  They make a perfect portion size for the boys’ lunches as well as just snacks at home!  So, each day those are the cups their options from the assortment get sent in -- a virtual Small Man Buffet!

Chinese buffets are a great spot to help liven up a lunch box too.  I love to put a fortune cookie in their lunch box.  They love ‘em!  Fortune cookies are another conversation spark because when Jackson gets one it not only is a treat to him, but it also reminds him of our family together time.  So, I like to put in a treat that is edible that will spark their memory.  And, I have been known to put an Oreo cookie in the bottom of one of their little plastic bowls.  They love finding those!

I feel like, if they're hungry, they're gonna eat.  But, I want to use that lunch box as a tool to impact their day and our relationship.  So, I do!