Sumer is my BEYOND favourite season. I wait all Canadian Winter for it to finally come and basically start counting down as it starts to get chillier until it comes back again.
I don’t mean to be a Debby Downer over here but the minute the August long weekend hits I feel like summer is basically over.
You start hearing the back to school commercials and start thinking about planning all the back to school lunches for your kids.You know……the ones that normally end up back home untouched and make you want to pull your hair out as you throw yet another sandwich or yogurt in the trash.
The worst part is ….sometimes the reasons your kids tell you they’re not eating their lunch has NOTHING to do with the real reason they’re not eating it.
So when your kids say:
“I don’t like __________ (yogurt, cream cheese sandwiches, cheese and crackers, tuna bagels , baby carrots etc etc etc)
What they really mean is:
“I don’t have enough time to eat with a fork and knife in the cafeteria”
“Lentil soup doesn’t smell like all the other kid’s lunches”
“I don’t know how to open my cheese string/ yogurt/ thermos because you’ve always done it for me at home”
The good news is {$name} that there is one thing you can do between now and the start of school to pre-empt this….and it’s not trying to decipher which of the reasons your six year old means when they say “I don’t like this lunch”
Mama– start packing their lunch NOW!
Yes, even when they are home with you for the month of August, start packing their lunch box with them the night before.
That way:
If you’re putting in too much food…..you’ll know when there is still food in the lunch in your fridge every day! (without having to waste it!)
If they’re having trouble opening thermoses, containers, yogurts, or cheese strings you’ll see it…..when they are repeatedly asking you to do it for them!
If they don’t want something cold out of the fridge ….it might not be the best thing to send to school without a microwave
If they’re eating something at home out of a thermos you can talk to them about whether that seems like a reasonable lunch item for them to take!
You can either do this at home at your dining room table or commit to a picnic dinner at the park!
What are some of your kiddos favourite school lunch items?!
