And Don’t Forget Your Lunch!
Is it me or does this day seem to come earlier every year? I think last year I wasn’t this fed up until at least early November. Here we are at the end of September and I am officially sick and tired of making my son his lunch for school every day. Now I have tried changing up the routine I have. Some days I make his lunch before I go to bed at night, sometimes while I make breakfast and other days I am ready just to buy a years supply of Lunchables and just shove a new one in his backpack every day. I’m pretty sure with all the chemicals in them they would last that long anyways.
Really though my son is very easy going. He is usually up with me by 6 am and we have breakfast together. He actually likes school and has a voracious appetite for books and learning. He gets good marks in school and I have yet to have a meeting with the principal about him. I don’t think my parents could ever say that about me when I was his age.
It’s not like my son is a picky eater either. I have always tried to make sure we avoided fast food and he only ate what are healthier options so maybe this pain is self induced. I don’t think he has ever tasted a chicken nugget and he will eat virtually anything I put down in front of him but here I am at the end of the first month of school and I am drawing a blank about what to make him tomorrow for lunch.
It’s not just me either. I talk to the other parents and we all share stories of being in the trenches and I see them at the grocery store with the same blank stare as they meander up and down the isles. For something that really is such a small inconvenience why does it seem like such a big deal all the time. How many more sandwiches can I make and when can depend on him to make his own lunches?
The reality is that will only solve part of the problem though as I will still have to buy everything. While I love my Costco membership I hate gassing up my pickup to haul the supply of snacks and drinks home. Thankfully my kitchen renovations included a new pantry to hold all he needs for a couple of weeks.
Maybe it’s the cleaning that gets to me. By the time he is done school and his extracurricular activities for the day its supper time. A supper that I generally had to prepare the night before as well. Then the cleaning begins. Clean up after supper and time to open up his lunch kit and clean it as well. Did he eat it at all or did it explode? Maybe I should just throw out the whole lunch kit. Fill a paper bag with everything stuffed into zip locks and at the end of the day he can throw it all out.
Having once worked in the food industry I am aware of how long food can last without being refrigerated but dear lord there are some days I open up that lunch kit and the smell just about knocks me off my feet. Before I know it I am washing his lunch kit out and preparing for the next day all over again.
Maybe we, as parents, place far to much pressure on ourselves as well. We like to make sure we pack the coolest lunches as we envision the other kids all sitting around at lunchtime wishing their parents would pack a lunch as cool as we just did for our child. I know we do this. I have seen your Instagram feeds and some of you need help.
Anyone know if Pop-Tarts are an acceptable lunch?
