I thought with the beginning of the school year quickly approaching, now would be a good time to re-visit a back-to-school post from days past, originally published October, 2008.
Every morning it is the same old routine around here. I get up way earlier than Id really like to, make the excruciating decision between getting my caffeine fix from half a pot of coffee or go the quicker route of grabbing an icy cold Diet Coke from the fridge, and get on with the business of packing lunches for my school-bound children.
Once I read about a mother who organizes her pantry with special bins, each containing a type of food to put in a childs lunchbox. I am not that mother.
First, my pantry is much too small for over-sized totes filled only with enough snacky items for a weeks worth of lunches and even if it were I think I could come up with about a thousand other items (cough, Pepperidge Farm Cookies, cough, cough) to fill my shelves. Second, I am just not that organized. Did I mention that I have a small pantry?
Instead, I look in the general area (and I use the term area loosely, as sometimes the areas of my non-organized pantry blend into one another, making them completely indistinguishable from each other) of the carbohydrate section and decide on a bread with which to make the sandwiches for the day. White or wheat? White or wheat? These are tough decisions.
Then, I rest for a minute and drink my caffeine.
After I am a little more alert, I check the deli drawer for fresh meat and decide whether today will be a turkey and havarti day or a peanut butter and jelly day. You just never know in my house. When the sandwiches are made, it is time to check the fruit situation (and no, fruit snacks even the really, really good ones, dont count).
This could go one of two ways. Either a fresh fruit item, like a banana or cut up apple, will make its way to the lunchboxes or something resembling real fruit, like a fruit cup, will be the choice of the day. I know, it is a highly complex form of decision making that only the inside of my head can determine and is greatly influenced by how quickly that aforementioned caffeine has made its way into my bloodstream.
On to the extras part of the lunch building task and this is even more complex, dont say I didnt warn you!
Granola bars, fruit leathers, crackers, popcorn, nuts, pretzels . . . how does one choose? I like to close my eyes and grab the first two items that my hand lands on.
I told you it was complex.
After adding a dairy item, like yogurt or a string cheese, the lunches are almost complete. . .
Drinks!
I forgot drinks! I race down to the refrigerator in the garage, where we keep all the beverages. I make yet another difficult choice between water, apple juice or the sports drink du jour in todays case, Gatorade, which is an excellent choice as long as my sons do not suck their entire mouths into the spout while drinking it thus giving themselves a semi-permanent blue stain around their lips for the remainder of the school day. This is especially fun when it is picture day.
Add a napkin, a cold pack and zip it up. Voila! Lunch is done, and it only took me 10 minutes! 10 minutes that I could have spent sleeping, but there are no lengths to a mothers love and the need to pack a nutritious lunch for her offspring, each and every day.
Now, lets just hope they eat what I packed and do not trade their entire lunch for one Ding Dong.
What are your time saving tips for packing lunches for school-aged children? Do you have a system, or do you just wing it like I do? Id love to hear your strategy! And if youre the mother with the bins, I dont even want to hear about it, okay? (said with a smile because secretly Im totally jealous of those bins)
Carrie can be found hanging out at her personal blog Stop Screaming I’m Driving! where she is kept busy wrangling three kids, one goofy Aussie, and her very own firefighter. She can be bribed with lattes and offers to do her laundry. Please send column suggestions to carrieb at seattle mom blogs dot com.