My Back-to-School PSA
It’s that time of year again! We’re about to kiss summer goodbye and say hello to the school year ahead, which for many of you, means giving your littles a peck on the cheek at the bus stop or school drop-off.
And do you know what else it’s time for?
My Annual Rant To Make Your Kids Make Lunch.
Love it or loathe it, I’m here to recruit more of you to join the Lunchbox Liberation League, of which I am the self-appointed President and its founding member.
What’s this sorcery of which I speak? Only The Greatest Parenting Hack of ALL TIME!!
You see, I was once like you, tired and weary from making lunches for my mini-me’s. Worn down from the guessing game of “What will these two eat today?” I knew there had to be a better way.
And The Way was to show them the way to the fridge to learn the art and science of making their own damn lunch.
Why did I insist on my kids making lunch, you ask? Because as a married single mom, I had enough to do, keeping my household running like a well-oiled machine while cultivating some semblance of a career, maintaining my girlish figure, and serving as the Human Google you all seem to need in your lives. I wasn’t adding “make lunch for a gluten-free vegetarian and her sister whose dietary preferences change like the wind” to my list of tasks.
Marie Antoinette may have said, “Let them eat cake!” I say, “Let them make lunch!”
When I extol the virtues of Lunchbox Liberation (top of the list: more time for wine yoga!), the first question is, “How did you get your kids to do that?”
Well, since I couldn’t evict them, I decided the better option was to create a system, starting with a Rubbermaid three-drawer cart that had the following:
Sandwich fixings (bread and school-sanctioned peanut butter alternatives) in the top drawer;
Fruit cups in the middle drawer; and
Pretzel sticks and savory snacks in the bottom drawer.
The girls could make a sandwich and pick one item from the other two drawers, and lunch was done. Throw in a cheese stick or a Go-Gurt; they were good to go.
Have a nice day! See you at pickup! I’m going to go live my life now.
Oh, and by the way, my kids started making their lunch in preschool, so I don’t want to hear a peep out of anyone that, “My kids are too small for this.” If could get a 3 and 4-year-old to make lunch (it wasn’t always perfect…more on this in a bit), then you can too.
This leads me to the next objection: “My kids don’t have time to make lunch.” Do they have time to go to baseball practice? Brush their teeth? Text on their phones?
Yes, yes, and yes? Then guess what? They have time to make their lunch.
In my house, lunch-making was usually done after dinner, and once the girls outgrew the 3-drawer solution, lunch often consisted of leftovers. They were also crafty with take-out, typically saving a portion to enjoy again the next day.
See? They figured it out! Your kids can too!
The next objection I hear from people is: “What if they mess it up?”
News flash! Kids mess stuff up! They are going to make sandwiches that look like a blind wombat crafted them. Or, they will go rogue, like my younger daughter, who once packed a lunch made of nothing but chocolate: a chocolate soy nut butter sandwich, chocolate pudding, chocolate-covered pretzels, and chocolate milk. Nutritional nightmares aside, learn to embrace the insanity and consider it a lesson learned.
Life skills, people. Life skills.
And since I brought up nutrition, none of this “I want them to have a healthy lunch” nonsense as an objection to kids making lunch. Stock healthy items if you want a healthy lunch. Kids are more likely to eat a lunch they pack themselves. Furthermore, lunch should be healthy, but lunch is ONE meal out of the day. Do you eat a perfectly crafted lunch every single day? Then don’t mandate the same of your kid who has been on this earth a lot less time than you.
Listen, I know about four of you out there who claim to enjoy making your kids’ lunches. I begrudge you nothing. Don’t complain that you are “sick of making lunch.” Because I will give you a copy of this post the size of your refrigerator door.
And while we’re at it, I would like to address the Pinterest crowd and their perfectly crafted lunches:
Bento Boxes are Bullshit.
Seriously, has anyone seen what a bento box lunch looks like when it’s opened at school? That Hello Kitty-shaped sandwich now looks like she’s doing the Walk of Shame following an 8-ball bender.
You’re better off with the original Bento Box: Lunchables.
Seriously, no matter how you slice it (see what I did there?), let your kids make lunch, for it is the gift you give yourself for the remainder of this school year. Think about it: No one complains to you that lunches aren’t made or that they don’t like what’s for lunch; they packed it, they eat it. They learn valuable skills: how to pull a meal together, what foods they like, what satisfies their hunger, and the list goes on and on.
Reclaim your time. Make kids make lunch. You do enough.
Best,
Judi
P.S. Whether you’re an existing member of the Lunchbox Liberation League or simply curious, I’d love to hear from you about this topic or other hacks related to parenting or life in general! Email me at judi@judi411.com!