Lunches

I was subbing at the preschool a week or so ago and the lunches those kids had were fascinating to me.

There were these tiny little 4 year old girls with enough food for a football team crammed into their princess lunch bags.  One girl had a sandwich, a bag of chips, a bag of apple slices, a vanilla pudding cup, a bag of celery sticks, a bag of little square cookies, and a big juice drink.  Each bag had a huge amount in it.  I think she took about 2 bites from a few items and ate half the bag of chips before cramming it all back into her lunch bag.  And I was thinking- Doesn't her mom see how much is coming back each day?  Why does she send so much?


Then there's the kids who obviously hate whatever it was their parent sent for them.  One kid had a lunchable that contained crackers, cheese, and meat.  He ate the cheese.  That's it!  That prepackaged meal probably cost $3 and all he ate was 5 small slices of cheese.

Then there's my sweet friend's daughter who had the most nutritious lunch there...she was eating lentils and broccoli.  You don't see that every day!  But she didn't seem to care for the lentils very much- I forgot to tell you, friend.

It made me want to be a fly on the wall when my own kids eat the lunches I pack for them.  Do they really eat what I send?  Do they trade things away?  Do I send too much, too little?  It's hard to know when you aren't there to see how they respond.

Everyone has such a different style of lunch packing, too.  The lunches I see at the preschool are all so unique.  I have gained a few ideas of things I could do (and a few ideas of what not to do.)

Lunches have always been a tricky thing for me.  I pretty much send the same thing every time.  My kids are probably bored to tears.  The few times I've tried to shake things up (hummus and carrot sticks, anyone?) it's been rejected.  The one new thing I've tried that only one child has liked is boiled eggs.

Every school year I think I'm going to make better lunches.  And then I don't.  But I'm already thinking about next August and gearing up to try once again to make better lunches.  I've got the entire summer to browse pinterest and formulate new plans.