07-09-10

There's a new topic over on The Grocery Game's message boards that had my ears perk up this morning. Bagged lunch ideas for school aged kids.

Amazingly, Calix is starting kindergarten next month (I say amazingly because I still don't understand how they're growing up. SCHOOL! Oh my gosh! He'll be dating soon! *throws up*)..he'll be turning 5 about a month and a half after school starts (which is different for me because I turned 6 about a month and a half after I started kindergarten..ah, the difference a month and a half makes when it comes to the cut off!). Orion and I are still pretty mushy about the whole idea of sending our babies off and letting other people help mold them and their brains. (Our babies! Not yours! Back off! Hahaha) When the school supply list was brought home, Orion was reading the list out loud, and though he wouldn't ever want me to say this, the man was tearing up. Awww..my precious darling! We just can't believe it. Would I keep my babies home forever if I could? ABSOLUTELY! Am I the kind of mom that can handle homeschooling? No. Do they need to socialize with lots of other little kids their age? Yes. So..okaaayyyy, go on, lil one..grow! (but don't forget about your poor mother who would do mostly anything for you!)

I got away from myself there for a second..just lots on my mind..lots going on around here..and I just want to spew it all out like a gift in front of your feet. You're welcome.

Anyway! Calix is starting kindergarten next month and when I brought him to pick out his school supplies (black marble notebooks! I remember! I remember!), I also let him pick out a lunch bag (read: he wanted character items..and I don't do that crap. Sorry, kiddo..you grow out of that sort of stuff too quickly and if I can get away with using your bookbag and lunch bag for a few more years? I will. Do you want to be in 2nd grade with a character you loved in kindergarten strapped to your back? Ugh, I hate character items..I think they're tacky. Just my opinion..sorry. He tried to pick out Toy Story bedding..I don't do character bedding, either. Nope. Mean mom, mom mean!). I remember my pink with yellow trim Land's End lunch bag my mother would stuff with yummies as an elementary student. I remember before reusable lunch bags were hip and being the ONLY kid in my class toting one around while everyone else either bought lunch or carried in a brown paper bag. My parents were (are) hippies..and forced the awesome (before it was awesome) upon their children before everyone else started catching on. It's hard to be a lunch bag trendsetter as a kid. It was embarrassing..but not really embarrassing. Know what I mean?

So he's got his hilariously large bookbag (even though it was one of the smallest non-character bags available) that I make him put on when I need a good chuckle (mean mom! Hahahahaha!!) and his sweet little blue lunch bag with a monkey ice pack (aww!) and now I'm wondering just what to stuff in there. Calix is..by far..the pickiest eater I've ever known. Ever. It's not like I can put fish sticks and nuggets in there and have them be edible by lunch time, ya know (ew!)? I've asked him for ideas and he's said things like "well, I like sandwiches" "what kind?" "umm..how about peanut butter and celery?" I'm pretty sure he got that idea from Wonder Pets and wouldn't actually eat such a thing if I really packed it up for him. While his little brother is super interested in fresh fruit and veggies and yummy snacks (he calls Colby cheese sticks "milky cheese" and who am I to correct something so adorable sounding?? I'm the same mom who has her kids call pastries "sweeties" because I think it is hilariously adorable to hear them ask in small voices "can we have a sweetie, mommy?" or sometimes I have them call me "mother" because in their small voices it sounds more like "motha" and it sounds like the little boy from Peter Pan..all British and sweet. It kills me!), Calix wants packaged..unhealthy eaties.

The way he feels loved? Gifts. If you do special things for him, he's the happiest kid in the whole wide world. In fact, the day I took him out to buy his uniforms and school supplies, we also picked up lunch and brought it to Orion's work where we ate with him and then the boys got to play on the playground until it was time to head home for naps and then after naps, we went back to the mall where they got to ride the dinosaur train and then we went to a restaurant for dinner. He declared that day "the best day ever!!". See what I mean? And I understand that feeling because I, myself, also feel loved when I get things I want (though, that's not my number one way of feeling loved..it's still high up on the list). So I'm trying to be more understanding instead of feeling like he's greedy and selfish. If you just spend time with him..whether it's reading books, playing games, or taking him somewhere..he's the happiest boy in the whole world. (Maddox is a loved by touch kind of person. He's the happiest when he's cuddling. Seriously. He wants to sit on your lap..or cuddle under a blanket with you while watching his favorite tv show). So taking the special things into consideration, we've decided to pack his lunch 3 times a week and let him buy lunch 2 times a week. Keep it special..but also let him feel like "wow! *I* get to buy my own lunch today!" big boy type of stuff.

So I need ideas for a picky kind of a kid. I've got a bunch of those Go-Gurt things in the freezer, and I've heard that if you freeze them and then send a kid off to school with one, it will be thawed and still cold by lunch time? So there's that. I've got a lot of those Kid Essentials shelf stable milk box things (he can't do juice..hurts his tummy)..and all kinds of snacky treat type things..but I can't make him peanut butter and honey EVERY day..there needs to be some kind of variety. Anyone out there who has kids..and super extra picky eaters..have any tips for bagged lunches? Anyone?