My friend Erin has it together. I know she would laugh at this notion, and would have a witty response as to why this is not the case, but does any mother of a preschooler/kindergartener feel truly “together?”
When I wrote a post a couple months ago about packing school lunches, she sent me this reply. I asked her if I could post it verbatim, as it really offered some good thoughts on making school lunch preparation work well.
So without further adieu, take it away Erin:
“Hey, saw your post about the lunchbox stuff. I think those laptop
lunch and bento boxes are cool, but I am just not sure that they would
be right for me. I'll tell you what I've done all year and I think it
has worked out really well so far and will probably stick to it. (You
are welcome to do something different!!)
I bought those hard plastic sandwich containers at Target ($1) and I
have 2 of them, so I always have one clean. I put J's half a sandwich
in it and then fill the rest with carrots, goldfish, etc to save
space. I use a Lands' End lunchbag with her initials on it and stick
the plastic container in it. (I also write a sweet note to her every
day and stick it to the container) I have those long rectangular ice
packs and put it up against the container to help keep the sandwich
cool.
Then ideally, I have 8+ tiny Glad containers and I fill them all at
once with goldfish, pretzels, etc. and keep them in a big basket that
I used only for lunch items. Then in the morning, I take down the
basket and after making her sandwich, just grab whatever I think looks
good.
In my basket:
small plastic containers of snacks (they need one every day)
note paper and stickers to decorate
fruit snacks or teddy grahams as an occasional treat
napkins
spoons/forks
So, I have more of an assembly line. I grab an applesauce or thing of
oranges from the pantry, grab whatever I need from the basket and
shove it all in the lunchbag. I'll grab grapes and put them in a small
plastic container as well. I mean, it's the same "idea" as the bento
box, but cheaper, and more flexible in my opinion. I don't like using
lots of plastic bags, so I use the reusable containers. I have maybe
15 of those small plastic round containers and just find it really
nice to "grab and go". Cheaper than buying the individual bags of
pretzels, etc.
Hope that helps. I have no doubt you will rock at making lunches every day!!”
Thanks Erin!
SPC
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