Not long ago I found myself in a place that gave me a bird’s eye view of a large group of elementary-age kids and their respective lunches. One child ate nothing but a cup of pre-packaged electric blue Jell-O. I’m not sure what else was in that kid’s lunch bag, but that is all that was eaten.
I understand that some parents don’t have time to make lunch in the mornings. To them I respectfully suggest doing some pre-prep the night before, getting up earlier, and enlisting your kids to help make lunch if they’re old enough. There must be more to lunch than Jell-O.
If your kid isn’t eating his or her lunch, pack less food, not more. Pack food they like. Do not pack dessert. They will eat if they are hungry. (It’s TRUE!)
Steer clear of food products that are brightly coloured. Food dye is crap. Read this piece about food colouring. Consider that what you’re serving your kids could be affecting their health, growth, and also their behaviour and manifest itself as tantrums etc.
Don’t cave to grocery store begging. Parents: you CAN say no.
Some parents like to put dessert-type items in their kid’s lunches. I know this is true because the grocery stores have pulled out the huge displays of lunch-sized versions of candy and chocolate bars, just in time for school to start. I think there’s a deeper psychological reason behind why parents put candy in their kid’s lunches. Don’t beat me up for this, but I think we do it because we want our kids to love us. We want them to look into their lunch bags and think WOW – my mom LOVES ME. She packed me a [insert whatever treat you want here] … I LOVE MY MOM SO MUCH.
We do it because we feel bad (read: guilty) that we’re not baking cookies and cupcakes so we shove some candy in there and hope for the best.
Don’t do it. You don’t need to do it. Many of our kids (mine included) are probably getting enough sweets outside of lunch hour. Don’t give in to the idea that there needs to be a sweet finish to every meal. Toss in a piece of fresh fruit instead. It takes just as little time to throw an orange into the lunch bag as it does a candy bar.
We want our kids to eat what we packed them. Right? So the best thing to do is go with simple foods you know your kids will like.
Need ideas? Some of my favourite things to pack include:
- Grapes and/or orange slices. They always get eaten.
- Homemade hummus with pita and veggies
- Cucumber sushi made with leftover rice
- Celery with cream cheese
- For a sweet treat: grab and apple, slice it up, and sprinkle it with a bit of sugar and cinnamon.
- “Build your own sandwich”: good bread, slices of cheese and cold meat all packaged in small containers. Can be eaten together in sandwich format or separately… doesn’t matter, it all ends up in the same place! (Hopefully that’s the stomach.)
- Frozen bagels (they defrost by lunchtime) and cream cheese and/or jam
This ALMOST makes me excited about making lunches again! Heh.
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This post is part of Scattered Mom’s lunch revolution. Couldn’t come at a better time if you ask me. :)
