I have no fond memories of the lunch box during my school years. My mother was no big fan of preparing them and I was no big fan of eating them! I guess my complaining was so great that from about the fourth grade, I was kindly asked to prepare my own 😉
Play it forward about 25 years and here I am preparing the exact same thing for my own kids. Although here it is not for lunch but for the 10 o’clock it is basically the same – a plastic box with a sandwich, some vegetables and some fruit! And I am still not crazy about it….
Luckily for me, my children don’t complain about the contents of their lunch boxes and mostly eat what I give them. Still, I want them to have a better experience than me so here are some of the things we have implemented this school year:
New lunch boxes – surprisingly cheap (NIS 25 per box) and very functional. Three separate compartments so that the different things don’t touch each other (there have been complaints of this kind in the past….)
Preparing on their own – most nights I sit them down after or before dinner and let them prepare their own box for the next day. They can choose their own content as long as there is some kind of sandwich, vegetable and/or fruit.
Home baked buns – this part is mostly for my benefit as they wouldn’t mind the white cheap sandwich bread or buns. However, I like that they eat something that is better for them and have started to bake for them. I have started baking these Carrot and oatmeal buns and I promise you that they are really easy to make. They really like them, which means that we are all happy and makes the lunch box tastier, healthier and cheaper.
I would love to hear your ideas as of how you deal with this daily chore.
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