Is this the time of year that I return to feeling inadequate as a mother? Are my kids smart enough? Are they athletic enough? (Um, not really, they inherited that from me, see other post, but I am trying to help them be more athletic) Are they nice enough? Is their report good enough? Are they artistic enough? Do kids like them enough? Am I doing enough? And now I want to add into this equation, Are they eating good enough?
It is well known that school lunches are not healthy. I have paid for it anyway. It is easy and I have 5 kids, so easy is good. But as we are eating healthier at home, I am starting to wonder. My kids are good at always stopping at the salad bar, loading up on some favs and gobbling it all up. But what about the main entree? I had thought, well this is their only chance to eat pizza, lasagna, mucho nacho, and chili cheese fritos. When I asked my son his favorite lunch at school the last one was his answer. OK, maybe I am going to seriously think about making home lunches.
Aaaaahhhhhhhh! Are you kidding me? I hate the extra work in the morning. I hate the thought of having to make it any fancier than a PB sandwich, carrots, an apple and change for milk. But this isn't really good enough. I mean who wants to eat the same boring meal everyday? Yes, that is why there is some fancy term out there for well balanced and pretty lunches. It is called Bento. I just learned this today. Will my kids be sitting next to someone with this kind of lunch and wonder why their Mom doesn't make them something nice like that. Doesn't she love them enough?
Click on this link, scroll down a little and you will see what I mean. http://www.simplymodernm
om.com/
Ok, I admit I do have a heart & dino sandwich cutter, but they don't work well. And I do have a box with 101 cookie cutters, I am not sure if they will be any better. But what do I do with all of the scraps? Does that become my lunch? Mmmmm, crusts for 9 months. I feel myself gaining weight now, realizing I would jump at every chance to eat something with flavor. Do people really make their kids such well balanced fancy meals? Can I do it?
Do your kids eat home lunch? What do you do?
And do you ever feel like it is enough? Whatever IT is.
I am going to try to let go of that this year, but it always seems to plague me. I never knew the stress of being a parent could be so much. But I also had no idea of the blessings. Just try to hold on to those Carina. Hold on to those.
Uh, in rereading this post. I am now concerned that people will think I don't see the talents and gifts of my children. I do. They are wonderful, but there is this stupid beast that comes out when you become a parent. It starts when they are young and someone asks you how much your child weighs, how tall they are, what their motor skills are and you find out there are benchmarks and percentiles. And suddenly this competition to have the best child comes out. I hate that beast. PLEASE GO AWAY!!!
(sorry for using a few of the no-no words in my post, but now you see how strongly I wish it would go away)
I think it's very common as a parent to pray your children don't have to go through what you did... the heartaches, headaches, and self-doubt. Of course my children are better than I ever was, but that doesn't stop me from worrying to death about them in EVERY respect.
ReplyDeleteAs far as lunches go, I do the boring cold lunch for my kids. Mostly it's because hot lunch costs $2/kid. Sorry. Not paying $30/week.
I make a week's worth of sandwiches Sunday night and freeze them. They get their own lunches together: a juice, a sandwich from the freezer (with their initial on it because they can't all like the same type of sandwich, that'd be too easy), 2 snacks (they can choose sugar-free pudding, low sugar granola bars, fruit snacks, or *gasp* cookies), and I slice apples up for them right before we head out to the bus. It's become simpler over the last few years. And the sandwiches thaw before lunchtime and keep everything else cool in the bag.
I'd love to do fancy lunches for them, but I know my limits. Fancy lunches are beyond my limits. I just make sure I've got non-sandwiches for them to eat on the weekends. You know, the really healthy stuff like quesadillas, mac and cheese, spaghetti-o's, corndogs. The weekends are free-for-alls anyway, aren't they?
When you hire a full-time cook, you can require said domestic to create gorgeous photo-worthy bentos for your kids so that they know that their cook loves them. In the meantime, you have other jobs. Don't compare yourself to magazine photos. I've never actually seen a lunch like those in real life. Just pictures.
ReplyDeleteI never half appreciated what my mom did for me. I think I'm going to call her and say thanks... thanks for all the peanut butter sandwiches that I didn't eat.
I think the Bentos are adorable and I follow a couple of blogs about them. That said, I don't make them! I like the concept of the smaller portions and variety, but the details are crazy. However, everybody has a place they like to spend their free time. Some people just really enjoy that kitchen time ... me not so much!
ReplyDeleteI'm just entering the world of school lunches with my oldest going into 1st grade this year. I am planning to send him to school with a lunch most days. He's just too particular about what he eats to waste my money otherwise. We do a lot of sandwich wraps (sandwich fixings inside a tortilla) around here. Personally, I like having a sandwich every day and very rarely get bored with them. Here's hoping my boys are the same!
My "IT" is my house. I'm totally self-conscious of it. I never feel like it is clean enough or uncluttered enough and that everyone is judging me about it. I go to others' homes and see no dust or cobwebs, let alone crumbs and dirty dishes or toy clutter and wonder how they do it!
Thanks girls! That is just what I needed to know. I LOVE your ideas Shelly! You are a genius. I have never frozen a sandwich in my life. So what kind of sandwiches are they exactly? Does PB freeze? Well, I guess it can because some of my fav ice cream has it in it. ;) What I mean is does the bread get sticky? Do they actually like it? Because one of the things I really hate to do is waste anything. If they don't eat there then they are going to clean my fridge out when they get home.
ReplyDeleteI am OK really. I just have to fess up that I was never really taught a lot of domestic goddess stuff at home. We kind of took care of ourselves most of the time. And so I don't always know what I need to do.
Thanks Cindy for fessing up that you have an "IT" That is one that most of us worry about. I will tell you their secret. They know you are coming and so they clean up what you can see. But then we never look at other peoples houses as critically as our own either. If they really do spend the whole day cleaning and don't let kids make messes, I just have to say I enjoy living more than cleaning. The kids will never remember how clean the floors were, but they will remember the time spent together.
I have decided I will leave the cute lunches for a special day like their Bday or Valentines Day. And then if I don't do it, they will never know. And still will know I love them enough.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little late here...but I'll add my two cents anyway...I too have never ever seen BENTO lunches in real life. The kind of lunches my kids ask why I don't ever do are things like McDonalds, and honestly I don't feel too bad for not sending them to school with Mickey-D's. We stick with sandwiches too and I usually ask them what they ate and what they didn't so I can get stuff they will actually eat. I aim for a fruit and a veggie and try to get a "fun" snack in there too. I don't keep a lot of cookies and "snack-like" food around, so sometimes they just have to miss out. Here are a few tricks I learned though to keep them happy: Send a few extra treats so they have some to share with their friends (this makes this popular!); Include a note with something extra now and then (something you would never normally buy them--like those expensive chocolate milk straws); And I even found a lunch-time riddle book last year, so that with every lunch they get a fun riddle to solve (this also give them more of a chance to associate with friends who want to help solve it). All in all, kids don't mind eating something they like over and over and over. Enjoy it. Relish it. Remember it when they are complaining about new things.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for being inadequate, I did a post on it not to long ago. You are not alone. We all worry and worry and worry. We all pray and pray and pray. And we all cry and cry and cry. And in the end I'm sure we will all have regrets. But I read a quote the other day that said something like, "Anything is possible between two people, as long as one of them is God." Remember, when other people are judging your kids, that God gave them to you because you are the most qualified to raise them. You will know what they need and when they need it with God's help. And don't ever be ashamed of them or how you are raising them. Show them you are proud! And if you see someone doing something better, then make an adjustment, and continue to be proud.
My heart is with you. Being a Mom is sometimes such a lonely thing and sometimes I wish and pray for a moment alone. I am convinced that God made us mothers so that we would be truly prepared for the Celestial Kingdom. We can do it! Love you.
Those meals are soooo cute! Thanks for sharing! And thanks for sharing your blog with me, somehow I had never been able to find it before. What an adorable family!!! I laughed at your yodeling/hiking story :)
ReplyDeleteJasper is going in to 6th grade this year and we've always just done the school lunches. They aren't healthy, but if he eats at home healthy, I think that makes up for it. The problem I have is that he always complains of being so hungry. The lunch time is very short and he never seems to get enough. He eats a lot though. I am toying with the idea of making him lunches this year. We'll see how brave I am. It is hard to get it all ready before school. I love Shelly's idea of freezing the sandwiches for the whole week.
ReplyDeleteCarina, you are not alone as we have expressed to each other many times over the phone. My house is NEVER clean, my kids hair is NEVER done, and they only get bathed two times a week during the summer if they are lucky. Disgusting, I know. But, you have to pick and choose what you are going to do because you can't do everything. As for lunches, I allow the kids to have school lunch once a week. I was rarely allowed to have school lunches growing up and it always bummed me out. My mom was supermom, let's just face it. I am not. The rest of the week, I make their lunches, usually sandwich, drink, veggie or fruit, snack. Audrey helps to make her lunch and even Dallin helps. Sometimes we are on top of things and make them the night before. Sometimes, I am rushing before school throwing the sandwich into their backpack as they leave the house. Either way, I do my best at the time and that's got to be good enough. Thank goodness sandwiches come in varieties!! Tuna, bologna, PB&J, egg salad, the possibilities are endless! =) Don't worry, your kids are awesome. They are smart and fun to be with and well-behaved. You are an awesome mom, even if your sandwiches aren't in the shape of owls. Uh-uh. Not even gonna try that one. =)
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