If your day is anything like mine, you wake up before your kids, rush to get yourself at least partially ready, maybe if you are lucky, you can get a cup of tea or coffee, and then start waking your kids up. Then comes the hustle and bustle of the morning: hair, teeth, outfits, breakfast, binders, shoes, backpacks, homework, lunch boxes, snacks, hurry, hurry, hurry, go, go, go. Maybe you even add in the dog: “put down her shoes,” “drop it!” “Don’t eat that!”
Mornings are full. They are fun, they are chaos, and they can be hard. Maybe you already have a perfect system down, maybe you are finetuning one, maybe you need one. I am somewhere in the middle. It seems that lunches are a struggle for me. I think I may have a new system figured out and I want to share it with you. Two of our daughters prefer school lunch (I think it’s because they don’t want to wash their own lunchbox) and one definitely does not want to go through the lunch line. Every afternoon I try and figure out what to pack, but if I were to plan it all out on the weekend it would make life so much easier for all of us.
We use a bento box- specifically a Bentgo box. We know how many compartments it has and therefore I know how many options I can plan for her lunch box. I also know she has a daily snack and that she would like a snack for the ride home. I have created a template that can be customized- columns added, resized, etc. You can print the sheet, laminate it, and reuse it or simply edit it online. By using this we can all plan out our whole week of kids meals ahead of time and avoid the morning panic of “OMG I forgot to pack a lunch!” You can download the Word file by clicking the green “download file here” button.
I am also putting together a Pinterest board with meal inspirations. I can be found at @EmbraceLessWasteUSA (same as FB and IG) where I will share some ideas. Please feel free to share your ideas too! Remember, this is a new system, it is bound to have growing pains. I love feedback, so please share your ideas and suggestions!
