“What are we doing for lunch when school starts?” First and foremost do what works and what is best for your family. If packing your children’s own lunches is an viable option, now is the time to start discussing this. I know many families do food prepping on Sunday afternoons and meals are arranged for the week, both lunches and dinners. This may sound like a lot of work, yet what it does is, it allows taking the stress out of meal planning and preparation during the week so that you can do the things you need to do each day. If your children are old enough, consider a Sunday meal prep for the week, it will take a little effort on your part, and include your children in the execution of this task. You can do a search of some lunch ideas, purchase all of the containers necessary to facilitate, including utensils, storage and a thermos necessary so that lunch preparation is easy. In my experience as a parent and as a teacher when children become part of the process, they have ‘skin in the game,’ and they are much more invested. Let them help and come up with healthy ideas. Let them help prepare the food. This is an excellent idea if your child has food allergies or intolerances. When kids prepare their own meals, they become more familiar with good nutrition and both parent and child are aware of exactly what’s in their diet.
Do some practice runs. I recommend that lunches are ready to go the night before as well as backpacks, coats, shoes, and all homework in the backpack with any discussions of new plans for the day the night before so that children know any changes to the plan. Lunches can also include ‘encore meals’ (another word for leftovers). Our kids loved leftovers for lunch. When you make your own meals, you know exactly what you are eating, you know your kitchen and the utensils/pots and pans are clean. Other things that keep kids engaged is the shopping for the lunch box, maybe have cute cloth napkin in the lunch box that goes in the laundry when they empty their lunch box when they get home.
Be mindful of good nutritional snacks when the kids come home. Snacks with protein and keeping your kids well hydrated are good things to keep in mind. Teach your kids the importance of these topics. When we are thirsty, we are always at least twenty percent dehydrated. Sugary snacks might give them a boost, but remember there is a sugar high followed by a slump. My feeling as a parent and former teacher is that anything we can do to help our kids feel good is just more fuel to work towards success and excellence in their academic performance. Conversations about the topic of good nutrition and it’s link to good performance in school and how kids feel are things you can talk about in the car, while you are preparing meals or anytime. Eating well and feeling well can also lead to many…Great Days 🍴
