School Lunch Box Packing System

There are a lot of pros and cons when beginning a new school year. Depends on who you ask too. Personally I'm ready as you may have read in my post about that. But, there is one big "con" if you ask me. Packing school lunches every night. It's one of those chores that my husband and I often forget about until the kitchen is cleaned up, the kids are in bed, and we've slumped down on the couch to relax. Then one of us looks at the other (with a pleading look) and says "lunches." Then it's the usual sigh and he or I will drag ourselves to the kitchen to piece together whatever we can.

The fact remains ... it's a necessity. Kids need to have lunch and they need to be packed. All the sighing and complaining won't change that fact. So this year we're trying something new. We're embracing this chore and attempting to put a system in place to avoid all the bellyaching. Maybe this will work for you too, that's why I'm blogging about it.


My kids have super different tastes in food. It's rare we have a family meal that everyone likes without personal tweaks. I also have seen in the past my kids have come home with left over lunch and when asked why, they usually say they didn't like it (my late in the week lunches are not my best). So to solve these 3 issues I believe this system will work. And maybe it will for you too.

Here's what I did ...

I made a list of 3 categories. Main course, produce, and snack. It lists all their options. Sort of like a menu. Each kid has their own column with identical choices and they are instructed to circle 4 choices in each category. Four because there are 4 packed lunches in a week (they buy on Friday). Their daily lunches will consist of 1 from each category.

This hits several birds with one stone:

1. Gives kids control over what they want
2. Acts as a grocery list for me
3. Takes the guess work out of "what to pack for lunch" every night

I'll print this out on Thursday night (for the following week) because I always do a "filler" grocery shop at some point over the weekend. My stock up trips are once a month to Costco/Trader Joes. More about that here. It remains to be seen if we'll pack all their lunches on Sunday night for the week. I don't want to over commit myself! So baby steps ... 

I suggest this method even if you do not want to let your kids choose. It still serves as a good legend for options. Print out your list and tape it inside your kitchen cabinet for lunch/snack ideas when you're stumped. And/or as a grocery list.  

Eventually this chore will be passed onto the children themselves. We're still trying to decide when that should be. Might have to be this year! We'll see; stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by and here's to another day closer to a life in balance ...
xo
Sloane