If you follow certain social media accounts, lunch packing might seem easy. But here’s the truth: it’s hard to pack lunches every day.
When my children were very little — preschool and early elementary age — I packed lunches for them every day. Sometimes they were creative with cheese, salami, fruits and vegetables cut in creative shapes and homemade crackers. Other times, they were more basic. And, at the time, I thought it was so easy to make kids a good, healthy, creative packed lunch.
But then I traded full time freelancing for a full time job (complete with side hustles) and became a single mom and realized just how hard it was. I could get my kids lunches packed, but not mine. Or I could make them a great sandwich and phone in the rest. Or I could just hand them money and maybe pack my own lunch for once. But I couldn’t do it all.
Every morning, I was trying to get as much done as I possibly could before I headed off to work and they headed off to school. But time is finite and I am imperfect so something had to give. That was often my own packed lunch.
As my kids got a little older, I taught them to make their own lunches and created a space in our kitchen for lunch money if they wanted it. By giving them control of the decisions, it helped to ensure we were all eating a little better every day. In turn, I focused more on stocking the kitchen with good, healthy and fun lunch options.
It helped.
It also showed me that it’s hard to pack lunches every day. And the more you have on your proverbial plate, the harder it becomes. These days, my children are ages 16 and 18. My oldest is in college. I still work full time and also have some side hustles to make ends meet. What I’ve found is that lunch meal prep is essential for me. If I spend some time on Sunday prepping grab and go lunches, I am more likely to pack lunch. And if I make enough and it’s really good, my younger child will eat it too.
Now that my son is home from college, I know I need more food in the house. And I also know that while he’s capable of making his own packed lunch for work, he’ll eat what I make if I meal prep. So I am working on that — setting aside a little time so that we can all eat a little better this summer.
But it’s still hard. What challenges do you face with packing lunches?
