Keep lunches simple

    Last night, I was struggling to get dinner on the table.  I thought, "All I am making is soup, bread, and salad.  Why is this taking so long, and why is my child yelling at me for the billionth time?"  My dinner was really hands on as I decided to make a dinner that I hadn't yet tried making and several items were from scratch.  I was pretty bummed to see that my child didn't eat much of this food.  Of course, the bread and the salad were a no-go for him.  Even though he's one, he should still be interested in trying everything, right?  

   Last night's dinner got me thinking back to a question a friend recently asked. She was struggling to make a lunch that was suitable for her child who is school-aged (here in Canada they don't hot lunches for kids at school).  A lot of the options available for cold lunches are either easy like a sandwich or look super complex.  

   When I started making lunches for myself while I was in high school, I made a sandwich, threw in a apple and a yogurt, and called it good.  Occasionally, I'd make something different.  But usually I kept things simple because I didn't have time before I went off to seminary in the morning to make something tastier.  I ate everything in my lunch because I was hungry and that's what I had to eat.  When I went to university, I started making lunches again for my husband and me.  (If I would have been smarter, I would have done leftovers since microwaves were available, but no, I stuck to the sandwich routine.)  I added more food than I did in high school because I would be walking long distances, studying (studying always made me hungry), and be away from home for long hours. I look at these lunch box ideas on pinterest and wonder if I would even have the time to make these lunches.  Cute sandwich pictures?  Kebabs? Salads? As  a student, I didn't have time for that.  And now as a mom, I find that I don't have time to make in depth meals all the time, and making complicated lunches or meals adds more to my to-do list.  

  My second thought is do kids even eat all of those foods they have pictured?  I love vegetables...after bread, meat, cheese, and fruit.  I love vegetables more when they are cooked, and with cold lunches, you don't get the option of throwing tasty vegetables that are cooked.  As a kid, I generally didn't even eat the offered the cooked vegetables I got from the school cafeteria... my parents weren't there to make me.  I'm not saying give your kids junk food, but give them food they will eat.  (If they are going to eat the grape tomatoes then throw them in.) But make your lunch simple.  They will know that you love them for making them a sandwich and tossing in a fruit and crackers, AND they won't starve between the time they go to school and the time they return home because you didn't put their sandwich on stick.  

In short, save your energy from making complicated lunches and feed them all the cooked vegetables when they return home.