Saturday, August 31, 2013

(Home) School Lunches

Why do these children I’ve produced think they need to eat every three to four hours? I simply do not understand it.  It wears me out, having to come up with meals for these people. I share the opinion of my friend, Camille McClelland, in regards to feeding children:

“Lungfish. Did you know a lungfish can survive up to 4 years without eating? That's what I want for children. I'll trade them for humans when they grow up, because lungfish are really ugly.”

Seriously.

I love homeschooling my kids.  I LIKE having them around. I’m glad they don’t look like lungfish. I am committed to their getting all the nutrition they need or whatever, but I do not love feeding them. You know what I really miss about public school? Lunch ladies.

Oh, Adam Sandler. Sing it, bro.

They cook, plate the food, and clean up. And THEY do the nagging to get the little cherubs to eat the mystery meat. (Sloppy Joe, Sloppy, Sloppy Joe!)

We are gearing up for our fall schedule and I realized we will be eating a minimum of five meals a week on the go (two lunches, three dinners.)  I know many public school goers brown bag it every day and it’s no biggie, but that is a LOT of PBJs in a week. And it makes me want to crawl into a dark room and curl up into a fetal position.

However, never one to shrink from a challenge, I went to Pinterest for inspiration and ideas for a variety of healthy “on the go” meals. I found this:

lunch box 1 

And this:

phineas and ferb lunch

And this:

butterfly lunch

Is any of this even for real? I mean, I love Phineas and Ferb as much as the next person, but after a morning of travel and activity, our lunches tend to wind up looking more like this:

APTOPIX Spain Tomatina Food Fight

Cute little bento sandwiches? Color coded, patterned fruit and veggie kebabs? Yeah….no.

I need a lunch lady.

5 comments:

  1. I got so overwhelmed that I "retired" from this responsibility. My oldest two children make lunch and breakfast every week day. Sometimes I do make the lunches, if I want to. Mornings are hardest for me, so I haven't made a breakfast in months.

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  2. I would be your lunch lady if we lived closer.

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  3. Haha...very true! My kids expect to eat every 2-3 hours as well, and with one son over 6 ft and the other close behind, you can imagine the volumes of mass consumption going on. I know your kiddos are a lot younger than mine, but maybe the older ones could help the younger ones, assign one younger sibling to each older sibling, and the older sib makes two lunches/dinners and then you are hopefully only left with making just a few yourself. Kinda like lunch mentoring :)

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  4. You are hilarious Marissa! Love it!

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  5. You always make me laugh...could not agree with you more! :)
    Maybe that's one of the reasons we are such amazing friends!

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