The countdown is on. In less than five days, the small people will return to school and all will be right in the world. That is, of course, except for the little hiccup known as 鈥渟chool lunches.鈥�
I hate making lunches. Like everyone else, we are always short on time in the morning, and many of our days start off with someone having to retrieve yesterday鈥檚 lunch kits from the van where they were conveniently forgotten and having to clean them of all the leftover food.
This year, I vow to have more structure in our routine. Starting Tuesday, backpacks will be emptied and lunch containers washed as soon as we get home from school.
So now that the actual housekeeping is out of the way, I must think about the important part: the food. The good news is I don鈥檛 feel terribly pressured by things like Pinterest 鈥� I have the privilege of actually working in a school, so I know firsthand that sandwiches punched out by cookie cutters in the shapes of unicorns and shooting stars with strips of cheese strings curled into darling spirals aren鈥檛 a real thing, but what does amaze me how real-life parents manage to get snacks and meals prepared for their children every day.
Like every day. All of them.
That鈥檚 magic.
So, in my resolve to be like these glowing examples (and not rely on their dad to come to the rescue because we haven鈥檛 left enough time, yet again), I am committing to a lunch schedule.
We鈥檝e been down this road before, and frankly, it works.
I鈥檝e done it for dinners. It鈥檚 a miracle, really.
Why everyone isn鈥檛 doing it all the time a wonder to me.
The plan is simple: Each day of the week for the coming month will be the same. There will be a Monday lunch, a Tuesday lunch, a Wednesday lunch and鈥� well, you get the idea.
Every meal 鈥� whether it鈥檚 pasta, or soup, or sandwiches 鈥� will be rounded out by fruit and cut-up vegetables that can ultimately go into a stir fry or stew for dinner, because let鈥檚 be honest, they don鈥檛 always get eaten. Done!
After the first four weeks, we can review the meal plan to see what major tweaking needs to be done.
Maybe the kids will be perfectly content, maybe we will choose four entirely new meals; I鈥檓 flexible. But in the meantime, I will know exactly what needs to be purchased for the week, in advance, and even be able to prep things ahead of time 鈥� simply because there will be no guesswork. The schedule will take away one enormous headache from this working momma.
As much as I resist it, having things laid out in black and white will actually make things easier, not only for me, but for all of us.聽 聽
Heck, with all the time I鈥檓 saving, I might just find myself on Pinterest鈥�
