Lunch Box Line-up

When Ma-lak went to kindergarten, school lunch was $2.00 per child, and that was quite manageable. Obviously, every year that I added another child to the school system, the "situation" became less than ideal. The last couple years I tried to reason with myself that the convenience of just paying for school lunches outweighed the inconvenience of trying to work full time, plan healthy lunches, buy the food, and then pack them everyday. For four children.

Well. We got through August because that was a short month. And then September 1st came, and I went to the lunch lady to pay ahead for the whole month, like I usually do. She kindly informed me that the lunches had gone up to $2.75 per child, per day. There were 21 school days in September.

My head-math informed me that I was about to write her a check for $231, and her calculator confirmed it. I recalled how many times my children had come home the past 3 weeks starving and complaining that they were supposed to get a choice of 2main courses everyday but they had run out of something or the other and only got a PBJ sandwich.

And that's when I had the epiphany. My sister insisted that it was merely her "intervention" being successful when I boo-hooed to her on the phone about my dire straights for the past 3 years and she kept trying to talk me into just packing their lunches. Whatever you want to call it, it worked.

I promptly went to the mall and bought 4 clearance-priced lunch boxes for $2.99 a piece. I went to Walmart and bought 4 mini thermos-es for $11.96 a piece and 4 gel ice packs for $.99 a piece. I bought a 4-pack of boxed Capri suns (40 count)for $5.99 at Costco, along with a huge variety pack of baked chips and pretzels, and more grapes than Napa Valley itself could produce in a year.

I declared that Monday was "Sandwich Day", and you could have whatever you wanted for lunch as long as it was a sandwich of some sort. Tuesdays are now Pasta/Casserole/Rice Day and Wednesdays are Soup Day. Thursdays are "I Want Sandwiches Again" Day and Fridays are Leftovers/Eat Whatever You Want as Long as a Protein and Vegetable are Involved Day.

It really helped that we rolled this out last week when my sister was here to ensure that I adhered to our plan....

So far so good. No one has traded their carrots for a fruit roll-up, at least not that I know of.... They are coming home with empty lunch boxes are always excited to plan what to put in it the next day.

And my favorite part? Leaving them little notes in their lunch boxes!!! Well, that and not writing a check for $231 every month.

Let the assembly line lunch boxing continue!!!