Daily Bento

I found out last night that all of the sandwiches I had been making my daughter for lunch had been (purposely) accidentally dropped on the floor so that she wouldn’t have to eat them. The beginnings of an evil genius? I think so.

The kindergarten kids eat lunch at 10:45 in the morning which is crazy early. Especially when you consider that most of them eat breakfast at 8. So it’s no wonder that most of their lunches go uneaten. When the school year first started, I would pack leftovers from a previous dinner, I would send her with colored pasta, I would make cute little bite-sized pb&j sandwiches. And for all my efforts, I would get to throw those things away at the end of every day because she wouldn’t touch them. What annoyed me even more was the fact that she would normally eat these things at home. So naturally, when I should be worrying about asteroids & zombie apocalypses like a normal person, I’m consumed with anxiety about my kid not eating enough. That’s nuts.

I’ve decided after much trial, error & disappointment over the last 4 weeks of school that I’m just going to make things easy on myself. My daughter seems to prefer a more “snacky” lunch loaded with fresh produce. In fact, I’ve seen that little weirdo choose a bowl of spring greens with a little sea salt sprinkled on top for snack over everything else in the house on more than one occasion. So that’s what I will be packing her from here on out unless she specifically requests something else. Lots of fresh fruits & veg, some kind of protein, something with a little crunch & no sandwiches.

This one is pretty straightforward. Just some carrot & celery sticks in the top tier. The bottom tier held sliced strawberries & one of our homemade oatmeal bars that we made together last night. I also packed her a sliced banana in a separate container.