When I see the back-to-school displays in stores…I get pangs. I feel a yearning for the days when my kids were school age. I miss taking them to pick out their first day of school outfits, sneakers, and lunch boxes. But there is one thing I don’t miss…packing school lunches. I would be full of baloney if I said I did.
I hear there are kids who actually buy their lunches…but that’s not how we rolled in our family. So for 12 grades x 180 days of school… + or - a snow day…. x 3 kids…you do the math...I was elbow deep in gooey pb and sticky j.
Anywho…………..
When I was in school...I preferred to brown bag it. Our kids probably inherited the “I Won’t Buy Lunch” gene from me. I remember what I used to bring...the predictable pb and j on white bread…a bag of Frito Banditos….a Devil Dog for dessert…and a Fizzy tablet to wash it all down.
In case you don’t know …the fizzy tablet was similar to an Alka Seltzer…but tasted a little better. For a quick drink…you would plop the flavored tablet into a cup of water…and watch it fizz around…making your drink. Some kids would take it out while it was still fizzing and put it on their tongue for a little fizzy fun. I never did that…not my style.
During lunch I would look around the table and check out what the other kids had for their lunch. I felt sorry for the kids with the bright shiny apple…or a thermos of hot soup. Or the worst…left-overs. Yuck. I always wondered what they could have possibly done to deserve such a crappy lunch.
Some kids were into bartering with each other… “trade ya!” That was also not my style. I was never in the market for a red apple…or left-over lasagna. No one was getting my Devil Dog or Little Debbie Oatmeal Crème Pie.
I’m hoping that all the preservatives I ate as a kid…will keep me well preserved for the future.
My kids have since told me that their favorite lunches were the ones when I threw in a Lunchable. Whoa...I had forgotten about that. The high Preservative/Sugar/Sodium Lunch...plastic cellophane over plastic food. And I thought I was a bad mom…when I was really the BEST EVER. Go figure.
The one thing that I did enjoy about packing lunches was writing their name on the outside of the brown bag...that is, after they grew out of commerical clad/movie promoting lunch boxes. I would get creative with dots, squiggles, curly q’s and different markers. And I’d include a little message on their napkin.
Before cell phones…a note in the lunch box was the only way you could get in touch with your kids while they were at school. “Ortho appointment after school” “Have a good day” “You’re the best” “Hi, Sweetie” “Love you, Mom xoxoxoxo”
Darn I miss that.
I hear there are kids who actually buy their lunches…but that’s not how we rolled in our family. So for 12 grades x 180 days of school… + or - a snow day…. x 3 kids…you do the math...I was elbow deep in gooey pb and sticky j.
Anywho…………..
When I was in school...I preferred to brown bag it. Our kids probably inherited the “I Won’t Buy Lunch” gene from me. I remember what I used to bring...the predictable pb and j on white bread…a bag of Frito Banditos….a Devil Dog for dessert…and a Fizzy tablet to wash it all down.
In case you don’t know …the fizzy tablet was similar to an Alka Seltzer…but tasted a little better. For a quick drink…you would plop the flavored tablet into a cup of water…and watch it fizz around…making your drink. Some kids would take it out while it was still fizzing and put it on their tongue for a little fizzy fun. I never did that…not my style.
During lunch I would look around the table and check out what the other kids had for their lunch. I felt sorry for the kids with the bright shiny apple…or a thermos of hot soup. Or the worst…left-overs. Yuck. I always wondered what they could have possibly done to deserve such a crappy lunch.
Some kids were into bartering with each other… “trade ya!” That was also not my style. I was never in the market for a red apple…or left-over lasagna. No one was getting my Devil Dog or Little Debbie Oatmeal Crème Pie.
I’m hoping that all the preservatives I ate as a kid…will keep me well preserved for the future.
My kids have since told me that their favorite lunches were the ones when I threw in a Lunchable. Whoa...I had forgotten about that. The high Preservative/Sugar/Sodium Lunch...plastic cellophane over plastic food. And I thought I was a bad mom…when I was really the BEST EVER. Go figure.
The one thing that I did enjoy about packing lunches was writing their name on the outside of the brown bag...that is, after they grew out of commerical clad/movie promoting lunch boxes. I would get creative with dots, squiggles, curly q’s and different markers. And I’d include a little message on their napkin.
Before cell phones…a note in the lunch box was the only way you could get in touch with your kids while they were at school. “Ortho appointment after school” “Have a good day” “You’re the best” “Hi, Sweetie” “Love you, Mom xoxoxoxo”
Darn I miss that.
2 comments:
I was waiting for you to mention how you would always write us notes!!!! You were and are the very best mother! love you!
the notes were always so cute! loved them. especially when they said don't forget you're excused at 12:45! best ever :)
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