Wednesday, April 2, 2008
How Do You Pack A School Lunch?
Today I was one of the chaperone's at Micah's field trip to the Children's Museum. After an hour and 40 minutes playing it was time for lunch. We all ate together and we all brought our own lunches from home. Let me tell you that I found it slightly appalling when I saw what most people had packed. Lots of soft white bread, preservative laden pudding cups, and "fruit" snacks galore. In the group of nine we sat with, we were the only ones that brought fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Two of the most hyper kids in the class were in our group and I found it very interesting indeed that they had the absolute worst lunches. I kid you not, one kids lunch looked like it came straight from the local convenience store. He had a plastic bottle of Kool-Aid to drink, a Wonder Bread pb&j, a large bag of Doritos and Pop-tarts for dessert. The other hyper kid in the group had more of the same, but his pb&j wasn't even homemade. It was a prepackaged Smuckers thing with the crusts cut off. I was sitting there feeling a bit shocked and I must admit a little bit smug until I looked down at my child. He was quietly noticing the same things I was. Then he looked up at me and said, "Mom, what did we bring for dessert?" I had to look back at him and admit that I thought the juice boxes I brought would be dessert enough. You have to realize that this kid always has water in his thermos so I thought he'd be thrilled with the juice boxes. Instead he looked rather crestfallen. Then I realized that I'm probably creating a closet junk food junkie. Our lunch was good. It not only tasted good, but it was healthy. However, it just didn't cut it for him. So what's a mom to do? I refuse to pack the "norm" in his lunch every day. I'd rather he was hungry than filled up on sugar and preservatives. I'm at a loss people. What's the happy medium? I'd love to hear every one's take on this subject. Please feel free to disagree with my philosophy on food. I'd just like to hear some opinions.
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11 comments:
Argh~I just typed a huge response and my internet froze up and closed down.
I grew up in a diabetic household where sugar was scarce. Massive quantities of cancer crystals though, hahaha. As soon as I hit junior high and had open lunch my friends and I would hit the gas station and I'd buy 2-3 candy bars plus suckers, etc and eat them all before my next class. I gained a lot of weight, obviously. So, I really want to avoid this in my house. We make our own cookies, sweet bread and cakes. I buy good chocolate, ice cream and the "healthier" gummy bears from the co-op's bulk section. It's still sugar, but everything is organic and free of harmful fats. And I know exactly what is in it. They do not get treats every day. Every other day, probably. I also consider juice a treat and so do the kids.
Check my blog later today for an excerpt from the last book I read regarding food and kids...it's hilarious and right on!
And I grew up in a household that always had loads of sugary sweets and it seems like we were always allowed to pick out a candy treat in the check out lanes. And guess what I still have a terrible sweet tooth...although I am finally getting away from sweet tarts and more towards dark chocolate. I would love for my children not to grow up having the same terrible sweet tooth as I have. We too make most of our own treats, and most times I make healthier versions of cookies/bars for the kids and for lunch treats. I don't put a sweet in the school lunch everyday but maybe 1-2 times a week. The nice thing is when kids haven't had tons of junk they are thrilled with very little. Like some of my homemade healthy cookies are a big hit with them...but I am sure if I sent them as a class snack most of them would end up in the trash can! I could go on and on as you know but will stop and wish you luck in finding the happy medium.
~Amy
We were more like Shannon's house...we grew up with sugar forbidden as little kids. We just found ways to get it, like having our babysitters bring contraband marshmallows! I am going to let simon have some once in a while in hopes that he won't binge behind my back! :P I can't believe the things you said those kids had to eat!! :(
I grew up in a house where we had sweets once in ahwile and about the only thing we drank was kool-aid. But I also remember eating fruits and veggies. I let my kids have sugar-free juice (NO KOOL-AID!) but mostly they like water or milk. I also let them have sweets in moderation. I too don't want them to binge on sweets because I restricted them.
Can I comment too? We weren't forbidden, but rather restricted and ate food from the farm, everything scratched. I rebelled when I left home and have come back to being careful. Our kids were somewhat restricted, and when the oldest left home, it was junk food city. Now she is coming around and cooking and eating healthier. Second child, son, did the same thing. Didn't take him as long to come around, he's starting to cook a bit while in his first year of college. So, sorry, I don't have any answers, just experiences. Wonder if educating our kids and allowing them to choose would help? (and that would vary greatly according to their age and other factors.)
i have to comment on that last comment from laura. i like what you said. i guess we just have to give them a good foundation. they might stray from it, but it would always be there for them to go back to. we could say the same thing spiritually. and the other thing i've decided after reading everyone else's posts is i need to start baking healthier versions of treats more often! thanks everyone - this has been interesting.
everything in moderation. Healthy lunch and an ocassional not so healthy dessert will satisfy cravings and prevent pent up desires that will lead to becoming a junk food junkie later in life.
that makes me cringe about what is in those other kids' lunches! yikes! gregory just requested a lunch today and i put in organic carrots, sliced apples, a blueberry activa yogurt for "dessert" and a peanut butter and honey sandwich on multi grain bread. i asked him if that's what he wanted and he said yes. my husband is usually the one to bring junk food such as oreos, chips etc. into the house..oh and sugar cereals too...that's his choice. i choose healthy shakes and feed those to the kids. because we're ( hubby and i) are kind of opposite our kids are getting a taste of both "worlds". i try to bite my tongue so it isn't a power issue etc..but there is definitely a difference of opinion about foods here. from what i observe though..our kids eat pretty well.
Neisha didn't know I hid the candy in my dresser drawer. I limited them to what they could have, but didn't limit myself, thus why I am so sweet!! ;?
I'm with Seth on this one... moderation. I think it's great you're giving your kids such great things to eat, but in my opinion a little treat here and there doesn't hurt anything. I think if we're good at explaining that we're eating things that are good for our bodies, that helps, too. I've found my boys respond better when I explain why I restrict certain things which can also apply to foods. Restricting sugar definitely plays into better behavior, though... I've proved that more then a few time with my boys.
If you haven't discovered Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, give it a try. You can substitute it 1:1 for all purpose flour in cookies, cakes, and quick breads. It's still a cookie, but at least it has a few extra nutrients and fiber along with it. Sometimes I sneak ground flax seed into baked goods when I think it won't be too noticeable. Just some ways I've found to make treats a little more healthy.
Andrea Wright
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