Paper or Plastic

Packing lunches is not my favorite thing. It is my own fault. I hear other moms tell of training their children to make their own lunches before school. I've heard what kids tuck into their lunch sacks.

(Driving home from the bus stop at the end of the day)
Kid 1-I'm starving! I didn't have time to make my lunch, so I had to grab an apple.
Kid 2-Well, at least you had something. There was nothing good at my house. I only had a bag of cheetos. I wish we'd had some cupcakes left.
Kid 1-Hilary, you're lucky. Your mom makes your lunch.

I try to be accomodating. I wouldn't want to eat a turkey sandwich every day for lunch and figure my kids are the same. Thinking back, I believe Christopher ate a sandwich, a yogurt, and a gatorade every day for an entire school year. I'd tuck in a dessert, or try to switch it up, but he'd let me know he really wanted these items to eat on a daily basis. So I'd give him egg salad, turkey, chicken salad, roast beef, salami...at least a variety of sandwiches-no repeats.

It gets tricky, though, trying to remember which child likes lettuce, who doesn't like cheese, strawberries with sugar to dip, but this one's allergic to strawberries. Sometimes I accidently put the salami sandwich in the lunch of the one who was supposed to get the turkey. Or I'd put the salad with ranch dressing in the italian dressing lovers lunch box. Thankfully, my kids are pretty forgiving.

The funny part is watching them through the years & their tastes in the packaging. By 4th or 5th grade, my oldest 2 would no longer take a lunch box. It wasn't cool. A small paper sack was fine, thank-you. I've never liked this transition. Firstly, as they cram that bag into their backpack I just know their sandwich is getting squished. I go to great lengths to pack a nice sandwich. I quit using bread to try making it less compact within those sacks. I use hearty sandwich rolls, but still...

I remember the sadness with which I packed my son's last lunch. I was overcome with the thought that I would never again make him his lunch. It wasn't as if he was moving out the on his last day of school his senior year, but it was the last time I'd lovingly pack it in that paper sack.

I don't recall Christina's last lunch. I think because she was the oldest and I was in a flurry with so many lunches that I didn't notice that last lunch. Elisabeth went to a private school her senior year. She was the only one who has had senior privileges to leave campus for lunch. I only made her lunch twice a week, so I missed her "very last lunch." Elisabeth carried a lunch box until high school. The "coolness" finally set in, and I had to be more careful with the sandwiches.

Sarabeth has always enjoyed picking out her lunch box. The past 3 years, it was a shiny, gold one from Old Navy. Gold is her favorite color. But as all good lunchboxes do, it finally had enough. Black was the new color of choice. It will be interesting to see if she chooses a new one for her senior year. Or whether or not she caves in to "coolness" and sports the ugly, brown, squishy, paper sack. She is pretty much her own person, so I suspect she will go for plastic.

Hilary, a freshman in high school, went for the ultimate in coolness. She chose a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle lunch box. But sadly, this week, they have lost their cool. I noticed the signs & should have seen it coming, but it snuck up on me. She asked if she could have the dreaded brown paper bag. I tried to protest. My biggest gripe now is they are making the sacks smaller, even though my lunches have become more creative. I try twice a week to pack a hot lunch into a nice silver thermos jar. Sarabeth loves it, maybe Hilary doesn't. I can't fit them into those sacks. I tried a larger produce sack, but that "was embarrassing." I was also informed she really needed a throw-away water bottle, as she didn't like having to save her lunch sack. No problem...at least not for her.

Last Friday, try as I might, I could not jam her lunch into that little sack-even if I left her water bottle out. I snatched the Turtles off of the fridge where they'd been hanging for awhile. I explained that she was going to have to take them again, but I handed her a sack that if she just couldn't be caught with a lunch box, SHE could figure out how to make it work.

Hilary came home from school "starving." Her lunch, packed neatly in the Turtles Box was left uneaten in the car. Did I mention how much I hate "coolness" and peer pressure?