Lunchbox Tidbit

These little things occur to me while I am going through my day, and I always plan to compile them into an incredibly comprehensive list of sage wisdom. Ha! The truer wisdom would be me admitting that I tend to be scattered, and making (and keeping track of) notes to create such a superpost is not likely.

So here is a tidbit of wisdom, brought to you by the experience of my young student.

When purchasing a lunchbox for your allergic child, do not let the character on the front be the key decision maker. Look closely at the overall design. While my daughter loves her princess lunchbox with the functional design of a brown bag, she found it is not easy to use. You know the kind, with a velcro type faster along the top of the bag, and a bag design that really does look like, well, a brown paper lunch bag. My daughter found that it is not easy to get foods in and out of her lunch box. She can not eat over the lunch box, meaning if she drops a bite (or half her sandwich) on the table she needs to throw it away. Also, we do not use many plastic baggies, and we found that once we put in a drink bottle, a sandwich container, and a napkin...we run out of room for the other yummy parts of a healthy lunch.

Before buying, consider how much room packing a healthy lunch will take. Also, consider whether you will be sending a place mat, or if you like your child to eat over their open lunchbox to avoid accidental contamination. The ease of choosing what food they want to eat first and taking out just that food is also important. Lunchtime goes fast, these kiddos don't want to waste any time trying to struggle with their lunchbox.