Back To School Lunch Blues…Already.

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When the opportunity came up to try the New Mott’s Fruitsations + Veggie gummies that are brand spankin’ new on the shelves for the upcoming school year, I of course said yes.

Then I proceeded to get all depressed.

There’s only three and a half weeks left until school rolls around. Oh yes, my children fight, argue and generally drive me insane over the summer, but I miss those little stinkers when they are at school. Yes, my productivity is way up, true, my house is cleaner but…wait.

Where was I? I think I just talked myself out of being sad that they are back to school…

What I truly DO dread is the school lunch, my nemesis and yours. With two picky eaters that I have documented well over the years on this blog, school lunches drive me crazy! I’ve also been vocal about the fact that I don’t allow treats every day in my kid’s lunches, this is reserved for Fridays and fieldtrips.

My home-baked goods are of course, a staple of Friday’s treats but kids are kids, my friends. They want bright-colored packages and snacks just like their friends do.

The Motts Fruitsations came just in time for me to pack them in my son’s carry on bag for their trip to Toronto. My husband took this adorable picture of the kids relaxing on the plane, my son of course, snacking away.

These are the types of treats I don’t mind sending my kids to school with on Fridays or even for special snacks on the airplane. With real fruit and vegetable juice, they are miles ahead of the other gummies out there that consist of pure sugar without any nutritional benefit whatsoever. They provide 100% of your daily requirement of Vitamin C, thanks to the real juice used and are only 80 calories a bag. A treat I can live with for sure!

Other than treats, my plan of attack this year for school lunches is..

..let the kids do a lot more packing.

Yes, I am sure a lot of you are thinking I am crazy, but at grades 3 and 5 ( I almost started crying writing that) my kids need to take more responsibility packing their lunches, with guidance of course. We’ve been working on teaching the kids how to balance a lunch since they started going to school – a protein, a fruit/veggie, a carbohydrate, etc. and they need to really up their game this year. Not only that, they can start adding to the family grocery list what they want to take in their lunches as well, and start PRE-planning, just like Mom does!

As long as there is a stash of fruits and veggies for the kids to take we are usually good for lunches. They take leftovers from dinner, buns and meat, hummus and veggies, eggs but rarely sandwiches!

Are you a sandwich type of household? I find myself really jealous sometimes of parents who have children that enjoy sandwiches. The only type my kids would eat is peanut butter which of course isn’t allowed in the school.

Make sure to visit the Life Made Delicious Facebook Page to enter a contest that has three $500 gift cards up for grabs until September 8^th, 2013! I could use one of those for back to school shopping! There is also a coupon to save 50 cents on your purchase of the new Motts Fruitsations as well.

Thanks for stopping by and reading everyone! Are YOU ready for the kids to go back to school?

Love,

Karlynn

“Disclosure – I am participating in the Mott’s Fruitsations & Veggie fruit snacks Blogger Campaign by Mom Central Canada. I received compensation as a thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion. The opinions on this blog are my own.”