Amy & Aron's

Lunch is an important part of my kids' day. They are so busy with their classwork, and homework they need that little bit of time to get their gossip out. The kids meet together and socialize while they eat. It's the equivalent to the lunch dates moms have or the water cooler conversations.

In middle school, it is so important to not have a boring lunch. Kids have 6 years to get the lunch they want down to a science. By middle school, a lame lunch can get you sent into no man's land. Silent lunch, no way!!!! What happens if someone starts dating someone, what if a note got passed- ANONYMOUSLY!!! What if someone had a BREAK-UP!! I forgot just how important it was until my 6th grader ran me through the social guidelines. and may I add, YIKES!!

• No one eats sandwiches anymore.
• We have to have yogurt, not jello or pudding, were not babies.
• Milk is still good but needs something else too. Bottled water with a flavor pouch, is cool.
• Everything healthy except 1 candy. Gummy bears or equivalent. (Mom Wins this- keep reading)

I love this, her seriousness is so genuine, I can't help but conform. This will go perfectly in my upcoming almost-mature lunch box post, I told myself. So, here I am. Writing this almost mature lunch box post.



No Sandwich!!??

So the first rule, no one eats sandwiches anymore. Ok, well, what goes in the dang lunchbox? What do I put in that handy dandy bread sliced shape container with a lid? After some thinking, A wrap!! Those are sophisticated enough to be grown up food but easy to make and fit perfectly into the sandwich holder.

All you do is make the wrap and cut it into bite thickness pieces. We call them pinwheels. I don't know where we picked that up at bt it stuck. The cute little rolls fit perfectly into a sandwich box and when I fit them in there snugly, they don't lose their shape.

No Baby Business


So, they aren't babies anymore. These middle-schoolers are at that super in-between age. They have the taste for kid stuff but the craving for the mature stuff. It's a slippery slope. Just to throw it out there, this is a cazy time for kids of this age group.

How do you give them the "grown-up stuff" that they will actually eat not just showcase on the lunch table? That's a toughy because I have seen this in action.

Here is my little story. This summer, my oldest daughter decided that she likes guacamole. My youngest daughter, thinking that almost everything her older sister does is amazing, made herself eat guacamole with everything. If it wasn't guac it was straight avocado. She started asking for it every day for two weeks straight. I didn't mind because I love avocados and I do have it with everything. But, this kid couldn't even smile when she was eating it.

She was sitting on the couch one day, I asked her what she was doing. She had this poorly peeled avocado on a plate,  cut into pieces, talking at it. Not exactly to the food but not exactly to herself either. -I have to train myself to like this. You can do it.- So I started chanting - You Can Do It Brucey!! It was very funny.

So, my point in that, kids will do stuff because they see other people they look up to do it. The avocado craze died down, unfortunately.

What can go in a lunchbox that is a tasty treat but not kiddish? We have decided yogurts and pretzel dip stuff. Hummas is a good one. Or veggies with ranch.

Milk does the body good

So, milk, this is a good one. I like it that my girls drink milk. The flavored something can really tap dance on the "ok" vs "I don't think so" line. I don't mind soda once in a while but that is not something I offer. They have to make a really good argument for me to agree.

We do bottled water with flavoring packs all of the time. I like them because they are very inexpensive and I can give a bigger variety in a smaller amount of space. Sometimes she wants lemonade sometimes it's tea. I can keep 5 different flavors in her lunchbox at a time and they aren't in the way. She can decide when it comes time to have it, what she wants. And with having the extras, she can share.




Candy? In a lunchbox!!

This is the I win section of the post. So, she wants candy to be able to show off her rebellious side. I don't blame her, she's a girl after her mama's heart. So, what do I come up with? Only the most awesome lunch box addition since I was her age and even longer. Fruit Roll Ups and Fruit Snacks. When I was her age, I always wanted Fruit Roll Ups. We were little weirdos. We would stick them to our tounges and act like we had long crazy tongues.

I like Fruit Roll Ups and Fruit snacks because they are awesome and come from a brand I have known and trusted my whole life. When I was little it was because they had amazing flavor and they were so cool. Now that I'm a mom, it's because of the ingredients, they had amazing flavors, and they are so cool.

So, what do you think? Can you handle the Almost Mature lunchbox?