My friend Matt packs lunch every day for his newly vegetarian daughter. It is an adventure. He has been posting the lunches on Facebook. They are not at all fancy, but they are appealing, and many of the elements he makes in advance, so his mornings are easier; in fact, this morning we met on the way in to school 20 minutes late--their alarm hadn't gone off, and we had houseguests. But all the kids had lunches. My point is that even though Matt is preparing lunches that are different from the norm, and even though they are simple to make, every day at lunch other kids stop what they are doing to watch his daughter unpack her box and open all the containers. Her lunch is an event.
When you are packing lunch for someone on a special diet, the "special" is an important factor. Instead of "poor me, I can't eat that," go for "lucky me, I get to eat this!" It does not have to be labor intensive to succeed, although it certainly could be if you are so inclined. Mainly, it has to look appetizing and be something your child is excited about eating. Colorful and fresh go a long way in this department.
Enviable lunches don't have to be hard. The extra labor involved is usually a matter of retraining your brain to plan ahead, and the more you do it, the easier it becomes, until you are planning ahead on the fly. Adjust it to suit yourself. I like packing bento boxes with a couple side containers, so my kids get the composed meal effect. Matt packs a bunch of individual containers all at once a couple times a week, so his daughter gets the "opening presents" effect when they are unpacked. What would work best for you? What containers could you keep on hand? What foods make you feel special?
No comments:
Post a Comment