We’ve all been there. WHAT TO MAKE FOR LUNCH. It was a daily struggle in my life.

• What are they going to eat?
• Are they going to hate what I send them? (Even though they picked it out!)
• How many times can I send cheese and crackers in a week?
• WHY ISN’T THERE ANY FOOD IN THE HOUSE?

No matter what I tried, it appeared that making lunches was just a necessary evil of having my children attend school. And then I decided to change one thing… my attitude.I woke up the next morning and decided I was going to be excited about making lunches. I was going to give myself 5 extra minutes so that it wasn’t such a stressful, unenjoyable event. I was on a mission to make it fun. And here’s some of the ideas that has changed my daily experiences with the mid-day meal:6 tips for making lunches

• Don’t hate the process, you have to do it anyways, you might as well enjoy it.
• Put things on sticks… literally. Find as many different sticks as you can find… swards, tooth picks, skewers, and serve their lunches on that. It’s more fun for them and more fun for you to make.
• Use a thermos and warm up left overs once per week.
• Plan a surprise in their lunch every couple days. This can be a cookie or a treat they wouldn’t normally get, a fun cookie cutter sandwich, or even a little note.
• Get the kids involved, the more they are a part of the process the better the outcome will be. Give them opportunity for input where possible.
• Kids LOVE getting notes in their lunches, and the small gesture can go a long way. Sometimes I get creative and when I am printing off pictures I print off a bunch of extra ones so that when I’m running behind on time I can throw one in as a fun reminder of something special.

Next stop… dinners. Oh wait, I haven’t figured out the magic trick to making kids eat their vegetables yet!