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Lunch Box Blues
This mom's got the blues over "bag vs. box"
Posted by Lisa Hendey in Food on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 3:35 PM
I knew it was inevitable…
Adam took off for his first full day of eighth grade this morning with his lunch in tow, nondescriptly tucked into a brown paper bag. His trusty insulated lunchbox and cool reusable containers tossed aside in favor of something more socially acceptable.
I shouldn’t have been surprised! I remember Eric making the transition from box to bag back when he was in junior high. For some reason, at our school, bag rules and box is for geeks. Of course, sitting next to the forlorn looking lunchbox is the ergonomically safe wheeled backpack from seventh grade - also uncool. Instead, you’re supposed to tote forty pounds of books, a laptop computer, all of your supplies and your lunch (in a bag, of course) around on your back!!
I thought maybe Adam would be the exception to the lunch bag crowd - he tends to march to the beat of his own drummer, not often falling prey to social norms. But I was wrong! He didn’t make a big deal over it - he just politely asked for a brown bag and went on his way, not realizing the emotional upheaval he was causing his mom…yet another sign of his march towards manhood! Funny, it’s the little transitions like these - the ones most right-minded mothers don’t even notice - that tend to get to me!
So now I’ve got the lunch bag blues! Back in the days of the insulated lunch box, school lunch ideas were more prevalent and varied. Being able to toss in an icepack opened up a whole slew of possibilities for fun lunch ideas. With the bag, I feel limited to things that don’t need to stay cool (especially since it will be over 100 degrees in Fresno today!). My attempt to put an icepack into the brown paper bag resulted in a soggy mess.
I’d love to hear your creative ideas for school lunches. How do you keep them healthy, yet fun and interesting? Does your kid brown-bag or use a lunch box?
I’d also love to know the little signs you, as a parent, observe that point to your children’s growing maturity. From preschoolers to preteens, their lives are full of tiny moments like these that mark their continuing growth. What are some of your favorite (or least favorite) rites of passage?
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