“He who fails to plan, plans to fail” – Proverb
Do you have school-age children? Can you relate to this scenario?
- Wake up the kids
- Start thinking about what to pack for lunch
- Get the kids dressed
- Feed them breakfast
- Wonder again about lunch
- Remind the kids to brush their teeth
- Remind the kids to brush their hair
- Open the fridge to make lunch
- Stare blankly at the near-empty fridge
- Panic about lunch
- Manage to find food your kids may actually eat—phew!
- Scrounge around the cupboards for food containers to pack lunch
- Search for backpacks
- Search for shoes
- Find backpacks
- Find shoes—or something that passes for shoes (sandals are close, right?)
- Get your kids to the bus stop/carpool/classroom
- Kiss them goodbye
- Pat yourself on the back—you made it!
Many occasions in life require plans—building a home, searching for a job, planning a family vacation. Why not packing school lunches?
Blue Print for a Better Lunch
Our new, free weekly school lunch planner, helps you create a plan for an entire week of school lunches—in just a few minutes. It features a grid with the weekdays listed across the top, and food categories listed down the side. We’ve left some space across the bottom for your shopping list. No more guessing about what to buy or what to pack for lunch!
6 Easy Steps to a Stress-Free Week of School Lunch Packing
Get started by following these steps:
- Fill out the food choices for the week, ideally with your kids
- Write your shopping list
- Head to the grocery store before the start of the week
- Sunday, do some prep—chop veggies, bake muffins, roast a chicken—whatever will help
- The night before school, lay out what you’ll need: containers, cutlery, napkins, water bottles, lunch bags, and so on
- Pack what you can at night; finish the rest in the morning
Diary of a Finicky Kid
My 10-year old daughter and I filled in the sample plan below. She can’t take nuts to school. If your kids can, you have all sorts of choices (ants on a log, trail mix and, of course, peanut butter sandwiches). Also, my daughter dislikes “fancy food,” as she calls it, so this menu includes pretty simple fare.
The planner offers another hidden benefit—I now know what to cook for dinner Monday night (chicken) and Tuesday night (baked macaroni and cheese).
We would love to hear your ideas to make lunch prep easy. Just leave us a comment below. Happy stress-free packing!
