LUNCHES

grapes

School has started again and I was reminded of my sense of inadequacy over lunch food when my brother in law was complaining about his daughter not eating her lunch.  It reminded me of when I had the same complaint.  But my complaint included a rant about the contents of my daughter's lunch.
You see, I hate to pack school lunch.  This dislike goes back to when I was a child.  I never wanted to do it the night before, and everyone knows you can only do a good job in the morning if you get up early.  So I always foist  the job on anyone I can get to do it.
When my daughter was little, I had the babysitter make her lunch.  I would explain, in excruciating detail, what should be included in a nutritious lunch.  And each evening I would empty her lunch box with a complete untouched lunch.  This lunch would always contain food that did not meet my standards.  After listening to me complain about this for weeks, my husband, instead of telling me to make the lunch myself (a very good call on his part, I might add) stated "what does it matter if she doesn't eat a non-nutritious lunch, or she doesn't eat a nutritious lunch?  She doesn't eat it!"
This got me to thinking about what and how much a lunch should contain.  Obviously, the caloric intake varies depending on the age of the child, and whether or not you are packing mid-morning and after school snacks also, as so many parents do.  I think the best way to think about it is how many calories does your child need in 24 hours, and how many of those will he eat away from home.
A child should always start their morning with breakfast.  In general, they should have some protein and complex carbohydrates.  I'm a big fan of oatmeal, but my daughter isn't.  It doesn't have to be typical breakfast fare, either.  A big favorite in my family is cold pizza.  That meets my requirements and can be eaten on the run.
But this is really about lunches.  I've always thought that lunches should have a variety of things because you never know what you are going to feel like eating.  If you are planning lunch with snacks, that allows you to increase the choices and calories for your child.  Plan on giving them half their daily calories.  Include a fruit, a vegetable, carbohydrate and protein.  Include your child in menu planning.  Not necessarily on a daily basis, but in grocery-shopping.  If they have more say in what goes in their lunch, they are more likely to eat it.
Do you need to include a "treat"?  And if so, what kind?  Some people think of treats as dessert and sweet, others think of treats as salty and savory.  I think of treats as junk food and should not be a daily part of eating.  So my answer is treats are not a daily part of lunch.  Even if they are not eaten!  Because what we are trying to teach with what we send to school for lunch is what is good food.
Next blog will have ideas for the lunch itself!