Category: Kids

Kid Funnies

7/12/24 – We were driving to camp and the song “No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn” by the Beastie Boys came on.


Kiddo 1: I feel like all I hear on the radio is this song!
Me: Welcome to the 90s.
Song: …rocking this party 8 days a week…
Kiddo 3: Eight days? Did they have a different calendar back then?!?

8/18/2024 – waiting for homework to be done so we can go to the store

You are capable of going to the store without me, Mom. We’re not sesame twins.

Kiddo 1

9/20/2024 – talking about the events from the night before

I can’t remember everything from lasterday!

Kiddo 1

Buckets

“I always thought those lessons on your bucket of emotions were silly because I thought everyone knew about it, but there’s this kid on my swim team who is just flat out mean. I don’t think he ever learned about buckets.”

My sweet middle kiddo is not a fast swimmer, she is a distance swimmer. She’s also not one to let other people’s thoughts and actions affect her (read The Four Agreements for more). So when she brought up the desire to drop out of one of her swim leagues I knew this was more serious than just a stray comment here and there.

For those of you that don’t know, the bucket of emotions is pretty simple, and very easy to teach to kids of all ages. The concept is that everyone has a bucket of happiness, satisfaction, and contentment. The more you have of these emotions, the more full your bucket is. The less you have, obviously the less full your bucket is. People whose buckets are full are more kind, considerate, happy, willing to try new things, and have a higher overall satisfaction with life. People whose buckets are low are the ones you see screaming at the cashier or their kids, they’re sad, angry, or somehow hurting emotionally. They’re the people that need a moment to collect themselves before continuing about their day. We’ve all been there.

The question is, how do you fill your bucket? You do something to fill someone else’s bucket.

How do you fill someone else’s bucket? The easy ones are to give a compliment, hold the door, smile, wave, tell them to have a great day, let them go first, use your manners, compliment their work, give a hug, or say something good about them to someone else. The sky is the limit here. If it would make you feel good, more than likely it will help someone else feel good, too. This is also where the fake it until you make it mantra comes in handy. You know you’re not in the best of moods, so you really don’t want to fill someone else’s bucket, but these simple acts will truly help bring your mood around.

You can also fill a bucket with a little more planning. Bring someone lunch or invite them to eat lunch with you, bring them a small plant from your garden, meet up for coffee, send a thinking of you note, or a note of thanks or encouragement, go somewhere and chat, share a funny with them, or offer to help them with something.

You can also plan ahead for total strangers. Get a handful of smaller rocks and write, or paint, words of kindness and inspiration on them and leave them around your neighborhood. Bring a box of baked goods to the nursing home, offer to teach a skill you have, volunteer at a local (insert anywhere that needs a volunteer in your vicinity) because they all need help. Lots of options, and definitely feel free to expand on the list of options!

The thing is, when you do something positive for someone else, not only does it make them feel good, it makes you feel good, too. The opposite is true, as well. If someone cuts you off in traffic, it doesn’t make you feel any better if you turn around and cut someone else off. So, to help stop that feeling of negativity, do something positive for someone else, without any expectations in return. Seriously, no expectations! The hand-wave of thanks, while nice to receive, is not a requirement if you let them in. Don’t expect the thank you if you hold the door open for someone, just know in your heart, and in your bucket, you helped someone.

One of the ways we reinforced this concept with the kids is making it one of our regular dinner questions. Granted, our regular sit down dinners have become scarce, but we still try to make it a habit to ask each kid when we see them in the evening. The two questions we try to ask each day are “What did you learn today?” and “How were you kind today?”

Don’t have a dinner partner to check in with? Leave a comment below, or find a journal to write down your daily gratitudes and accomplishments. It doesn’t have to be a fancy journal. My favorite journal is a regular old composition book.

There are tons of books out there to help teach the bucket concept. One of our favorites is “Have You Filled A Bucket Today?” by Carol McCloud.

I hope you find plenty of buckets to help fill up, and that your own bucket is filled with love.

Recipe by Picture

If your kids are anything like my kids they really, and I mean really, love baking. They particularly love it when I’m in the middle of a project and can’t help them. Much to each of our dismay.

My youngest’s all time favorite recipe is chocolate chip cookies. My oldest loves the breads, particularly zucchini or banana bread. My middle adores eating what the other two make. It works out well all around.

In an effort to encourage their self resilience and allow me to finish my projects without regular interruptions I created picture recipes that they could follow, based off actual recipes. I made the directions super simple, fidgeted with the ingredients so that there aren’t any wonky portions, and put almost everything in pictures. While this takes the finesse of baking out, it makes it easy enough that my 7 year old can create cookies or bread.

Granted, there are still some oopses and learning mistakes, but they don’t need my help nearly as much as if they were following a written recipe. One of the funniest oops so far was when they decided they weren’t patient enough to make all the cookies and turned a batch of dough for 60 cookies into 24 cookies. I realized then that the attention span for 60 cookies might have been a bit much. I kept the recipe size the same, but told them that it should fill up a cookie sheet 3 times. As you can see, putting that much dough into so little cookies wasn’t really a big deal.

To help them determine how big the cookie drop should be, and where they should place it, we have these very nifty cookie sheet baking mats by Miu. They come with circles places evenly around the mat so it’s easy to see where the cookie dough should go and, assuming the drop of dough isn’t too large, they shouldn’t run into each other.

To create the chocolate chip cookies recipe, I took the basic Nestle Tollhouse recipe, adjusted for high altitude, and cut the recipe to 1 cup of chocolate chips. As much as we love chocolate, we wanted to taste the cookie bits, too. I’ve created a download for the chocolate chip recipe, and will be adding the banana bread recipe shortly. Until then, enjoy the chocolate chip recipe! *remember, this is adjusted for high altitude*

CC Cookie Picture RecipeDownload

Schedule Your Kiddos

Three weeks of spring break with no expectations of schooling, scheduling, or outside activities. If you’re like me, you had a mild panic attack. This was like summer break, but without the summer, the break, or the prep work that goes into doing “nothing” over summer. So if you’re looking for a few ideas on what, and how to create a schedule for your kids while you’re on break and before your distance learning kicks in I’ve got some below.

First and foremost set your expectations. Set them low. No, lower than that. Still lower. Okay, that’s good. You were already a busy parent juggling work, family, and trying to take care of yourself. Now you’ve been handed an additional full time job of teaching/entertaining/not strangling your kids for the entire day. Hang in there! You got this!! Lower (or get rid of !) your expectations and you will feel way less guilt about the amount, or lack thereof, of structured time your kids are getting. It’s not going to set them back in their schooling, it’s not going to irreparably stunt their capabilities, it’s just another break from school that literally every kid (except maybe homeschooled kids) are getting. Teachers are preparing for this, schools are preparing for this, and it’s going to be okay.

Now, on to the scheduling part. Time blocks are important. Walk into any elementary school and they have blocks of time set aside for each thing they do. And these blocks stay the same each day, too. This way kids know what to expect and it isn’t a surprise. You’re much more likely to get daily buy-in if you have a routine, whether they actually want to do what is scheduled for that time or not. Each learning block should be 30-45 minutes long depending on the age of the kid. Use those leftover minutes to fully stop the activity, clean up from that activity, get some wiggles out, stretch, and drink some water. These extra minutes of wiggles are really important, no matter how old the kid is. Even in high school you have to walk to your next class, getting your blood flowing and your brain a chance to move on to what is next. No-one likes being slammed with information for hours on end.

Get the heavy duty learning done in the morning. Math, writing, and reading, are best morning activities. It’s when we’re the most alert, and ready to absorb the information. But again, make sure they are in blocks appropriate in length to your kid. Here is where those low expectations come in. These are slow learning subjects. They get taught one day, and then you review, and review again, and review again. Then you can move on to the next little step in learning, then review, and review, and review again. It’s boring as heck for an adult, but if you can make a game out of it, it’s a lot more fun. It’s even more fun seeing the lightbulb go on in your kids’ head when they totally understand the concept you’re teaching them.

Once you’re done with the heavy duty stuff and the wiggle sessions, let them play. Go fix lunch, or warm up leftovers but let them play. This gives you some alone time, it gives them some alone time, and you each get a chance to take a deep breath. If they got what you were teaching, or reviewing, great! If they didn’t catch on, they will eventually. Take it nice and slow, and keep your patience. Give them lots of encouragement, and lots of time. Once lunch is done with let them play some more.

The afternoons are the time for “yes” and experiments and outside the box learning. Big in the learning world right now is the acronym STEAM. It stands for science, technology, engineering, art, and math (although I change it in my world to make). Five letters, five days of the week. Pick a science experiment on Monday, technology on Tuesday, engineering on Wednesday, art on Thursday, and make on Friday. Let your kid have a larger part in the doing of this project. This is their fun learning time. It’s going to be a little more stressful for you if you micromanage every little bit of the afternoon project. Let it go, lower your expectations, and find the fun. They’ll learn along the way.

There are plenty of ideas for each of the STEAM categories on various websites. Find one that you can do, and that won’t grate on your nerves too much (remember to lower those expectations!) and let them explore the afternoon. This is also a time where you can let them lead what they want to do. Ask them what kind of science experiment they want to do. Almost anything they want to do can fit into one of these categories. Do they like to play with Legos – that fits under engineering, art, science, math. How about painting – that goes under art, science. Baking cookies is science, math/making, art, engineering. Let the internet be your friend here. There are lots of ideas out there, and, more importantly kids learn from fun. It doesn’t have to be a strict learning session, it just needs to be something to do.

Here is the schedule we follow for my 6, 8, and 11 year olds

  • 7:00 Breakfast (play after breakfast until time to write)
  • 8:00 Writing Prompt / write letter to a senior or out of state family member
  • 8:30 Typing or handwriting (my kids asked to learn cursive)
  • 8:45 Math
  • 9:30 Reading
  • 10:30 Play outside
  • 11:30 Eat Lunch (play until STEAM)
  • 1:00 STEAM
  • 3:30 Clean up a room in the house (I have a schedule for this, too)
  • Play some more!!
  • 6:00 Dinner

Adjust your schedule as you need to, but once you find one that works, keep to it. Routine is very helpful for you and your kids keeping your sanity. And lower those expectations!!


The Age of Yes

A quick little post of encouragement for you. If you’re like me, you’re trapped social distancing with a gaggle of kiddos at home. It’s really easy to get stuck in a pattern of “no” when you’re being bombarded with requests from your kids. This isn’t fun for anyone. Your kids are looking for some fun, you’re looking for a little sanity and “no” doesn’t help solve either of those problems.

Here is your permission to say “yes”. Let them play in your too-big-for-them shoes? Let them learn how to tie a tie. Let them play in your makeup. Let them dig a hole in the yard and fill it with water (check first with your local utilities group first to make sure there aren’t any gas or electric lines!). Let them figure out how to bake some cookies. Let them “swim” in the bathtub. Just say “yes”! Let them be kids – after all, that’s what they are.

Now, this isn’t blanket permission for them to go hog wild. You still need to set your boundaries and expectations that they clean up whatever they get into (and you’ll still have to help them a little bit). What a great way for them to learn something other than their normal daily school and get to explore a little bit. And yes, this will be a little extra messy, and a little more fun, and a little more wild, but what great memories, and learning experiences they will gain! I would much rather they remember that they learned how (or how not to) do something, than that they were bored out of their minds for months and they weren’t allowed to do anything but twiddle their thumbs.

If you’re working on schooling your kiddos, then let your “yes” time be in the afternoon once all their mandatory stuff is done. You can also limit it to one big yes each day – that way you get to keep a little bit more of your sanity. You’re in this together – what would you have liked to have done if you were the kid?

Stir Crazy

Are you going stir crazy yet? We’re doing our best to not eat our young. Both of us are working from home, I’m also homeschooling the kids, and trying to keep my sanity by knitting and crocheting. The biggest thing that has helped us thus far is keeping a schedule with the kids. Us, too really. The need to keep a scheduled was dramatically emphasized today, our first saturday, when we told the kids they could do whatever they wanted and that there wouldn’t be any school today. That went down like a wagon on a hill.

We’ve made a few adjustments from our old normal schedule to allow the kids to sleep in a little longer (7 am wake up instead of 6:30), and a little more leisurely breakfast. But dinner, bedtime, and making sure we still get some education time in is still a standard.

Currently our schedule for the kids looks like this:

7:00 Wake up, make beds, and make sure rooms are clean

8:00 Breakfast and breakfast clean up. Once they’re done with breakfast clean up they can play or read until school starts.

8:45 -9:00 We start “school” between 8:45 and 9:00. One kid will start on their writing prompt. I googled writing prompts for kids and picked my favorites. I also have the kids email their teachers once it’s their turn for “screen time.” For each writing prompt they need to write an appropriate amount of lines – 1st grade is 3 – 5 lines, 3rd grade is 5+ lines, and 5th grade is two paragraphs. They also need to make a drawing to go with the writing prompt.

While kid 1 is doing the writing prompt I’m giving another kid individualized math help. The third kid is either playing math games or typing games online. This is also the time that they can use to email their teacher. After 20-30 minutes we rotate.
 
10:00 Once each kid is done with their rotation they can read four about 30 minutes. This needs to be a just right book so that they can read while I finish helping the kiddo I’m working with.
 
10:30 I send them outside to play. They need a break. I need a break. We all need some sunshine. It’s a good time all around. Sometimes this will be riding their bikes around the park, or playing in the yard. Around 11 I start making lunch.
 

11:30 – 12:30 lunch and lunch cleanup. Once cleanup is done they have another 30 minutes or so to play

1:00 We start “school” again. The afternoons are for science, art, baking, etc. Since these things take a little bit longer than 20-30 minutes this gives us enough time to complete a whole project.

3:00 I try to keep “school” hours pretty normal. Once we’re done with our afternoon project the kids are thrown outside again. They can come back in whenever they are ready, and are free to do what they want.

I hope you are finding your groove in this time of adjustment. I know it’s been extremely difficult for some of you, and I wish you nothing but the best. Hang in there. You can do this!




Experience over Stuff

I hate stuff. Not all stuff, just the mindless, meaningless, dust collecting, environment trashing stuff. You know, the stuff that we don’t need, but that we buy anyway so that the person we’re giving said stuff to feels like they got enough. It’s ridiculous and it drives me crazy! My husband and I are working really hard on not getting out family this type of stuff and attempt to pass them off as gifts. So instead we’re focusing more on giving less gifts as well as making sure the gifts we do give are 1. meaningful and 2. experience oriented. To that end here are the gifts we’re giving the kids.

The oldest is getting a sewing class from JoAnn’s, the Redwall book series, a music player, and the Wings of Fire book series from Santa. The middle is getting a sipping and painting class, DC Super Hero Girls, 1 still to be determined gift, and the Amulet book series requested from Santa. The youngest is getting a backstage pass to the zoo, a building class, a personalized apron to go with his love of cooking, and Dr. Suess books requested from Santa. They are getting each other a single gift each, and they are getting a few to be shared items from the big man in red, but that’s it.

And what about those pesky extended family gifts you ask? Those are also experiences. For my side of the family (parents, and sister and 2 kids) we are going to Great Wolf Lodge. For my husband’s family (parents, 1 sister and 2 kids) we are also doing a resort type gift, and for his out of town sister we’re doing a dessert experience and I’m making them messy bun hats. Anybody that doesn’t fit into the immediate extended family group doesn’t get a gift. Yes that includes my great grandmother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Sorry, not sorry.

The present is the presence of family at the extended family holiday get-together. When my husband’s family did extended family get-togethers the hosting family picked a charity and participating families would gift a donation. My extended family plays games and catches up on each others lives. The one exception is that my aunt usually gets the 18 and under kids a small useful gift like a blanket. I’d much rather ooh and aah over seeing you and enjoy playing games together than pretend to love some ridiculous last-minute gift that will more than likely be re-gifted to a charity cause.

There are lots of experience ideas out there. Please trust me that the gift recipient will remember the experience, especially if it’s an experience they get to do with you, or a gift to help an experience or hobby, much more than a thing you picked up at the last minute. Think of something they like, and send them on their way. I promise it will be worth it.

 

Halloween Costumes are (almost) Finished

I’m not really sure how it happened this year, but the costumes for the kids are done. In record time. I’m even going to have time to make my niece’s costume. She wants to be Unicorn Girl so she can wear a multicolored dress and a horn. I’m definitely seeing the appeal!

Here are the completed costumes.

Fire Queen aka Fury Demon from the Depths of Hell

First I needed to make a skirt. It took me 20 minutes (20!!) to try and decide which color skirt I thought she would want: black or red. It took way, way too long to realize I could just make a reversible skirt and then I wouldn’t have to worry about which color she wanted. Way too long. I’m still shaking my head.

After making the reversible underskirt I got my butt kicked by tulle. There is a reason tutus aren’t cheap and it’s because tulle is a pain in the tush to work with. I bought 15 yards of tulle – 5 yards each in red, orange and yellow. Folding, cutting, refolding, untangling the tulle, and untangling the scissors on repeat for 15 yards of tulle was terribly frustrating. To make the tulle skirt all I did was sew a piece of elastic into a circle, and then loop the tulle into a knot around the elastic. The tulle likes to bunch up so she might have to run her fingers through it a few times to have the pieces straighten out. She was also able to make herself a crown of flames from the leftover tulle pieces. She used the same tying technique around a large ponytail holder that we will wrap around a bun in her hair. Should be awesome!

 

The Good Poison Ivy

To make this dress I decided to find a tunic pattern, and then make the skirt portion longer so that it would actually be a dress. I should have just bought a dress pattern, but that’s okay. This dress was a learning experience in why it is important to measure your subject and compare sizes before cutting out all of the pieces. I originally cut out the pattern and fabric according to the size 8 on the pattern. After completing the tunic portion I had her try it on. It might as well have been made for a 4  year old. Instead of buying a new yard of fabric I cut out 4 pieces from the scraps I had for the front and back in a larger size via guesstimation, which is why you can see a seam down the middle of the front of the dress. After completing the tunic I folded the fabric to make a circle skirt, and then sewed that onto the bottom of the tunic. I decided against making the leggings (I’m good, but I don’t think I’m that good!) so I ordered them from Primary and they should be here by Tuesday.

My blue zombie has changed his mind (again!) and now would like to be Spiderman. I’m pretty sure that costume will be purchased from a local retailer. Heck, even Peter Parker had a hard time making a Spiderman costume.

The next costume I am going to make is for my niece. Originally she wanted to be Rapunzel from Tangled. From there the costume changed to “Rapunzel with a blue and pink and purple dress” and then to “unicorn girl with a purple and pink and blue dress and a horn, please.” So that’s next on my list.

The fact that 1. I don’t hate my sewing machine right now, and 2. I have the time to make a Unicorn Girl costume is invigorating! I almost feel like I could take on making clothes from scratch. But lets not get crazy now! That can wait until the summer! Or maybe we can make pajama pants for Christmas. So many ideas!

Wonderful Chaos of Fall

Ahh, October. The lovely time of year where the chill starts to creep into the air and flights of fancy dance around the coming holidays. It’s the time of year where you discover that $20 you “lost” in your sweater pocket, that your boots really should have been replaced last year, and that the easy Halloween costume your kid swore they would wear this year has been replaced with “the most amazing” (read: complicated) idea.

This year, we were going to have random princess warriors and ninja warriors using the costumes of years past for Halloween. Last night I was given the rude awakening that instead this year’s creativity would revolve around a Fire Queen/Demon, Poison Ivy (the good one), and a Blue Zombie. First of all, what??? When did Poison Ivy go good? I must have missed that particular phase in the comic books. Nonetheless, it perfectly matches with my blooming botanist. The Fire Queen theme also aligns fairly well with the metamorphosis my oldest has been pushing through. Double digits are coming quickly for this young lady, and she is taking her growing up head on. The Blue Zombie really found me dumbstruck. This kid has been wanting to be a Red Ninja ever since his sister gave him the costume for his birthday. Alas, I think this one might actually be the easiest.

We spent most of the evening looking through pictures of what each costume might entail.

The Fire Queen images we found that we liked the most were these. Absolutely stunning! One day, when I grow up, I’m going to be able to sew like this!

Then she drew her own ideas for the costume. Big ideas here! Notice the strings placed underneath the skirt and in the red wig to look like she is on fire. Also, the emphasis that there needs to be a comfy part of the skirt on the inside, because the tulle is itchy. I don’t blame her; it really is itchy. Finish off the costume with a crown of flames and some red make up, and we’re golden…or at least on fire.

Poison Ivy, the good one, should be a little simpler. A bright green twirly dress, some green leggings, and a belt made of vines. This, I can do!

She also drew her own version of what the costume should look like. Note the emphasis on a twirly dress, with poof, of course. Tights, some slip on shoes, and “green all the way.”

I’m glad we recently got a Michael’s coupon in the mail. Now all I need is to find a couple for JoAnn’s Fabric. I’m pretty sure I can make the same twirly dress for both girls, one long and in red for the the Fire Queen; one shorter and in bright green for Miss Ivy. And making twirly dresses with a circle skirt pattern shouldn’t be too hard – fingers crossed of course! I wonder if I can find a bright red flat sheet for the dress. The kid is only 5’3″ so finding cloth long enough for her dresses is a pain in the tush.

The Blue Zombie is going to be a second hand store accomplishment. Find some blue jeans and a blue long sleeve shirt of some kind. Paint his face a lovely grey, and muss up his hair a little more than it usually is. See, the easy one!

What is in store for your Halloween costumes?

 

Packing a Good Lunch

Now that school has been back in session for a weak, I am reminded of my least favorite part: packing a lunch the kiddos. Trying to guess which foods the kids will dislike the least in an attempt to pack them something healthy, delicious, and easy to eat – the ever elusive trifecta. Why they don’t like the same things at school that they do at home is beyond me. The other issue my kids like to create, is their distaste for sandwiches. Granted, I get sick of sandwiches, too, however, this year my middle kid has challenged herself to go the whole year without taking any for lunch. More power to you, kiddo!

Early in our school lunch making days I stopped packing my kids’ lunches for them. I was sick to death of throwing uneaten food into the compost because “insert eye-rolling reason here.” There was nothing more frustrating than having them try a food at a store and then having them snub it after you’d brought home the obligatory 50 pounds of it (thank you, Costco!). Plus the added stress of me making their lunch, on top of all the other things I needed to help them keep track of, was making me grumpy. So, I stopped. After giving them the option of making their own lunch, or getting the cheese and lunchmeat sandwich the school provides if a student forgets their lunch, they readily accepted the challenge.

Now my oldest is in 4th grade and is very adept at making lunch, but getting there took some teaching. We have a piece of paper on the fridge that has each food category needed for a healthy lunch. Each category has a list of examples that fall within that category. Having this piece of paper helps immensely in teaching them what foods fall in each category, creating an easy flow for them to make their own lunches, and helps cut down on the wasted foods. Plus it gets a little bit of word recognition in there, too. They are far more likely to actually eat the majority of the contents in their lunchboxes if they’re the ones to pack it. They’re not going to pack something they dislike, after all.

Knowing they’re following these general guidelines for a healthy lunch is a huge relief. It also provides longterm lessons about choosing healthy, well-rounded meals, and lets them be creative about what they can, and are willing, to eat. We let each kid pick their own items from each category, and voila, you’ve avoided having to make their lunch for them (albeit they still need a few gentle reminders about quantity, and staying focused), they’re learning valuable lessons, and the amount of wasted food is significantly decreased. A win-win-win all the way around.

Below I’ve included the list that my kids have used to pack their lunches, as well as some of their favorite combinations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Their favorite combinations are as follows:

  • Apple slices, nut butter, tomatoes, and granola bar
  • Hard boiled eggs, cereal, bell peppers, peaches
  • Tuna, crackers, cherries, sugar snap peas
  • Yogurt, berries, zucchini, rice sprinkled with cinnamon
  • Quinoa, pears, carrots, pretzels
  • Grapes, cucumbers, hummus, naan

Most of these items are kept on the lower shelves of the fridge and pantry so that they are easily accessible. I have the kids make their lunches either after dinner, or while I’m cooking dinner. That way they can use up any leftovers, or, if we’re having noodles or rice, they can get a little scoop before any sauce is mixed with it. Worst case scenario they have to make lunch in the morning and we’ll eat breakfast in the car on the way to school. They also have a separate cupboard for all of their lunch containers, so that they can easily make their own lunch with minimal help from us.

As our kids have gotten older, like most kids, their food quantities range from “constantly grazing” to “picky minimalist”. The amount of food they pack in their lunches has always been up to them, with a firm minimum of 1 serving from each category. If they’re eating more, they can certainly have more from each category, with a few exceptions from the grains category. We’re not going to let them head to school with 1 blueberry and a double serving of pretzels. They have a fairly decent idea of how hungry they get at school and will pack accordingly, especially as they get older. Putting minimums helps the younger ones as they start recognizing portion sizes.

Whatever you can do to make it easier for them to pack a healthy lunch, and keep yourself a sane parent, do it! You’re providing the healthy choices, they’re choosing how much of each they’re going to eat, and there is less wasted food and frustration.