Moms Talk: What to Do about Lunch?

Tuesday marks one of the most monumental days in my life—my daughter's first day of school. I've done everything I can think of to get her prepared for and excited about her journey into the land of Pre-K. 

Last weekend we went on a "girl date" downtown so she could pick out a backpack and a first-day-of-school outfit, her own folders and binders, and even a book to give to her brother so he wasn't left out of the new school year celebration.

I've explained to her repeatedly that she won't be going to daycare with Daddy and Bass in the mornings, but instead we'll be getting ready together and I'll be taking her to her classroom and picking her up when the day is over, trying to make the five-minute ride on the city bus sound like an exciting new adventure.

So far, she has no fear of a new teacher, new students or a totally different environment.  And being fairly secure in her ability to talk to kids and make friends, as well as her enthusiasm for learning and new experiences, I find myself not worrying too much about school itself.

My big worry? Lunch.

Packing It
Vi's school has a surprisingly healthy, relatively inexpensive school lunch program, and the pre-K children are invited to be a part of it, eating in the cafeteria with the bigger students and buying their daily meal. But she's been adamant so far that she wants to bring her own lunch in from home.

I have to admit I'm scared about the prospect. Although she eats well, with probably more fruits and vegetables than a lot of children her age (at the very least, way more than I ever did when I was young), eating has always been a hit-or-miss situation with her. 

Dessert tends to turn into a bribe to try and get her to eat just a little bit more, or at least try a bite of new food. As she gets older, she actually appears to be more picky, turning from some of her favorites and repeatedly asking for just one of a small handful of staple meals.

I know she eats well at daycare, at least according to her reports from the center, and I know a big factor in that is the fact that if other kids are eating something, she'll eat it, too. And a lot of it.

And there is my lunch concern. If the other kids are eating their lunch from the cafeteria, what are the odds that her homemade lunch will get consumed?

How do I make sure she gets a good balance in her box every day, knowing she can get stuck in a food rut that makes meal prep seem a lot like the movie Groundhog Day?

And why is it that no matter how hard I search, I can't seem to find much on "kid-friendly bag lunches" other than advice to cut my sandwiches into pretty shapes?

Has the internet finally failed me?

Hit the Bars
I finally did stumble on a small burst of inspiration.  This weekend, while the kids are at the grandparents for a day, I will be prepping and freezing a variety of sandwich bars, subsisting my own homemade dough for the store-bought brand.

I figure with a frozen batch of pizza, ham and cheese, and chicken, cheese and broccoli's bars, I can give her something balanced, not terribly messy, and still work within her food ruts without feeling too guilty. I may even bake a batch of breakfast bars to try and trick her back into eating breakfast before we leave the house.

At the very least, it will be something portable to eat while she waits for the bus with me.