Life Changes (Mom's Growing Pains)

I am someone who has allowed myself to be wrapped up in my children's lives, to the point that it was a shock when my oldest became a senior in high school.  That was the year I learned the definition of "helicopter parent" and found out that I was one! That was a rough year.


Right now I just want to set the stage for a family gathering - the day AFTER Thanksgiving. Those who are far away have come home for the weekend, and the youngest is alternating between having a ball with the fun roucous older siblings and having her much needed personal time.

Being the day after Thanksgiving, a variety of activities were scheduled. Some shopping trips in the morning, a hike in the afternoon... and in between was lunch.  LEFTOVERS!

Delicious, right? 

But as we noisily gathered in the kitchen, jockeying for elbow room, hefting various trays of food to the table, I started to ask where our oldest child was. He graduated college three years ago and since then has been living at home trying to pay off his college loans. His is the only boy (man! sorry) and has a great intellect and wit.

As I looked down the hall to call him to join the fray, I remembered that he had moved out barely three weeks ago. It happened so fast, and I'm so happy for him, but how strange is it that he isn't around to add to the craziness. So Mom is once again dealing with another life change. And as usual, the kid's growing pains don't seem to be as hard on them as they are on me! But I know this is just another of life's changes that helps me to grow, and I just pray that his new experiences will bring him the happiness that I have found in this life.

Routine #1 to Make Packing (for Lunch) Easier (with printable)

Packing lunches has been a lifelong issue. With four  kids, a husband, and myself needing to eat daily (the nerve), lunch planning is important.

When my husband and I were #dinks (dual income no kids) - so many years ago - we made our own lunches. When the kids were born I started to make my husband's lunches. Then I asked myself what was I doing?? No, actually I felt bad for him because by then I was staying home with the kids. And we have four kids. So he basically got whatever I could reach out of the fridge.

As the kids got older, he started to plan his time better and make his own lunches. Me, time saver that I am (AKA lazy), created a great system for the kids to get their own lunches ready for school.

I purchased paper bags (my kids hated carrying those cute lunchboxes after they passed second grade) and a large plastic tote that fit on top of a cabinet. I also purchased sides like pudding or yogurst, and made or bought granola bars. Weekly I also bagged vegetables and/or cheese, and kept them in a clear bin in the refridgerator.

Opening the paper bags, I set them in the tote in rows. Then I placed a napkin (and sometimes a note) in each one. After that I would add any other food items that didn't need to be refridgerated.

The lunch bags sat, ready to go, and each day the kids would just need to make their own sandwiches, toss them into one of the bags, perhaps also grabbing some veggies and/or cheese, and grab their water bottle.  The benefit to this is that we were never OUT of anything - because the items were all accounted for within the paper sacks. When I wasn't doing this, you might find all of us in the kitchen on a school night running around looking for just about ANYTHING to go into those lunch bags.

From YoungatHeartMommy.com

If you have (or used to have) a great idea for making lunch packing easier, let me know! All comments and input are appreciated!

I also wanted to leave you with a printable and instead of creating one for you, I discovered that the Happy Home Fairy create an entire year's worth of notes for you to use when packing school lunches. Why reinvent the wheel when someone else has done such an amazing job!

Please visit her site HERE to find these awesome printable notes.