This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Smuckers.
Contest is now over. Congratulations to Shelley Mitchel entry #334 who was chosen by random.org. I have the best memories of bringing my lunch to school because my mom would go out of her way to put special touches inside. Whether it was a sweet note on my napkin or my favorite treat tucked inside, I will always have fond memories of sitting down to eat my lunch at school.
Now that my boys are in school I try to make their lunches special too. We make a special trip to the grocery store each week to pick out their favorite healthy treats to put inside their lunch boxes. There is nothing like being excited to pop open those lunch boxes when the bell rings. Both of my boys love to draw and create artwork so I will sometimes draw silly pictures to tuck inside their lunches so they can laugh at what a horrible artist Mom is! On special occasions, I LOVE popping in during lunch to eat with the boys and their friends. They know when I come eat lunch with them that I usually bring some homemade cookies with me to share 🙂 I hope that these little things will create memories for my boys just like my mom did for me 🙂
Create a Kidvitation!
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1. Leave a comment here on Picky Palate telling us….What is something special you do for your kids lunch or what is something special your mom did for your school lunch? See Official Rule Page HERE.
See the other 9 bloggers stories and enter to win their giveaways HERE on the BlogHer Round Up Page.
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my mom always took extra care to make sure my lunches were exactly how i liked them. i have nine siblings, so it meant a lot that she still took the time to care about each of our needs/wants!
My mom had literally hundreds of sandwich cutters and she would use them to make my peanut butter sandwich a different shape or animal almost every day. And she also wrote me notes on my napkins wishing me a “Happy Monday!” or “Happy hump day!”
My mom always made me make my own lunch for school, but i remember her making my dad’s lunch every night, no matter how late it was!
When my son was in school, I would pack “3” of an item, fruit slices, candies or cookies in a sandwich bag. This was our secret code for “I LOVE YOU”.
This may sound a little strange, but my mom would always take a bite out of the corner of our sandwhich. When it wasn’t there we wondered what was wrong! Even my dad got this special surprise – he had to explain to a couple guys that she was just saying “I love you” 🙂
My husband and I love to pop in on our son at lunch. Luckily he’s still happy to see us.
My oldest daughter starts school next year. I’m so excited to help her pick out her lunch box and to get to pack lots of fun treats and great healthy lunches. There’s lots of string cheese and juice boxes in my future for sure!
All my mom ever made me was pb&j so whenever I eat one I am taken back to grade school, eating a smushed pb&j with some chocolate milk and a bruised apple. Sometimes I’m even tempted to smush my sandwich just a bit, just to get that same effect!
My kids are homeschooled now but when they would go to school and I made lunches, I would put a goofy note inside. My middle child was always SUPER embarrassed by it but loved it, I know he did. Chocolate kisses I did a lot too. Thanks for a great giveaway!
My husband’s Grandmother made his lunches and she would use cookie cutters to shape his PB&J sandwiches. He loved getting a car shaped sandwich for lunch! and to this day he prefers a PB&J to anything else when it comes to lunchtime. So I’ve started using cookie cutters for our son’s lunches, and what do ya know?, He’s a PB&J lover now too…
My younger sister was a real sweetheart while I was in high school and would make me PB&J lunches with hand drawn pictures of herself included so i would never have to eat lunch “alone” (I didn’t really have any friends back then). So once she got to high school (I was in college, an hour away, by then), when I had the chance, I’d leave notes on her car windshield with hand drawn pictures of us eating lunch together…. best buddies forever!
I don’t have any kids of my own just yet but my mom always used to pack a napkin with a note on it for us. Loved it!
I remember coming home for lunch when I was in school, and sitting down to talk to my mom about how my day was going. Such good memories!!
I used to make lunch for my Dad actually…and he loved notes in his lunch and “bugs on a log” (celery with peanut butter and raisins)!
My mom always tried to make me yummy and healthy foods and still is even though she is 80! I tried to pass on her desire for healthy lunches when I made my three daughters their school lunches. Now they have children and do the same for them. Homemade breads, quality jams and jellies and great peanut butter is always a staple. Add a salad and some fruit and you have a fabulous lunch!
My kids love packing their own lunches and then I like to sneak something in when they are not looking. They look forward to finding a special treat, sticker, note or something fun. And, it gets trickier being “sneaky” all the time!
I too have kept the napkin note tradition alive that my mom started with me and I now do for my daughter. I also wrote a special message in Sharpie on the inside of her lunchbox that she sees everyday.
I was allergic to everything under the sun when I was little so my mom would cook a separate lunch for me from the rest of the family every single day.
I know it’s been done to pieces but I write little I heart you messages on sticky notes and put them in their bags. I also bought little sandwich cutters in the shape of hearts that cut a full sandwich into 2 halves the shapes of hearts without any crusts for them. They think I’m silly but they keep those sticky notes.
I just want them to know that I love them even when I’m not there.
M
We homeschool, so there are only a few occasions I pack lunch. For our lunch at home, I have a special sandwich shape cutter (dinosaur) I use to make the pb&j’s more fun! I also like to buy fun drinks to pop out as a surprise from time to time.
We cut sandwiches in fun shapes to keep it interesting. He is a big fan of stickers too- so sometimes he gets a special surprise.
I don’t pack lunches for my one year old yet, but I plan to cut things in fun shapes or leave notes with jokes or stickers on them.
My first child is due in just a little over a week, so I haven’t made any lunches for my little girl just yet. I have taught for over 10 years and the most touching thing I’ve seen mom’s do is leave little notes in their child’s lunch box (even if they can’t read – I would read the notes to them). I have never forgotten this and plan on doing it for my little girl. It is so sweet and a great way to remind her that she is loved very much!
To this day I prefer my PB&J a little smooshed, just like it was in my lunchbox years ago! Now I like to write notes on my kids’ napkins. They might as well be used for something since I’m pretty sure they don’t use them to wipe anything:)
My Mom used to write “magic notes” on bannanas so when we ate lunch we had a fun note from Mom.
my mom made my lunches from kindergarten through high school and every day she’d put a little encouraging and loving note in them…never missed a day 🙂
My mom made boats out of my sandwiches!! She did so many fun things w/ my food… like coloring the miracle whip on certain days (to green for St Patrick’s!), so she truly made eating FUN!
I never had special lunches when i was growing up so I want to make sure I do that when my girls go off to school so they know I am thinking of them even if they aren’t with me at the time.
my favorite thing my mother did in my lunch was tuck money in them for an ice cream at school. :0)
My favorite school lunch memory was twice a school year my dad would come pick me up for lunch. We would either have a picnic lunch in the car or go to a quick restaurant. This one-on-one time was so special to me.
My mom would write little “I love you” notes on our napkins. They always made me smile so big.
I cute their sandwiches with cookie cutter, they love it.
Sometimes I slip in a special treat that they don’t know I bought. I’ve also slipped in money with a note to buy ice cream at the school store.
I love pb&j with a super cold glass of milk.
Oh my. Well, my mother used to put notes in our lunch. Since I’m just pregnant, I haven’t made a child lunch yet… but I do make lunches for my husband! I always, always put something chocolate in there. He loves it.
My dad actually used to make our lunches, and we had the same lunch everyday – peanut butter & jelly sandwich, our milk money in a sandwich bag, and a chocolate pudding (and 95% of the time there was never a spoon included to eat it with haha). Nothing super special, but it makes me smile looking back now.
My mom used to cut my sandwiches into shapes for me! She would leave notes as well. And since fast food was rarity – on my birthday she would deliver a fast food lunch to me at school.
I remember ‘gas station lunches’. This is what would happen when my mom was running so late that we had to tear through a gas station on the way to school and grab snacks (Handisnacks, dunkaroos, candy bars, YUM) to take with us. It’s special b/c it sooo my mom. She was always running late and frazzled in the morning and I love her b/c of that 🙂
Like so many others, my mom wrote us little notes and would occasionally put it an exra yummy treat like a candy bar. I loved it! Thanks!