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 🙂
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Home can be a busy place with the hustle and bustle of everyday life. That’s why it’s important to set time aside to spend with your kids. Use Smuckers® Kidvitations to invite your kids to share a moment with you over a perfect PB&J. Check it out.
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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.
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School was extremely hard for my son, so I always put a note in his lunch, to let him know I loved him, and he would be home soon. I would make his favorite dried apple chips to put in his lunches.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com
my mom would leave a note on special days 🙂
Mom always used to write a note and hide it somewhere in my lunchbox, so lunch time was not only tasty, but fun as well. 🙂
I’d have to say- those cute little words of incouragement in a lunch pale makes all the difference in the world. I did that numorous times last year. I’d make their lunch, but at the very bottom, above the napkin, I’d have a little noted that read:
Half way through the day already- you are so awesome!!!! I can’t wait to see you when school lets out!
XOXOXO~mom!
My kids just love little notes. I try to hide them in different places so they have a little search in their lunch.
I liked to cut out the sandwiches in shapes for my kids.
There were lots of things my Mom would do to make lunch special, one thing I loved was homemade chocolate pudding. Sometimes she would put a note in my lunch to tell me that she was waiting on the front lawn of the school with pepper sandwhiches (roasted red peppers and onions in rolls). For my kids, I make stuffed pizza rolls and stuffed PB &J, they are easy and taste yummy warm or cold. I try to do something fun atleast once a week, with a note or a homemade treat. My favorite day was ‘April fools day’ I put a lunch box full of plastic ‘play’ food, I was laughing so hard at lunch time I could hardly contain myself… of course like any good mom, I had there “real” lunches waiting in the office 🙂
I too leave a note in their lunch box that is specific to them. Even my 16-year old son who doesn’t really take a lunch – just grab n go food. I also put a napkin that represents the holiday/month that we are in. For example, we live in Arizona and it is HOT in the summer so for those few weeks as school starts, I put in a napkin that is swimming/summer related.
My mom always cut my PB&J sandwiches with shaped cookie cutters. I was the only kid with dinosaur shaped sandwich halves! 🙂
We don’t have any kids yet, but when I was little, my mom *always* packed my lunches. I went to private Catholic school where we weren’t allowed to have sodas because they didn’t want kids bouncing off the walls…. but once in awhile I’d open my lunch box and Mom would have packed a thermos with Coke or grape soda (my favorite) as a special treat. (But not wanting to teach me that it was ok to break the rules, she always made sure to point out that I was a very calm child, and since I never misbehaved, the school was ok with it)
My mom was also concerned about keeping cold things cold, so she would freeze our sandwiches and our juice boxes so nothing would go bad until lunch-time. To this day, I still like to eat my sandwiches semi-frozen on the inside 😉
I like to leave little notes in their lunch boxes.
I do not have children, but I have several nieces and nephews. Whenever we have an outing planned I always pack a picnic lunch. They ablsolutely LOVE IT.
Growing up, my mom would mix our PB & J together and it always made the sandwich taste even better!
I don’t remember Mom doing anything special TO the food. But we had a few special lunches that were treats that she would make for us when we asked. Like Pigs in a Blanket. She made the best!
My Mom used to put notes into my lunchbox…so sweet! 🙂
Growing up, my Mom would make my brother and I two different types of PB&J’s…I’m a crunchy/grape girl, and he’s a creamy/apple guy. She was so sweet to make two different sandwiches for us…
Well one thing my mom always did was buy jell-o pudding for our school lunches that we took to school. If there anything we ever got tired of taking for our lunches, we at least had some pudding we could at least look forward to some jell-o pudding.
My kids are grown already, but I always used to put a note in their lunch bag to put a smile on their faces in the middle of the day.
My daughter isn’t school age yet,but I pack lunches for her anyway!
My child puts on her backpack full of notebook paper and crayons. I pack a sandwich in a paper sack while she stands at the end of our driveway waiting for the bus to pick her. (It never comes for her,but she keeps trying!) When I see sack lunches, this is what comes to mind now, and I’m sure it always will. That’s special to me.
quitecontrary1977@hotmail.com
Before we homeschooled I put notes in their lunches almost every day and always made sure they had some sort of goodie even though the schools are now trying to tell us we can’t put “goodies” in lunches only healthy things. I also came and brought them lunch quite often, they loved it, I loved it, and their 1 year old brother loved it. For their birthdays I brought them whatever lunch they wanted and a couple of balloons. Now that we homeshool I love lunches even more because we get hot lunches a lot that they get to help make. So much fun!
When I was a kid on my birthday my mom would have flowers delivered at lunch! Usually with a balloon or something! It was really fun and I can’t wait to do the same and other special things for my kids!
My mom rarely sent me with a packed lunch but when she did–she always made sure it was packed with extra awesome things. She knew I loved apples but didn’t like eating it whole so she decored it and peeled it for me. She always made sure I had my my little pony thermos of pink lemonade full and cold–and there was always a little debbie fudge round in it as well 🙂
I USED TO LOVE OPENING MY LUNCH BOX IN THE CAFETERIA
I WOULD WAIT ALL DAY TO LOOK INSIDE
SOME DAYS THERE WERE NOTES, OR A PRIZE ION THE BOTTOM.
SOME DAYS ID HAVE A FAVORITE TREAT FROM HOME OR FRESH
BAKED GOODIES FROM THE OVEN.
MY MOM IS THE BEST AND TOOK EXCELLENT CARE TO MAKE SURE I ALWAYS
FELT SPECIAL AT SCHOOL!!!
THANKS MOM
My mom used to place my lunch in the prettiest Tupperware because she knew that I love glitter and pink 🙂 she would also cut my sandwiches into perfect stars. I love her already and thinking about this makes me love her more! 🙂
My mom always made the BEST school lunches. Oh how I wish I was a kid again! 😉 Something special was my carrots and ranch. She would buy those cute little dixie cups with lids (like the little ones you see at salsa bars) in bulk. She would put my ranch in those so I always had some dip. Sometimes she’d leave sweet notes for me too.
I’ll try to include peak-season produce and exciting flavors- like gorgonzola and pear grilled sandwiches. But when trying to balance good taste, health, and price, Smuckers is a classic.
My daughter loves PB&J sandwiches and she also loves puzzles. I found a cute set of puzzle cutters and I cut her favorite sandwich into puzzle shapes. She loves it!
My dad always made our lunches. Instead of notes and cool treats, he would “embarass” us by giving us healthy snacks that we thought looked like cat poop when everyone else had Doritos or cupcakes.
Now I make my boyfriend’s lunches sometimes. I like to draw ridiculous things on the bag, but the best was when I filled it (after putting the lunch in, of course) with dinosaur-shaped ice cream sprinkles. They melted and stuck to his peach, so he got a dinosaur-candy-covered peach and was the envy of everyone else in the break room.
I like to leave notes in my kids lunches because that always makes their day! Or sometimes I leave a quarter in there so they can buy a chocolate milk…they love that surprise too!!
Right now my little one’s lunch is whatever Mommy eats! I plan to leave notes like my mom did and also make lunch fun by making it with her.
I like to cut my kids sandwiches into things they like…ie footballs, robots,dolls, butterflys etc.
I put notes on my kids napkins. My favorite memory is free hot lunch on my birthday and sense it was Washington’s Birthday I got cherry pie. The rest of the year I got sandwiches on homemade bread made by my dad.
My kids are too young to go to school, so I don’t pack their lunches, we eat at home. The best thing I do is eat the meals with them…
My little one is only 18 months old so I haven’t had the chance to do this yet but I remember that my mom used to put little notes in our lunch and when she would make special treats at home, which wasn’t often, she would stick one in our lunches! When I pack my hubbies lunch I try to stick a note in there or a special unexpected treat, so I can’t wait to be able to do fun stuff like that for my daughter!
My mom had 10 kids. I ate school lunch. She’s still the best.
My mom wrote notes on the paper napkins in my lunches. I always looked forward to them!
I usually ate at school, but whenever Mom packed it… it was like a gourmet lunch… it made the other kids jealous and I loved that! haha