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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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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I bake homemade bread for my son’s sandwiches.
I like to leave them notes when they don’t expect it. It’s also fun to use cookie cutters to make their sandwiches into shapes. (My bigger guys have asked that I only do that at home….apparently they are too cool now.)
Something special my mom always made was “bologna pizza,” which had nothing to do with pizza, but was just a piece of bologna cut into pizza slices. We loved it!
I leave her favorite desserts and SOMETIMES even special treats like bracelets/rings (not expensive ones 😉
I thought just making a homemade lunch WAS special…. Hmmmm… Better rethink that strategy! I do sometimes leave a little note in my son’s lunchbox, which he does love.
My oldest starts kindergarten Monday & I can’t believe it & I will be doing fun things for her to find:)
My mom used to cut my oranges into wedges and for some reason that still makes me smile – I do not have kids, but was watching my niece a few months back and did the same for her. She ate the orange and covered her teeth with the peel, the big orange smile looking back at me made me laugh so hard because that is exactly what I used to do. Thanks for the chance to win. Have a great week-end.
My mom was/ is a very busy lady and so we almost always bought our lunches at school. However, on Valentines Day my brother, sister and I could always count on a special treat. My mom would sneak in chocolates or candies in our bag along with a special note telling us just how much we were loved. I always looked forward to those treats and someday I hope to carry on the tradition.
I love to write notes for my kids on their napkins. They also enjoy when I cut out the sandwich into different shapes with a cookie cutter!
My kids are not school aged yet but I loved getting little notes in my lunchbox growing up. I also was always surprised to see special treats like fresh cookies or brownies that I had not known she had made.
One thing special I would do for our son-to-be’s lunch would be to draw a happy face with pb&j in his sandwich.
My kids often get special notes in their lunch box…and sometimes a surprise. On April Fool’s Day on I put all plastic food in my daughter’s lunch box with a note on the bottom saying I’ll see you at lunch time with a “real” food surprise.
I try to include a surprise in each lunch box – make flower shapes out of fruit, include a homemade meringue cookie with a note, etc.
I’m pretty boring since I make my son make his own lunch (otherwise he complains). But sometimes I sneak a treat into his lunch bag after he makes it as a surprise. 😉
My mom found stamps with each of our names. She would stamp our brown bag, so it would be labeled, and then draw silly pictures to make us smile.
i remember getting a few notes from my mom, that made lunch special, but the big treat was getting something like doritos or pringles in my lunch..yum
nannypanpan at sbcglobal.net
I like to give them treats and little notes.
amandarwest at gmaildotcom
I loved opening my lunch to find my favorite peanut butter and jelly combo…it ALWAYS tastes good!
My mom used to leave notes in my lunch occasionally too!
My favorite memory about lunch with my mom was that she would write a note on my napkin every day. And I was always comforted by her love note. 🙂
She knew I didn’t really love sandwiches that were kinda soggy by lunchtime, so often she’d give me a thermos of warm, hearty soup instead.
My kids have been brown-baggers since day 1 of kindergarten. My oldest is now 11 and the younger 8.
I love packing their lunches because it ensures they have the opportunity to eat a balanced meal with some of their favorite foods (including PB&J, or in the case of my youngest, just J, sandwiches).
This past school year, I purchased one of those daily calendar cubes. It has funny stories, jokes, and quotes.
I would tuck one into each of their lunch boxes (regardless of the date listed) in hopes that it would make them smile. Who doesn’t need a happy?! Just maybe it might a difficult day a little better.
A few times, we would be in a hurry to get out the door and I forgot their daily dose of humor. I was quite surprised to hear how slighted they felt when I didn’t stick their joke in their lunch. Mommy didn’t need too many reminders before it was habit. 😉
My 15 year old twin daughters are at the “take lunch???OMG WHyyyy?” stage, so Friday is smoothie day. I make them each a smoothie before I leave for work, put it in the fridge with a little thank you card with movie tickets, a pizza coupon or a few dollars in it. The cards usually say something like “thanks for not having an attitude this week” or “thanks for not storming up the stairs when you didn’t get your way”. Silly, I know, but they never fail to send me a texts saying “thanks for not overreacting” or something like that.
Every so often I surprise my son by adding a small foil-wrapped chocolate coin–they’re a special treat that we don’t have often, and a nice surprise to go with all of the straight-up healthy food!
I had a thermos so I could have a hot yummy lunch when I was a kid.
It meant so much to me whenever my mom left a note inside my lunch.
My teenage daughter loves surprises…so i will write her a note and stick in her lunch and always write a bible verse to encourage her for the rest of the day that is ahead of her. 🙂
My mom makes my kids PB&J’s in the shape of their initials! I don’t remember her doing that in my lunchbox, but I’m sure it was something similar :)!
The special thing that I do for my son’s lunch is to make his PB&J just the way that he likes it. He likes his jelly just a certain way just like I do. He always eats the sandwiches that I make while only nibbling on the ones that Daddy makes. 🙂
I used to go to my son’s elementary school ocassionally to have lunch with him. I used to bring Happy Meals for both of us and we used to eat at the school playground sitting under a tree. My son loved this so much and was always looking forward to our special get togethers.
I try to pack somewhat healthy lunches for when my boys choose to take their lunches. But there’s always a treat, whether it’s a couple of cookies or a few Hershey’s Kisses. And if I’m not too rushed, I might scrawl a quick note on their napkins with a Sharpie.
My Mom always left me notes and homemade chocolate chip cookies. I leave my kids notes, but what they like best is when I draw on their sack lunches for field trips. (and I’m no artist, trust me!) I had to laugh when last year my daughter ASKED me to draw on hers and she was in 7th grade! She said her friends always ask to see it 🙂
My mom never packed my lunch. =(
But with my own daughters, I look forward to leaving little notes and special snacks cut in different shapes for them.
I like to leave notes, or a silly drawing on their napkin, also if I have some candy stashed somewhere, I like to throw a piece in and imagine the sweet smile when they find it!!
I only have one in school right now. Most of the time, he eats lunch at school. But usually one day/week they have something he doesn’t like (hot dogs or subs). ON those days, he gets whatever he wants. If he wants PB&J, he can have that. He loves macaroni salad so I will make that. He picks everything that goes in his lunch. And after it’s done, I wait until he turns away, and sneak something special in there (a sticker, a fun size candy bar, a little army guy, a Pokeman card).
We would randomly get notes in our lunches. It made my day!
My mom is not with us anymore, so thank you for letting remember that special memory again!