by Laura Falin posted in Life & Home

My kids head back to school in two weeks. Two weeks!!
I go back and forth between trying to send them right now, for as long as the school will take 'em, and moping because I only have two weeks left and we haven't done half the stuff I was planning and they're growing so fast soon they'll be off to college and...
I can spiral downhill fast sometimes.
One thing I do know, though, is that our days get hectic once everyone's in school. And I start out packing some great school lunches, but that all fizzes out quickly, and soon I'm digging through the back of the cupboard trying to find something the kids can take to eat that won't get talked about in therapy one day ("My mom never gave us anything to eat except stale hotdog buns.") The key is to have a small variety of things that you keep stocked, and let the kids choose between them and pack their own lunches. This gives you a short list for grocery shopping, without overworking your brain trying to constantly come up with new things, and it gives kids some control over what they eat (so you know they actually will eat it). And my kids get so excited when they get to pack their own lunches.
I even included a printable list to get you started. Have the kids pick one item from each category, pack 'em up, and you're good to go! You can download the list here:
The Lunch Packing Guide
Here's what it looks like:
You can print this out and hang it on the side of the fridge so t...