At what age (or grade) did your child start packing their own lunch?

[Anonymous]

Wow, 1st graders making lunches? Curious what kind of lunches your kids make? Is it just peanut butter/jelly sandwiches or those with deli slices or something else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids started doing it in 7th or 8th grade, but now that they are in late HS we've taken it over again. This is happening partly because they don't pack the healthiest lunches and we want them to have good nutrition during the day, but also because since returning to school in person after Covid, we value slow time with them more and it makes things more relaxed in the mornings. Soon they'll be off to college and I suspect we won't regret the time we spent giving them nutritious food or having fun talking with them or doing the Wordle together vs. them scrambling around packing their lunches each morning.

Same in our family. DCs at least "assembled" their lunches probably around 3rd grade with some help from me "making" the components, and then made their own lunches through middle school. But since the pandemic, I've taken it back over and my 2 HS DCs are so grateful for the extra few minutes in the morning. To me, it was important to make sure they could do it. And from lots of experience, I'll note that me packing 2 lunches at once is far more efficient than cleaning up after 2 kids who make their own widely disparate lunches! I think if I hated doing it, I wouldn't, but like PP, I value the few minutes of less stress in the morning as my HS DCs are blurry-eyed. And sandwiches just aren't as good when made the night before.

[Anonymous]

My 7th grader packs her own if I'm running late, but normally I do it. I don't mind, and left to her own devices, she will default to buying lunch and I feel like the lunch I pack might be healthier.

[Anonymous]

I have middle schoolers and I pack their lunches still. I work part time, and they are often busier than I am! They have to hustle in the morning so I am more than happy to do it (that’s a lie, I hate doing it, but it makes sense for me to make them)

[Anonymous]

Peanut butter and jelly works but remember to leave out an acceptable knife to use. You don't want them using any 'ol knife!

[Anonymous]

and none of the kids buy lunch ... because?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:and none of the kids buy lunch ... because?

Really?? You have to ask? Do you want your kids eating nuggets, corn dogs, cheese stuff breadsticks every day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:and none of the kids buy lunch ... because?

In my case because Catholic K-8 schools often don’t serve lunch. Ours only served it on pizza Fridays, which my kids happily bought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, 1st graders making lunches? Curious what kind of lunches your kids make? Is it just peanut butter/jelly sandwiches or those with deli slices or something else?

We had a recipe on the fridge that said

Grain (could be waffles or a bagel or whole grain crackers or Cheerios)

Protein (seed butter, deli meat, eggs, beans, hummus)

Dairy

Veggie

Fruit

Treat (I bake a lot, so this could be a cookie or a muffin, or a second serving of fruit or yogurt, or a granola bar, or fruit leather)

My kids could run down the list and grab something from each category. My youngest was pretty strongly attached to a certain sandwich and fluid milk, but it wasn’t because of lack of skill because sometimes he would make lunch for his Dad and include other things.

I packed for my oldest for a few years and followed the same pattern, but I didn’t need it written down, but my youngest had heard me ask his brother “what fruit do you want?” Enough times that he got the concept right away as a young 5.

[Anonymous]

2nd grade for all. All of the kids pack 99% of the lunch the night before, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:and none of the kids buy lunch ... because?

It’s free this year. One of mine eats it occasionally but it’s not a lot of food for a teen boy. That’s why he didn’t buy before. It’s a lot of money for not a lot of food. His words - the same price can get me Chipotle and that’s so much more food. They can easily eat double meals plus sides and it adds up. My kid in elementary school gets it more often but gets sick of the food frequently and asks to pack.