OP here with an update. Well we got through the first week of packed lunches. I'm happy to report that my son has actually been eating his lunch every day. I feel a lot better about packing his lunches now because the food isn't going to waste. I don't mind cleaning it up or shopping for it either, as long as he is actually eating it! He also hasn't been coming home complaining that he's hungry each day either. His class has a very late lunch. They don't get to eat until like 1:30 or so. I guess by that time he is pretty hungry since he has breakfast at home at like 7:30 or 8 am. He hasn't even asked me once if he could buy the school lunch. Sorry to anyone that was offended by my rant about wanting the free lunches, I was just getting anxiety about summer coming to an end and having to deal with all the stresses that come with being back to school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- I didn't read all of the comments, but I did see where you list the things you pack.

We have this problem too- my DS will eat only what he likes, leave the rest, and come home hungry. Drove me nuts- the waste and lack of healthy eating. Solution-- pack fewer items. Healthy sandwich, yogurt squeezer (not full sized container) fruit, and milk.

It won't be enough for him to ignore the healthy items. If he manages to hold out, it's still a "win" for you-- less packing and less money spent on lunch food.

As far as school lunches, they aren't generally good quality food. Even if you qualified, it's a lot of processed food-- setting your son up for other food/health issues as he grows.

Thanks for the suggestions. Oh, and believe me, I know about school lunches. It's nasty, but he tells me it's good and that he wants to buy it. I told him I grew up eating it without a choice. We got the free lunches and my mother was not letting us pack. It's why I put so much effort and thought into trying to pack a nice lunch for my son. I spend time at the grocery store trying to find good stuff, I ask him to help me pick stuff out, but he doesn't want to eat it. I'm seriously hoping to see some changes this year. I can't force him to eat it lol.

I know- I didn't grow up with money either, and my mom made me eat the hot lunch or packed (literally) a cheese sandwich on white bread and chips. It bothers me when I see my son not appreciating the advantages he has been given. Keep packing a healthy home lunch (with fewer items). - if he doesn't eat it, then you've still done your best and kept the food standards high. We can't force our kids to make good food choices, but we can guarantee bad ones if we start slipping too much on junk and processed food.

So true. Hopefully our kids will grow up and appreciate it when they are old enough to understand.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy shit OP, you are so cheap. You kid will resent you.

How would you even know that lol? You don't know my family! I'm pretty sure my young son has little knowledge of whether or not I am cheap. He lives pretty comfortably BECAUSE we are cheap. He gets lots of vacations and other opportunities. I'm not worried about him resenting me about elementary school lunches lol. I think you just wanted to insult me to make you feel better about yourself. Did it work?

You don't think he is smart enough to notice that other kids have better lunches?
I mean better by kid's standards.

Since you seem to know so much, why don't you tell me what makes the other kids lunches better than the lunches my son is getting. Are you in the cafeteria at my son's school each day?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- I didn't read all of the comments, but I did see where you list the things you pack.

We have this problem too- my DS will eat only what he likes, leave the rest, and come home hungry. Drove me nuts- the waste and lack of healthy eating. Solution-- pack fewer items. Healthy sandwich, yogurt squeezer (not full sized container) fruit, and milk.

It won't be enough for him to ignore the healthy items. If he manages to hold out, it's still a "win" for you-- less packing and less money spent on lunch food.

As far as school lunches, they aren't generally good quality food. Even if you qualified, it's a lot of processed food-- setting your son up for other food/health issues as he grows.

Thanks for the suggestions. Oh, and believe me, I know about school lunches. It's nasty, but he tells me it's good and that he wants to buy it. I told him I grew up eating it without a choice. We got the free lunches and my mother was not letting us pack. It's why I put so much effort and thought into trying to pack a nice lunch for my son. I spend time at the grocery store trying to find good stuff, I ask him to help me pick stuff out, but he doesn't want to eat it. I'm seriously hoping to see some changes this year. I can't force him to eat it lol.

I know- I didn't grow up with money either, and my mom made me eat the hot lunch or packed (literally) a cheese sandwich on white bread and chips. It bothers me when I see my son not appreciating the advantages he has been given. Keep packing a healthy home lunch (with fewer items). - if he doesn't eat it, then you've still done your best and kept the food standards high. We can't force our kids to make good food choices, but we can guarantee bad ones if we start slipping too much on junk and processed food.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy shit OP, you are so cheap. You kid will resent you.

How would you even know that lol? You don't know my family! I'm pretty sure my young son has little knowledge of whether or not I am cheap. He lives pretty comfortably BECAUSE we are cheap. He gets lots of vacations and other opportunities. I'm not worried about him resenting me about elementary school lunches lol. I think you just wanted to insult me to make you feel better about yourself. Did it work?

You don't think he is smart enough to notice that other kids have better lunches?
I mean better by kid's standards.

Anonymous wrote:OP- I didn't read all of the comments, but I did see where you list the things you pack.

We have this problem too- my DS will eat only what he likes, leave the rest, and come home hungry. Drove me nuts- the waste and lack of healthy eating. Solution-- pack fewer items. Healthy sandwich, yogurt squeezer (not full sized container) fruit, and milk.

It won't be enough for him to ignore the healthy items. If he manages to hold out, it's still a "win" for you-- less packing and less money spent on lunch food.

As far as school lunches, they aren't generally good quality food. Even if you qualified, it's a lot of processed food-- setting your son up for other food/health issues as he grows.

Thanks for the suggestions. Oh, and believe me, I know about school lunches. It's nasty, but he tells me it's good and that he wants to buy it. I told him I grew up eating it without a choice. We got the free lunches and my mother was not letting us pack. It's why I put so much effort and thought into trying to pack a nice lunch for my son. I spend time at the grocery store trying to find good stuff, I ask him to help me pick stuff out, but he doesn't want to eat it. I'm seriously hoping to see some changes this year. I can't force him to eat it lol.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This can't be a real post.

Oh shut up. It's totally real. I can't be the only one feeling this way. Just not a "popular" point of view perhaps. But I know I'm not alone. Has anyone filled out the form and had it rejected?

I agree with the PP - In fact, I don't even get the point of your post. Are you pissed that you can't get the free lunches? Are you in the middle class donut hole where money is tight and you need free lunches but don't qualify? Or is it just wasting your own money on food that gets thrown out that bothers you?

None of the above. If you don't get it, try reading it again or move along. I honestly don't get the point of your response to my post, but I'm not going to ask you to clarify.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This can't be a real post.

Oh shut up. It's totally real. I can't be the only one feeling this way. Just not a "popular" point of view perhaps. But I know I'm not alone. Has anyone filled out the form and had it rejected?

I agree with the PP - In fact, I don't even get the point of your post. Are you pissed that you can't get the free lunches? Are you in the middle class donut hole where money is tight and you need free lunches but don't qualify? Or is it just wasting your own money on food that gets thrown out that bothers you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you monitor what your kid puts in his lunch? I've seen kids pack some crazy stuff in their lunches before.

Even if I packed nothing but junk, my kid still won't eat it. Doesn't matter what I pack, he's not going to eat it. I hate the waste. Waste of food, waste of time, waste of money. My dh didn't fill the form out, so I guess I have to suck it up and keep doing what I've been doing all along.

I have been looking at some websites for lunchbox ideas, so maybe he will eat this year, but I doubt it.

What does your son eat for lunch when he is not in school? I pack the same things I would feed him at home. When he doesn't finish his food I know it is b/c he was busy chatting rather than eating.

I serve him hot lunches at home usually. But I let him choose stuff at the store that he'd want in his lunch box. I think he does more talking in the cafeteria which means he's too busy to eat. I even brought him lunch from subway or whatever before and he didn't eat much. It's just such a long day to be at school and not eat anything. Thank God he started eating breakfast. He didn't used to until last school year.

Why can't he have those same hot lunches at school? I bought a small wide-mouth thermos so he can take the same hot foods he took in pre-K (in Pre-K they would microwave it for him). We plan to pack chicken and rice, homemade chicken nuggets and the occassional grilled cheese.

That said it seems your problem is the one I fear for my slow eater. I am convinced he won't eat between breakfast and afternoon snack b/c he will be too busy yapping with his friends. Good luck.

OP- I didn't read all of the comments, but I did see where you list the things you pack.

We have this problem too- my DS will eat only what he likes, leave the rest, and come home hungry. Drove me nuts- the waste and lack of healthy eating. Solution-- pack fewer items. Healthy sandwich, yogurt squeezer (not full sized container) fruit, and milk.

It won't be enough for him to ignore the healthy items. If he manages to hold out, it's still a "win" for you-- less packing and less money spent on lunch food.

As far as school lunches, they aren't generally good quality food. Even if you qualified, it's a lot of processed food-- setting your son up for other food/health issues as he grows.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
19:28 again - the kids barely have 15-20 minutes to eat, less if they have to stand in line at the cafeteria.
I prepare a bento box, with food ready to pop into one's mouth: pre-cut apple bites, steamed broccoli florets, elbow pasta or japanese rice balls, ham or chicken pieces, etc. Everything closely packed together so that nothing moves, with either lettuce or silicone dividers between sweet and savory foods to avoid mixing tastes. So there is just one container to open, and everything is easily seen and ready to eat.

Most kids wound find your bento box disgusting.

You think most kids find ham, chicken, pasta, rice, and apples disgusting? They seem like pretty typical food staples to me. The broccoli I could see, because many kids dislike vegetables, but the other foods seem like things most kids probably eat frequently.

OP here, my kid loves broccoli, and most of what you listed. Unfortunately, no way he'd eat it at school.

My son would live this. My daughter is vegetarian and lactose intolerant. Packing her lunch is a PIA...a warm meal daily. HATE it, but not enough to be OP and consider having her bug crap food daily.

My son will not be bugging lunch every day. He will be packing. And don't you know that Michelle Obama fixed everything that was once wrong with school lunches? Duh, they're healthy now. Man, my whole weekend is ruined by your comment. You are so much better than me.

Anonymous wrote:"Anonymous
$3 a day is too much for a school lunch. $1 a day would be way more affordable across the board. Even if they kept it under $2, a lot more people could and would afford it."

Problem is that they want the lunch program to be fully self supporting. I think the price covers not only the food but also salaries and overhead for the lunch staff. If instead the school budget was set up to cover the latter two then perhaps cost could be less or food quality higher.

I'm sure you are right about that. But, $3 is too much for the quality of the food. I'd pay anything under $2 EVERY DAY! Just to avoid packing the lunches lol!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
19:28 again - the kids barely have 15-20 minutes to eat, less if they have to stand in line at the cafeteria.
I prepare a bento box, with food ready to pop into one's mouth: pre-cut apple bites, steamed broccoli florets, elbow pasta or japanese rice balls, ham or chicken pieces, etc. Everything closely packed together so that nothing moves, with either lettuce or silicone dividers between sweet and savory foods to avoid mixing tastes. So there is just one container to open, and everything is easily seen and ready to eat.

Most kids wound find your bento box disgusting.

You think most kids find ham, chicken, pasta, rice, and apples disgusting? They seem like pretty typical food staples to me. The broccoli I could see, because many kids dislike vegetables, but the other foods seem like things most kids probably eat frequently.

OP here, my kid loves broccoli, and most of what you listed. Unfortunately, no way he'd eat it at school.

My son would live this. My daughter is vegetarian and lactose intolerant. Packing her lunch is a PIA...a warm meal daily. HATE it, but not enough to be OP and consider having her bug crap food daily.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you monitor what your kid puts in his lunch? I've seen kids pack some crazy stuff in their lunches before.

Even if I packed nothing but junk, my kid still won't eat it. Doesn't matter what I pack, he's not going to eat it. I hate the waste. Waste of food, waste of time, waste of money. My dh didn't fill the form out, so I guess I have to suck it up and keep doing what I've been doing all along.

I have been looking at some websites for lunchbox ideas, so maybe he will eat this year, but I doubt it.

What does your son eat for lunch when he is not in school? I pack the same things I would feed him at home. When he doesn't finish his food I know it is b/c he was busy chatting rather than eating.

I serve him hot lunches at home usually. But I let him choose stuff at the store that he'd want in his lunch box. I think he does more talking in the cafeteria which means he's too busy to eat. I even brought him lunch from subway or whatever before and he didn't eat much. It's just such a long day to be at school and not eat anything. Thank God he started eating breakfast. He didn't used to until last school year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
19:28 again - the kids barely have 15-20 minutes to eat, less if they have to stand in line at the cafeteria.
I prepare a bento box, with food ready to pop into one's mouth: pre-cut apple bites, steamed broccoli florets, elbow pasta or japanese rice balls, ham or chicken pieces, etc. Everything closely packed together so that nothing moves, with either lettuce or silicone dividers between sweet and savory foods to avoid mixing tastes. So there is just one container to open, and everything is easily seen and ready to eat.

Most kids wound find your bento box disgusting.

You think most kids find ham, chicken, pasta, rice, and apples disgusting? They seem like pretty typical food staples to me. The broccoli I could see, because many kids dislike vegetables, but the other foods seem like things most kids probably eat frequently.

OP here, my kid loves broccoli, and most of what you listed. Unfortunately, no way he'd eat it at school.