Tell your eight-year-old that they're free ride is over! They can pack their own lunch or starve. Time to grow up.

Poor kid :/

I would just make the consequence me packing something he wouldn't particularly enjoy eating. No chips or treat of any kind. Lots of veggies.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fascinating thread - thank you to all who contributed!

Just curious - if you elementary school kids pack their own lunches what exactly do they put in it? The more specific - the better. TIA

My 4th grader: packs a waffle, fruit, greek yogurt, and almonds.
My 2nd grader: hamburger (DH grills hamburgers ahead of time and she puts together) and fruit. Or she will make pasta in the AM and add sauce with fruit.

Your second grader makes pasta alone? Before school in the mornings? Huh.

Yes, that sounds...unusual.

But will packing their own lunch in 3rd grade get them into TJ?

I wrote about my 9 and 12 year old earlier. Sandwich, hummu with cucumbers, carrots, apples, cheese stick and chips or pretzels are some of the things my kids eat. The older one slices the fruit and veggies for the younger one. Everything goes into the fridge and in the morning they put it into the lunch box with an ice pack. Then they make their water bottles. It is simple and they like doing it.

Anonymous wrote:How about you start with you make the sandwich, he picks the fruit and snack? Or vice versa?
I was packing my own lunches by 3rd grade because my parents got divorced and dad had left for work already. Sandwich, apple or orange, maybe a baggie of sugary cereal ...with 4 kids around I was lucky if there were any chips or cookies in the house.
I can't be snide about this because I have our kids get the school lunch except during summer camp. But just because they said the summer camp pizza service was gross and the line was too long.
I agree with the pp who said they felt adrift in college, I had a hard time respecting people who arrived at school unable to do laundry, cook a meal or clean up after themselves. This is part of parenting which as we allknow takes work and is hard and exhausting. I envy the folks whose kids take direction well. Mine fake leg cramps when they are asked to pick up their room.

lol.. mine do something similar, but they also do pack part of their lunch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fascinating thread - thank you to all who contributed!

Just curious - if you elementary school kids pack their own lunches what exactly do they put in it? The more specific - the better. TIA

My 4th grader: packs a waffle, fruit, greek yogurt, and almonds.
My 2nd grader: hamburger (DH grills hamburgers ahead of time and she puts together) and fruit. Or she will make pasta in the AM and add sauce with fruit.

Your second grader makes pasta alone? Before school in the mornings? Huh.

How about you start with you make the sandwich, he picks the fruit and snack? Or vice versa?
I was packing my own lunches by 3rd grade because my parents got divorced and dad had left for work already. Sandwich, apple or orange, maybe a baggie of sugary cereal ...with 4 kids around I was lucky if there were any chips or cookies in the house.
I can't be snide about this because I have our kids get the school lunch except during summer camp. But just because they said the summer camp pizza service was gross and the line was too long.
I agree with the pp who said they felt adrift in college, I had a hard time respecting people who arrived at school unable to do laundry, cook a meal or clean up after themselves. This is part of parenting which as we allknow takes work and is hard and exhausting. I envy the folks whose kids take direction well. Mine fake leg cramps when they are asked to pick up their room.

1st grader today packed turkey pita, carrots, apple, cheese stick and granola snacks.

We are working on her picking more healthy choices, but I'm just glad she is packing and making her own.

My kindergartener packs herself a yogurt, granola bar, piece of fruit or small prepackaged bag of veggies like cut carrots, and one sweet treat like fruit snacks, similar to my 2nd and 3rd graders. She asked to start doing it herself in Pk when she saw her older siblings doing the same. They do the dishes after dinner and have fun packing together, all three are fully capable.

My 7-year-old rising 2nd grader loves to make her own lunch, but that might be because I don't make her do it all the time. When she does do it, I typically get all the sandwich ingredients and containers out for her, let her choose the fruit, let her choose her snacks and her juice box. So I still have to be involved, but I generally use that time to pack my own breakfast and lunch, so I'd be in the kitchen anyway.

Anonymous wrote:Fascinating thread - thank you to all who contributed!

Just curious - if you elementary school kids pack their own lunches what exactly do they put in it? The more specific - the better. TIA

My 4th grader: packs a waffle, fruit, greek yogurt, and almonds.
My 2nd grader: hamburger (DH grills hamburgers ahead of time and she puts together) and fruit. Or she will make pasta in the AM and add sauce with fruit.

Fascinating thread - thank you to all who contributed!

Just curious - if you elementary school kids pack their own lunches what exactly do they put in it? The more specific - the better. TIA

It's really mostly discipline. And the tone we use sometimes.
If you teach them young, and let them have some say in what to pack and slowly start from there. Kinda like, i'll pack this part of your lunch and you add whatever you want as long as it's not a bunch of sugar and sweets.

Anonymous wrote:Why is this such an all-or-nothing thing? Why can't people accept that this might vary by child/family? Some people seem to think that if a first grader is not packing his/her own lunch, they will certainly turn into a dependent, incapable "whiner." It's completely ridiculous. There are plenty of years between elementary school and college, during which kids will reach different milestones of independence at different times. The judgment and nastiness on this board is astounding. Guess what? Different parenting styles exist, children are all different, and your way is not always, by default, the "right" way.

Well there have been posts that if your child can pack his/her own lunch then you don't love them and aren't a nurturing parent. When it comes to parenting, people are horribly judgmental!