Sorry, But Making School Lunches is the Worst!

Mara here:

Having to pack a lunch for your kids to take to school is the worst. I know that sounds extreme, but it really is. If you don't have kids, you can't understand how annoying it is.

I can't even explain why it is so awful, but it is. I hated it—and I hate almost nothing. I would rather scoop my dog's poop than have to make school lunch.

As soon as Malia started middle school, I decided I was done. I told her she was old enough to make her own lunch. I still did most of the work by making sure there were bins full of pre-packed foods she could just throw into a bag. But she had to make her own sandwich, and she had to put it all into a bag each morning.

After about a week, she hated doing it as much as I did and started buying her lunch more than taking it.

I was reminded of the pain of making school lunches because a friend recently posted something about how her son had changed schools and she suddenly found herself having to make lunch—and she hated it.

We all think we're alone in our hatred of making school lunches. We all have that moment of wondering if we're bad parents because the process of having to pack snacks and a sandwich drives us to the brink of insanity.

But it appears that there are very few things universally hated by parents more than making school lunch for their kids. Thanks to Facebook, now we can all chime in and assure each other that hating having to make that school lunch is perfectly normal and accepted.

Go figure.

When Malia was in preschool, we had it easy. Her school was on the backlot of Universal Studios. The school had lunches catered by the cafeteria on the lot, and the school served it family style to allow the kids to learn how to serve themselves.

The few times I had to witness lunchtime at the school was pretty painful for me because let's be real: toddlers are terrible at serving themselves. So, yes, it was a good thing that the school was teaching them about passing bowls around and not overfilling serving spoons. But seeing the food slide around the table was hard to watch.

But...the food was really good. It was all freshly made. It was better than the food I knew how to make. So it was pretty sad, lunch-wise, when Malia graduated from preschool and start real school.

She was ecstatic to be starting real school and so were we of course, but it meant I had to make her lunches. I had to drag myself up every morning, make sure she was ready for school, and put together some kind of nutritious meal.

I had to make the sandwich and put the chips in the bag. I had to put cookies in a bag and some sort of healthy vegetable thing. I had to have all the food in stock, and I had to make sure it was stuff she would actually eat. And I had to put it in her lunch box.

Then at the end of the day the thing had to be emptied and cleaned.

I understand that there are probably a few people in the world who don't hate this as much as I hate this, and I am happy for them. And there are apparently a whole world of parents out there who make this whole lunch thing as complicated as possible by cutting their kids' food into shapes like teddy bears and stars.

I was not that mom.

My daughter ended up having to be home schooled for middle school because she was on a TV show that filmed in Utah, an now that she's in high school, she doesn't even take a full lunch anymore. She just grabs a granola bar and eats food when she gets home.

So the painful process of school lunches is behind me. But the second I hear anyone complain about having to pack lunch for their kids, all my vitriol against packing lunches comes rushing back to me. I don't know if I'll ever get over it.

And you might ask why?

I don't know. I can only assume it has to do with it happening early in the morning for kids who really aren't that excited about anything you give them. It feels never ending. It's hard to have to make decisions when you're so sleep deprived and when getting dressed feels impossible. And it feels like a complicated process—there are lots of items to include and you have to try to mix it up because if you give kids the same thing day after day they complain.

Maybe it's simply that it's one more thing on top of the thousands of things we already have to do as parents. I don't know. I knew it wasn't rational at the time.

So if you're a person still packing lunches for school-aged kids, my thoughts are prayers go out to you. I feel your pain.

If you are like me and those days are past, woo hoo!!! We are free!!!

And if you have no idea what this post is about, count yourself lucky because packing lunches is really annoying and it's better if you don't have scars from the experience.

I asked my mom about this very subject:

I know you share my dislike of making school lunches. Why do you think making school lunches is so annoying?

I laughed out loud at your piece, Mara, mostly because, not only did I hate making school lunches like you did but, like you, I could never figure out exactly why! Was it because it was so early in the morning as you suggest? Was it the feeling that it was never-ending, as you also suggest? I read all of your possible reasons, and I'm still not sure. All I can say is "Yup. I hated it too." And, don't forget, I had to make TWO such lunches, one for you and one for your brother. 

What a silly thing to hate, but there you have it! 

For people who are currently feeling the frustration of making school lunches, what advice would you give them to possibly make the process less stressful?

Well, this is a tough question because I never figured out the answer for myself. Here's what comes to mind, though, if I had to do it again. I'd pick stuff that wouldn't get soggy (unlike a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or something slathered with mayo) and then I'd make it the night before and the put it in the fridge.

I'm not sure this would make the task less loathsome but, since my best guess is that the dread had something to do with it being so early morning before I was fully awake and before I was in a decision-making mood, doing it the night before sounds like a good plan.

Good luck all you school-lunch makers. You have Mara's and my deepest sympathy!