Adorable Lunches

I am not really sure how this whole blog thing works, I keep trying to come up with some catchy one-liner to grab your attention, but I figured, what the heck, might as well get started! At the request of someone near and dear to me I have started this blog, simply to post my mommy rants, "magical" ideas, and other random happenings. We all know how hectic nights can turn into stressful mornings, so you ask.... what about adorable lunches...

Moms, many of us work... we don't have the time to be with our kids and I know that I feel guilty about that a lot. One of the cute things we CAN do to show them we are thinking about them, is to send them off with some "envy-packing" lunches. My wonderful friend (Megan Fargason) set the bar for what is called Bento lunches, and all moms for that matter (thanks a lot Megan <---- enter hint of sarcasm, but genuine love here!) LOL. She posted pictures of the adorable lunches she made for her daughter. Well me, being a mom who wants to rise to the challenge, started experimenting. If you have yet to see a cute bento lunch, here is a great link to get some ideas swirling http://susanyuen.wordpress.com/page/2/. The first lunch I made was rather simple 

It was a turkey and cheese sandwich, cut into a circle, and the rest is made out of cheese as well (ears, whiskers, nose, eyes) The tricky part is carving all of those things, I used a straw to poke the cheese for the eyes, I simply cut the nose into that shape as well as the whiskers and ears, and as for the cheese for the mouse, I made squares and once again used the straw to poke holes. Bento lunches are all about creativity. If you can think it, you can do it! His next lunch.... well that was also easy, it was a bear! Again lots of circles, the ears, eyes, and nose are grapes.... attached by toothpicks... and then I put little cupcake liners in with chocolate graham crackers and sliced carrots. Super easy, super fun... and the best part is they love these lunches! The third lunch was my attempt at Mater... let me say, I did this once and will only do it once. It was not difficult, but I used so much "extra'' stuff that he wouldnt eat that it kind of wasnt worth it! Plus he loved this SO much that he wanted to save it! LOL...needless to say the teachers will  think you are AAAAAAmazing, the other kids all love them, and your child.... they feel extra special! There are tons of cute ways to make lunches special. You can write a note on a banana ...

you can tuck a card in their lunch, write on a napkin... even just cut out a heart, dinosaur... whatever cookie cutter you have WILL work! It doesnt need to be as in depth as some of these bentos... just taking the extra minute to do something special will mean the world to them! Remember like everything in life, it isn't about quantity, it is about quality. Regardless of if you are a "working" mother (I put this in quotations because that statement is kind of moronic since all mothers work!) or a stay at home mom... we are all busy, we all have too much on our plate, and we all want the best for our kids. These lunches may take you some extra time, some extra thinking, but if you exhaust your resources, get creative and just do it... your kids will thank you for it later. They are only small once, just think, in high school this would be SOOOOOO embarrassing (<---- keeping that in mind as a form of punishment) LOL. Dont let the hectic nights and stressful mornings take away from what matters most; the quality of your family life and time! <3