The Stack of School Papers
I have systems. Plans. Methods for organization. My systems have systems. I file the school papers. Clip them together in stacks. Hang the papers from the fridge or bulletin board. I sort old papers so that old papers don’t get mixed up with new papers. But, I ALWAYS have a stack of papers on the kitchen table.
My stacks of papers often have sub-stacks. Little offshoots of papers that spill out of the main stack to become a separate stack. With all these papers, you can bet that I spend an inordinate amount of time processing the stacks, signing the permission forms, signing kids up for after school activities, which leaves little time for other school-related tasks. Like making lunches.
I’d like to say that I create bento-box lunches for my kids, but you’d know that I wouldn’t be telling the truth. I’ve posted often enough about by cooking skills that you my loyal readers know that I am not the PioneerWoman. Not anywhere close. I cook or prepare three meals a day, but I’m no Julia Child.
Who's that perched on my son?
When it comes to school lunches, for instance, I want to make every part of the process easy peasy. Last year my son’s class went on a very special field trip. Their destination: the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. As well as seeing the Hope Diamond and fossils of all shapes and sizes, the students get to visit the Butterfly exhibit. Very cool to see after watching the classroom butterflies emerge.
I wasn’t a chaperone on this trip, but I did join the class at the museum. As I packed lunches for my son and myself, I knew he would be hungry. A long with the sandwich, cookie, chips, and drink, I threw in a Del Monte fruit cup, spoon, and napkin. I knew that a banana or an apple might get crushed in the teacher’s bag. The Del Monte fruit cup was the perfect way to add fruit to my son’s bagged lunch. The fruit cup is a very handy snack…not to mention easy to eat snack.
I’m not a weekly shopper. I like to have lunch foods on hand rather than have to run out to the grocery story for that one item that I need. One of my staples is the fruit cup. I keep a stack of assorted flavors. The Del Monte fruit tastes like…well…fruit. The kids like the variety of fruits offered. I like that the fruit cups can be easily packed in to a lunchbox.
We're on a mission to find easy lunch foods!
Yesterday, I looked at the pantry and knew I had to stock up on lunch and snack foods. These kids can go through some food!
We ventured to a very large Walmart, which makes the local-to-us Walmart look like the corner store. This Walmart store has everything, including a fully stocked grocery store. I chronicled our shopping expedition in a Google + story.
In no time flat we found the Canned Fruit aisle. At first glance the fruit cup section of that aisle looked empty. Picked over. While the shelves looked empty, on closer inspection we found a bunch of our favorites…the Del Monte Fruit Cups.
Soon enough we found all sorts of Del Monte Fruit Cups on the shelves. Should we choose the Diced Peaches in Light Syrup with Cinnamon and Brown Sugar? Or the Diced Pears in Light Syrup? But what about the Diced Peaches in Light Syrup? Or the Diced Pears? But then we saw the tried and true Mixed Fruit in Light Syrup. This always hits the spot. Hidden behind was the Mixed Fruit with No Sugar Added. This one will hit the spot for me in the hour before the kids get home from school and I have to put my taxi driver hat on.
With our shopping cart full of lunch food, we made a bee line for the cash register. It was time to check out. Time for the littles to go to bed. Time for the bigs to make the school lunches.
Once home my husband wrangled the kids to bed. I set about packing lunches. First task…round up the lunch boxes. No easy task. Had to search upstairs. Under tables. In backpacks. Finally, the lunch boxes were all located and the lunch packing began. I like to pack a variety of healthy lunch or snack options in each lunch box. First the snacks — chips and cookies. Second — the napkin and spoon. Third — the sandwich. And finally, the fruit cup. I selected a Del Monte fruit cup for each kid and the lunches were packed.
I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Del Monte #CBias #SocialFabric
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