You Are Important To Me Bento (in an Easy Lunchbox System and packed with a Lunchbox Love Note.)
(In larger section) A Sun-butter and Honey Sandwich with Cheese cut-outs, Carrots, and Cheese Hearts.
(In the smaller compartments) Yogurt with a few Holiday Sprinkles (in an Easy Lunchbox Little Dipper), Grapes and Oranges.
Yesterday, I had but a single child to take to preschool: Mr. Boy. My poor little girl caught the nasty plague (again) over the weekend and was still too puny to make it to school. But, after HIS week of being sick and absent, Mr. Boy was raring to go, ready to see friends, teachers, and the little girls upon whom he has a wee crush.
(yes, girls… plural. pretty much every girl in his class has his heart whether they know it or not)
As I spent time getting everyone ready to take Mr. Boy to school, I could barely suppress the nerves and emotion still swirling through me following the events in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. A part of me wanted to lie and tell Mr. Boy he was still too sick for school, keeping him home with us. Safe in my sight.
I went through my morning routine in a very mechanical manner, automatically passing out bowls of cereals and buttering toast and filling milk cups. But, as I started to make Mr. Boy’s lunch, the Auto-Pilot within shifted. I began pulling out bread and sun-butter, and with each new item added to the stone kitchen counter, I knew I wanted to make this lunch special. It needed to be special today. For him.
And for me — I needed him to know, to see, how much I loved him . . . even if I couldn’t be there glued to his side.
I love him. And his siblings. And I find myself saying it and showing it more the past four days than I had been previously. Adding “I love you” and “You’re so special” and “I’m so proud of you” into conversations, regardless of whether or not those phrases are natural or logical fit.
I’m hugging and kissing and caressing freckled cheeks more often, realizing this is what is real and this is what is important. Ironed shirts and made beds and neatly stacked toys are all good and well, but showing my children that I love them outweighs the chores I’ve nit-picked and the attention I’ve given to matching outfits.
In the wake of seeing parents who have one less child to get ready for school, I am determined my Kidlets go to school with the echoes of my love and affection and pride ringing in their little ears. I want it bundled up with them in their coats, stuffed in their back-packs, and packed into their lunch bags.
I Heart Lunch: Let’s Talk Kid Food!
I adore getting inspiration and ideas (and even “THAT’S how you do that” moments) from others out there … so let’s share with one another with the “I Heart Lunch Weekly Link-up.”
You can link to any kid-lunch/bento or kid-friendly recipe on a blog post or via flickr photos — this linky is for any kind of healthy school lunch and kid-food, regardless if it is Bento-style or not. I want to celebrate our efforts to provide good and enjoyable school lunches for our children!
The linky is offered each Tuesday when I share our Bento lunches so you’ll be able to add your lunches every week. My only request is that you either add a link back to this post or include the Lunch Graphic (which links back) to your post so others can get here to view the linked lunches too!
Link up your school lunches and bentos! Please use a permalink for your post rather than linking your general blog/flickr account URL — this will help people go directly to your fabulous lunch!
Note: you can link a blog post, public facebook photo, flickr page, etc.
Now — link ’em up!
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