This time of year for parents and children a like can be stressful. There are backpacks and clothes and school supplies to be purchased. New classrooms and new friends which while can be fun and exciting can also instill a feeling of apprehension in a child, not to mention who will they sit beside and who will be their new home room teacher.
But that's nothing compared to what is all over my facebook news feed this week. The single biggest thing I've seen parents obsessing about is what they're going to put in their child's lunchbox. Yes, lunchbox. Not will Billy and Sally get along well or will Mrs. Whozit be a good teacher and a good match for Sally and my child will not utterly flunk out of kindergarten which will ruin their chances for college.
No, this is the year of the Lunchbox. Scratch that, Bento Box.
The Bento Box idea isn't a "new" thing in the world, but it is to me. Maybe I'm behind in the times, a late starter to all this designer lunch container stuff. What I do know is, my boys have been going to school for the past 13 years with normal lunch bags (or *gasp* paper bags if they left their lunch bag at school) filled with an assortment of good and healthy food. I'll admit that the one downfall to a paper bag is that the food can get crushed in their backpack so they end up with a squashed sandwich and sometimes if they're really lucky, a squashed banana in the mix too. But this unsightly lunch only reminded them to be more responsible the next time and bring home their lunch boxes. I kept telling them, you don't want a squashed sammidge, bring home your box...it took a few times for it to sink in, but they got it. Eventually. And they still ate that danged sandwich or they didn't get any dinner. I don't believe in wasting perfectly good food due to their lack of responsibility. After all, isn't that what teaching responsibility is all about?
This week I have learned that I have been quite possibly wrong. There is a huge movement of parents who believe that in order for their children to eat their lunch at school or daycare they need to have color coordinated lunch "gear", food cut into fun shapes and everything organized just so in the Bento Box. Otherwise, their children will. not. eat. lunch.
Now I'm all for cool lunch ideas and new things to try. Those Bento Boxes look like a lot of fun and if I didn't have 7 children in school I might actually think about picking some up. And then I think of having to wash each and everyone of them every night and stress and worry about the shapes I'm going to cut their watermelon slices into, or what meat they'll eat and what bread I can put in with the meat, and will they want swiss cheese and cherry tomatoes cut into slices or gruyere cheese and grape slices? And will all of that fit into one of those tiny little stainless steel boxes? And what if my teenaged boys eat more than one sandwich and more than a couple grapes? Then what am I supposed to do?
It is all just too stressful for me.
Now, I happen to be a very lucky mum as my children are not "picky" eaters. We have one rule in our house for meal times and it is simply this: "Eat it, or starve." I like to cook and happen to know that I'm pretty good at it. I come up with creative meals and cook mostly from scratch. Over the years I've experimented with new recipes and sometimes they've been great and other times they're a flop. We've all had those moments right? But even with the "flop" meals, we still eat it. We don't call out for pizza and write the entire meal off. And I'm going out on a limb here, but I think that's why my children are not picky eaters.
They've been raised that way.
They're not assholes.
If they go to a friends for dinner and are served something they've never tried, guess what? They try it! Even if they don't like it, they wouldn't dream of telling the cook that. They would politely thank them for cooking and finish up their dinner because otherwise they'd starve. And to boys starving is not an option. And this is not exclusively for boys, my stepdaughter is the same way. My children are not assholes.
So when I see all this blogging and read the comments about how to make your picky eater child eat their lunch, it makes me wonder what is going on in the world of parenting. I wonder why are all of these children so picky that their parents are spending hours of their time creating cool shaped sandwiches and fruit the night before school? Are they being taught by their parents that it's okay to be so picky and they'll just cook 4 different meals for everyone in the household every day? I mean, what's going on here? The way I see it, this goes beyond Bento Boxes and into the realm of raising asshole children who will not eat the food that is prepared and put before them. Who waste food thoughtlessly. Who cannot go to a friends house to have dinner because they won't eat what's cooked. I can't help but wonder at what these children will be like when they're 35 and are still so picky. I'm thinking that in a few years there will be restaurants based around them that serve star shaped sandwiches and watermelon shapes just for those assholes. Are their parents taking the initial "I don't like this" when offering food to a three year old as "Oh dear, I have a picky eater--guess I will have to cut up fruit into shapes for them to eat it"? Instead of, no, eat your dinner, it's good for you and you might just like it when you try it.
It's not that I'm against star shaped food (or any other shape for that matter), I'm opposed to HAVING to do that for your child in order for them to eat. I would do this for fun for my children. I love coming up with new ideas for their lunches and cool leftovers for them to take to school the next day. But if a parent HAS to do that, in my opinion, the problem is so much more than just star shaped food and you might have an asshole child.
Here are the links to the above mentioned blogs. Enjoy and let me know what you think...have I missed the memo or are we raising a generation of children who will become assholes? Oh and by the way? I'm totally a 70's mom. All the way.
Cheers,
Cellistina
http://widelawns.blogspot.ca/2014/08/back-to-school-70s-vs-today-lot-has.html?m=1
http://www.mommyshorts.com/2014/08/the-week-mazzys-lunch-box-went-bento.html
