So another school year starts again, and with it comes the desire to make school lunches as nutritious as possible, but still edible!
I’ve heard all of the tricks in the book… make it fun, puree and hide it, blah blah blah… It just doesn’t work for us!
So I’m on a mission to find a way to incorporate the “green stuff” (and red and orange, etc.) into the daily grind, with minimal complaint, oh, and no puke!
So far we have been uber successful with pureeing squash and pumpkin, and adding it to our baked goodies!! It is not detectable, even with my 6 year old, Captain Bloodhound! I also like to add pureed beans and peas to our pasta sauces… a highly guarded secret in my household, and if you tell my kids, I’ll have to kill you… 
. 100% fruit juice in their thermoses tends to round out the day. We do applesauce, bananas, but as a whole, my boy is not a big fan of fresh fruit either. So you can see my conundrum… all of this gets boring pretty quickly!
In doing some research about packing healthy lunches for kids, I found that most articles are repetitive, and useless (in my case anyway!) “Send your child with foods like nut butters, tuna and eggs”… has any one of these “experts ” been in a classroom lately? There are least three kids posted on each classroom wall, a list of their allergies following their picture.
While I found most sites lacking in original ideas, I did find a few recipes that I would like to share…. “Cocoa -nut” Bananas…. http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/cocoa_nut_bananas.html , and “Cinnamon Oranges” … http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/cinnamon_oranges.html .
I hope these will spice up our lunch boxes for a while. I am soooo looking forward to you sharing your quick, easy, healthy snacks. It takes a village, right~!
So back to school is almost here and I am having mixed feelings about the process! I am thrilled that my days will once again be free of children, but am horrified by the schedule flip for my special needs child. We have not heard from the Board of Education about the Learning Disabilities (LD) class. So my guess would be that no spots have become available for my child, which means he will once again be thrown into a class with kids who are now about 4 years ahead of him, and we will continue to “patiently” sit on the waiting list! When back to school starts so does the “morning chaos of Michael”. The crying, the hitting and kicking, the refusals, and of course the classic “Meltdown”! I don’t know how many times I walked Michael out to the bus stop last year, with no shoes, glasses, hat, socks, and a lunch container that is leaking because he decided to pitch it across the road in a fit of anger. My best answer to the fight is consistency! But on top of consistency I have found some items that I have added to Michael’s “back to school list” that have helped! There is also the list of items here that all kids need for back to school 
Kindergarten - Grade 3
- back pack
- package of pencils
- crayons
- pencil crayons
- ruler
- markers
- glue sticks (5 or more)
- lunch bag
- shoes with non marking soles for indoors
- white paper 1 package (i usually wait to see if the teacher spacicficly asks for this on the first day)
- lined paper 1 package (i usually wait to see if the teacher spacicficly asks for this on the first day)
- erasers
- pencil case
- scissors
Grade 4 - Grade 8
- back pack
- pkg of pencils
- pkg of pens blue or black (they usually ask for erasable pens)
- pencil crayons
- indoor shoes with non marking soles
- 8 duo-tangs all preferably different colors
- 2 duo-tang folders with pockets on the inside
- lined paper
- white paper
- graph paper
- ruler
- calculator
- lunch bag
- gluesticks (2 or 3)
- highlighters
- scissors
- erasers
- 1 red pen
- pencil case
Special Needs things that have helped me in the years
- MP3 player because it helps him focus better and keeps the sound of the other kids to a minimum (must be discussed with principal and special ed teachers first)
- a ball of plasticine, which is used as a stress ball but makes his fingernails look horrible (which he knows is kept in his pocket)
- another extra pair of shoes because Michael will definately step in that puddle or have an accident … nothing worse than having a shoe full of pee!
- an extra set of clothes… as accidents still happen!
- extra socks
- headphones because he doesnt like the noise of kids coming in and out at recess (also must be discussed with school)
- extra markers he loves to color teachers use it as a calming tool when he is having a bad day!
- a fridge magnet “schedule” with pictures so the day is predictable and scheduled *no surprises* becuase that will throw him off for the rest of the day
- I also noticed the “Goodbyn Lunch box” at work which is going to be a definate must for this year… easy cleaning so it doesnt stink and durable plastic so it wont crack if he decided to throw it in a fit of anger
- Stickers! these are a good motivational tool (and some times we use M&M’s)
- I also use “treats” which usually come from the dollar store… if he has had a good week (no notes home) then on friday we get a treat!
- oh and dont forget your fabric marker/perminant marker to write your childs name on everything!
So these are the things that my kids have needed and my Michael has found useful. Feel free to comment if you think of anything I may have missed or any great ideas for special needs kids.
Jackie
