Why I hate making packed lunches

I have never, ever made packed lunches for my kids - thank goodness !
They always had lunches in the school dining room, it was never a problem, and as most of their friends did the same it worked well.
Pupils with packed lunches sat in a seperate area and perhaps felt a little isolated from the pack.
Quite honestly, I couldn't have faced the prospect of making 3 different packed lunches each day and they always found something they could eat and liked on the menu at school.

I used to make my son's packed lunch the night before....for one reason, if I overslept but mainly I hated doing it. Sounds wicked perhaps but although it took no time at all it was something I dreaded doing.
When he began secondary school I made it clear that he had no choice than to eat school lunches and surprisingly he agreed. Having said that, he doesn't eat the food I'd like him to and things such as juice, flapjacks and fruit are ridiculously expensive. The school also provide food during the morning break.
It costs me a minimum of £20 per week and although lunch time is late at his school my son comes home starving hungry.
Would I go back to packed lunches? Definitely not!!

Back to school tomorrow and the hell of lunch boxes start again for another 6 weeks! I try everyday to make the packed lunch a bit more exciting but unless it was all chocolate and crisps it will still get thrown in the bin at 3.45! I have now told child number 1 that he will not be having snack (£1.60 a week for cracker and cheese grapes ect provided by the school) in the vain hope he will be hungry enough by lunch time to eat his packed lunch! child number 2 just eats everything!

I think once they get to senior school, the dinners improve. At my daughter's primary school they serve the same amount of food up to an 11 year old that they do for a 4 year old, so she went back to packed lunch for her last year. I do it the night before, along with my husband's sandwich. Someone earlier mentioned peanut butter; we've been told we're not allowed to send them in with anything that could cause problems for other kids with allergies and no chocolate or sweets either. However, I watch a lot of parents go to the bakers and not only give their kids a sausage roll for their breakfast, but then proceed to put sandwiches or yet another sausage roll from the bakers in their lunch box ... and sadly this is after watching them get their benefits out at the Post Office. I can't afford to do that, nor would I want to. When we had school dinners there was no choice either like they have now. I think we give our kids too much choice. I know years ago some mothers would serve up the same meal two or three days on the trot until the child realised they had to eat what was given to them; times were harder back then and some parents actually went without meals so their kids could eat. I do my daughter a sandwich every day; either egg or ham with lettuce and cucumber. She's great with fruit and veg so I don't mind that she doesn't like brown bread, but I don't think you should worry about what others think about what you put in your kids lunchboxes, as long as it's healthy. Marmite sandwiches are perfectly healthy and the kid next to yours isn't going to swell up and burst into flames as there's no peanuts in it. Kids during the war survived on bread and jam and rations and grew up to be perfectly healthy. My son's had nothing but cheese in his sandwich for his entire 15 years; I've tried other things but gave up, but he does like brown bread. I've stopped making separate meals too; they get what they're given or go hungry. xx

It's a nightmare! At least in primary school they had to eat their lunch, and bring home anything they hadn't eaten. In secondary school it seems to be "uncool" to eat anything except crisps and packaged cereal bars-sandwiches,pittas,rolls,fruit, all get left. Unfortunately we don't qualify for free school meals, and with 4 children I could never afford to pay for lunches. In think they need to eat to keep up energy and be able to concentrate in lessons. Don't know what the answer is?

I can so see where you are coming from I have 4 children so have plenty to make each day they all like different things and I can never remember who likes what. Mine are quite good at eating it all except my youngest but I just give her less as they all have a snack when they get in anyway. Its just so boring day in day out.

It's a chore that I'm still doing for my family, years after my sons left school! Every day I butter up a loaf of bread, but they work hard and deserve it.

wow your allowed to put a 'treat' in a lunch box? I put a carton of 100% PURE fruit juice in my sons lunch box and got a letter home stating it was 'too high in sugar'....

I used to enjoy doing my two lads' pack-ups and they were almost always eaten although they were never that keen on fruit - I'd often find wrinkly apples, hairy tangerines and black bananas lurking in coat pockets or sports bags. When they hit their teens and the embarrassment factor set in they would plead with me not to do them anything involving eggs or tinned fish because of the whiff!

When my daughter was about 6 she asked me (quite seriously) Please can you just cut my sandwich into two pieces instead of four... because I don't have time to eat four. Stifling a grin I just said 'Yes Dear'.