How do I make packing her lunch cooler?

[kinntj]

Entering the 7th grade, I would definately buy her the Vera Bradley lunch bag and have her pack. I bet if you pack right, you could definately beat that hefty $3 + price including the price of the bag.

My DD6's bag was from LLBean and that cost $21 including monogram. Those VB aren't that bad in price.

I agree with another poster, to just have her buy lunch there for the first few days to get her situated and see what everyone else is doing.

 

[anabelle]

I must be doing something wrong, because my cost to pack is still at least $3.50. It seems like I never have enough left overs to pack. So I end up having to use a lean cuisine or make a sandwich.

The only benefit is that I save gas because I don't have to leave work.

I will not be working starting next month and I have to get Hubby to pack a lunch. He is used to going to a sit down restaurant at lunch. So it is going to be a shock.

 

[TAEMom]

I just want to caution you on the lunch bag thing - I also have a DD going into 7th grade, and she did NOT want me to buy her a new lunch bag. It seems that the our neighbor (who is about to be a freshman) warned her that only "nerds" carry anything other than paper lunch bags. Apparently, there is some reason for it though - they don't have enough time to get to their lockers after lunch before their next class, so it's easier if the bag is disposable and doesn't have to be carried around all afternoon.

Meanwhile, we had to spend a small fortune on a Hollister book bag though...

 

[Muffin]

I'm not sure how much time that you have, but you could always look into Bento.

I wouldn't be able to eat any of those. They're so cute, I'd just want to look at them.

 

[brymolmom]

I would have her pack it herself. She might see it as more of a 'gaining independence' thing and really get a kick out of it. If you think she might stray and put all junk in there - setup some guidelines. But usually by that age I'm sure she knows what 'should' be in there. By putting her in charge of it - she can give herself some treats now and then and she might like that.

Not only that, I think by that age kids really should be doing this type of thing for themselves. It starts teaching that 'mom isn't my personal maid and cook' lesson.

 

[kwnancy]

I would have her pack it herself.

She might see it as more of a 'gaining independence' thing and really get a kick out of it. Not only that, I think by that age kids really should be doing this type of thing for themselves. It starts teaching that 'mom isn't my personal maid and cook' lesson.

AMEN!

 

[mtomlin66]

I was able to get a Vera Bradley lunch bag from ebags for 14.99 with free shipping. DD was happy that she has VB and I was happy that I didn't have to pay full price.

 

[brymolmom]

I must be doing something wrong, because my cost to pack is still at least $3.50. It seems like I never have enough left overs to pack. So I end up having to use a lean cuisine or make a sandwich.

The only benefit is that I save gas because I don't have to leave work.

I will not be working starting next month and I have to get Hubby to pack a lunch. He is used to going to a sit down restaurant at lunch. So it is going to be a shock.

Even if you have to make a sandwich...$3.50 seems a little pricey. Are these numbers way off from yours?
Deli Meat - $4.00 for 1/2 pound - about 10 sandwiches - so 40 cents per
Bread - $2.50 per loaf - not sure how many slices - but let's say 30 cents
Chips/Popcorn - Maybe 40 cents worth of a big bag of Smartpop that is $2.50 for the whole thing.
Fruit - an apple - about 30 cents or some grapes - more expensive so maybe 75 cents worth.

That brings my total (even if i throw in a couple candy kisses as a 'dessert' - probably about 30 cents) to just over $2.00 even with the more expensive grapes....And I'm likely overestimating a couple of the costs.

 

[mjantz]

How well do the Vera Bradleys hold up? I was going to get DD an LL Bean lunch box but if the VBs hold up well, it would be about the same for one of the sale ones as an LL Bean lunch bag. TIA!!

 

[Justthe8ofus]

WOW and I was complaining to myself today that DD7 wants a new lunch pack and they are $8.50 at Walmart (Hannah Montana, of course, I did mention that she is 7, right?)! I certainly hope she is not into Vera Bradley when she gets older! She will be sorely disappointed by this mom's budget!

lol. I picked up the $3.75 ones at walmart. I asked my 13yr old and 12 yr DDs if the bags where ok and they asked "do they hold food?". They were like "it's a lunch bag who cares". Around here it's not a big deal. My girls are in the gifted program and aren't really into all the labels. (thank goodness) They are "geeks" and so are all of their friends. We are more rural here-I think that makes a difference.

 

[Cindy B]

Actual lunch boxes or insulated bags are OUT in my kids middle school. The brown paper bags are the thing--it also eliminates losing stuff and anything besides a backpack will NOT fit in the tiny lockers. The township has a recycling initiative so the bags and such will go in that bucket next to the trash can.

Both my kids bring thier own lunches. They also pack thier own lunches as well, they have been doing that since about 3rd grade (or when I decided to be a full time college student.)

 

[Del]

My 7th grader uses a brown bag...no more lunch boxes for her. She buys every 2 weeks or so. She does not have time to return to her locker after lunch so returning her lunch box wouldn't be option. She's a brown-bagger. I agree it's getting expensive. Our prices increased .25...now at $2.75.

Del

 

[aunt lissa]

Thank you all for all of your responses! I've gone over all of them several times trying to figure out what is best for her. I don't want her to grow up thinking she has to do what everyone else is doing but I also don't want her to be completely isolated. I don't think the friends she does have would judge her if she buys or packs but I don't want her feeling like an outsider.
So for now I think I'll buy the VB that I found for $15 and let her buy for the first day or so. Either way I can't afford to put out almost $40 a week in lunches (between the 2 of them, my ds is in 4th grade) so she has to pack and I just need to find a way to make her more comfortable with the idea so she won't instead decide to starve herself all day.

 

[shortbun]

Thank you all for all of your responses! I've gone over all of them several times trying to figure out what is best for her. I don't want her to grow up thinking she has to do what everyone else is doing but I also don't want her to be completely isolated. I don't think the friends she does have would judge her if she buys or packs but I don't want her feeling like an outsider.
So for now I think I'll buy the VB that I found for $15 and let her buy for the first day or so. Either way I can't afford to put out almost $40 a week in lunches (between the 2 of them, my ds is in 4th grade) so she has to pack and I just need to find a way to make her more comfortable with the idea so she won't instead decide to starve herself all day.

Of course you don't want her to grow up thinking she has to do what everyone else does. However, she IS in middle school and girls can be the worst bullies there are. Why would you want to set her up to fail just because she has lessons to learn? I work with these kids and I'm telling you that it's important to her self esteem and peer acceptance to have some semblance of fitting in. You can teach her to be a trend setter by having her call her friends and suggest they all pack. She can be a leader or a follower. Let her decide if she wants to march to a different drummer, SHE is the one going to school, not you.

 

[aunt lissa]

Of course you don't want her to grow up thinking she has to do what everyone else does. However, she IS in middle school and girls can be the worst bullies there are. Why would you want to set her up to fail just because she has lessons to learn? I work with these kids and I'm telling you that it's important to her self esteem and peer acceptance to have some semblance of fitting in. You can teach her to be a trend setter by having her call her friends and suggest they all pack. She can be a leader or a follower. Let her decide if she wants to march to a different drummer, SHE is the one going to school, not you.

That is exactly what I am trying to avoid. I don't want her to go through any of that. But I don't want to over react and make to big a deal of the situation either. I would never want to set her up to fail, she's my dd after all I only want whats best for her.
I am happy everyone has told me about the VB bags because I think they will be stylish enough for her to carry around. I've decided to let her have total control on the packing, I'm not to worried about all junk food since she doesn't eat a lot of it anyway. So I let her know she is welcome to pack pretty much what ever she wants.
My other question is would a VB bag keep things warm if she packed left overs? Or do I need to buy a thermos? I'm sorry I just have never packed lunches for them before so I am a little confused.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

IMO you are over worrying about this. Tell DD she will be bringing her lunch set # of days and is allowed to buy set # of days. There will always be the kids who buy and always be the kids who bring. I always thought my kids would hate being the "kids" who had to bring, probably because my mother never let me buy lunch. This is not the case. I asked DS who is entering 8th. grade and DD who will be a junior this year... DD said even in middle school the girls were way too busy being mean over other things to care who brought their lunch and who bought, and now her friends are extremely jealous over the lunches she brings. They wished their parents could take some time to make them a lunch or even buy them something to make lunches with. You would be surprised how much HS kids just want their parents to notice them. On the flip side, DS said it didn't matter to him where his lunch comes from, just make sure that there was enough. So relax, set up the rules and just let it go. Don't sweat the small stuff! Trust me your kids don't.