Now that I'm back at work I find I'm too tired in the evening and too busy in the morning to get a decent lunch put together for the kids, let alone myself. Saturday has become a get life organized kind of day, including making lunches for the entire week. Now with traveling for work, this makes it even harder because I'm not there.
Stealing the lunchables idea without the high price tag I decided to make my own lunchables for the week. It worked out great!!!! There is a variety of different lunches already packaged ready to go, all my husband has to do is put them into the lunch boxes and away they go to school. The kids can build their own sandwiches at school making lunch a bit more fun!
Here are some items I used to put the lunches together:
Zyploc snack sized baggies
Zyploc plastic containers large and small round
Plastic Wrap
Food items:
Mini Bagels from Sobey's compliments balance selection
Tortilla wraps
Ritz Crackers
Ukrainian Sausage
Ham
Pepperoni
Cheddar Cheese
Grapes
Carrot Sticks
Celery Sticks
Processed Cheese and Cracker snacks
Halloween Candy
Cookies
I'd put all the different ingredients into the zyploc containers making 10 different lunch combinations. The kids had fun putting the food into the containers and deciding which Halloween treat went in.
I would wrap each ingredient separately and use the zyploc snack baggies for the grapes, carrot sticks and celery sticks. The kids will put the baggies back into the plastic zyploc containers to be used again next week.
Any extra meat I had was wrapped and frozen in individual packets to make it quicker for next weeks lunch making session.
The key is to stay organized, cut up the meat, cheese, carrots, celery and wrap them in portions then have the kids help put the different items in the different containers. Store in fridge until needed.
I also filled the small round zyploc plastic containers with yogurt and pudding to add into the lunch bags with a plastic spoon. My son will also get an extra piece of fruit because we can't fill him up fast enough he's growing so fast.
I hope this idea will help you make lunches easier and keep your mornings a little less hectic.
Do you have any other ideas or other items you love to put in lunches?
Kids Lunches Made Easy for the Working Mom!!
What Should Governments do With Criminals?
There was another gang murder and drive by where the victims had no links to gangs. Criminals seem to be running the streets and the revolving door of the court system is doing little to fix it. So instead of sending criminals to jail why not draft then into the army and send them to war.
Why is the army filled with young men and women who have lots of talent and are a valuable contribution to society while criminals continue to drain the social systems and terrorize society.
OK the army probably isn't the best idea, the brave men and women there deserve better.
The gangs are getting the upper hand and I don't see anything really working to fix it. I don't know what the answer is, will another 300-400 police people make a difference? I'm not confident that the answer is more police. Is there a solution?
Which is Best? Kids in Daycare or Kids at home with Mom
I saw the cutest little kids today on a walk with their daycare, they must have been 3 years old. My heart ached for my kids to be that small again and wondered where all the time had gone. Time passes so fast and they are little for such a short period of time - honest it's true. I remember telling my husband that things could wait and his time with his son couldn't because before we knew it he'd be off with friends. That time came fast!!!
I have been a working mother, a stay at home mother and a work from home mother. The time I spent with my children at home was precious and I wish it would have lasted longer or that I had enjoyed and focused on it longer. When I ran a dayhome it was too chaotic and busy for me to really enjoy the time I had with my kids. Then I was too preoccupied with trying to find work to focus on the time with them. I just have to look at my kids scrapbooks to remember the times I was with them and to see how many years I missed recording their lives.
Is one situation better then any other for children?
Should kids be in daycares or home with their mothers? Does it really matter in the long run?
Let's look at the Pro's of Daycare:
1. Socialization
2. Schedules
3. Independence
Let's look at the Con's of Daycare:
1. No one loves you like MOM does
2. Don't learn to entertain themselves (for the most part every minute is planned and every activity explained to death - leaves no room for entertaining themselves.)
3. No real attachment to care giver if high turn over in daycare
Not all daycares are created equal, this is a very general look at daycare life. The Pro's and Con's of being home with mom are not cut and dry because every mom is different. Where some mom's are very structured with a lot of planned activities that entertain the child others are go with the flow and offer their kids more time to entertain themselves and figure things out for themselves.
Home life may be easier if someone cares for the kids and handles the daily chores of the house and home so the person working can spend more time with kids when home. Others may find it easier if both parents work and bring in money to hire others to help out with the daily chores and childcare. Each family is different and each child is different.
My son and I are very close and the first 3 years of his life was spent in daycare while I worked full time. My daughter and I are close in a different way and she never went to daycare. I can't say daycare made the difference, personality and maturity has a lot to do with it as well. Did my son suffer being in daycare? NO, he enjoyed it and loved playing with his friends. Did my daughter benefit being home with me? Probably in some ways and since I ran a daycare she received the socialization she would have had a daycare. I do believe that since both children were so different and needed different things from me they needed different types of care.
My son was social and lit up when he was around other children, my daughter was shy and had no interest in other children. My son was easy going and was very verbal and intelligent so he needed different types of stimulation through the day. My daughter was very particular and very clingy to me. Although she was very smart as well, she had an emotional need for me to be there with her every day. I am confident that both children received what they needed when it came to their day to day care.
Whether a mother should stay home or work outside the home is a very emotional debate which some feel their way is the one and only way. Mothers who stay home think mothers that work neglect their kids and have their priorities skewed. Mothers who work think mothers that stay home don't provide for their family's future. Is one side right and another wrong, since I was both and I believe I did what was best for each child's needs at the time I would say NO, neither is right or wrong. The only choice that is wrong is the choice that only takes into consideration the needs of the mother and NOT the needs of the child. The only mistake is believing you are forced to work by financial and social pressures, when you could have stayed home instead.
Winter Family Vacation - Too Many Choices for the Ameteur Travelor
How did we ever plan vacations before the Internet? With so much information it can be overwhelming to choose the best place to take the family this winter to escape the cold Canadian Prairie weather. Just trying to figure out which Caribbean country is a chore in itself.
I could spend hours surfing the net and reading all the different opinions and reviews to help me make a decision. This age of information and highly competitive prices means more options then ever. Options are great, but the amount of time to sort through the 100s of choices out there is overwhelming.
Finding a School for a Verbally, Visually Gifted boy with a Processing Disability
When your child has special educational needs, you'll fight to make sure he gets the best education possible. When I was in school, too many years to count, schools were starting to address learning disabilities and special needs. Schools were still a one size fits all method with an emphasis on written analysis of a child's knowledge. Today there are so many options and various programs for children with a vast array of learning disorders.
In Alberta there are so many schools to choose from that I found it a little overwhelming. French Immersion, German Immersion, Spanish Immersion, International French, Science focused, Math focused, traditional, for gifted students, for sports students, and what we finally choose - Fine Arts based.
I wanted to make sure my son got the best education for his special needs and I finally found it. Since birth he was always ahead when it came to developmental milestones by months. In kindergarten and grade one his teachers were amazed by his reading and verbal abilities and mentioned that he may be gifted. In grade 2 his teacher noticed that although he was very skilled verbally and read at a grade 4 level, his writing was below his age level and he was having problems staying focused in class.
The teacher suspected ADD - don't they all! Thankfully the school administration is very proactive in assessing children's needs and didn't just arbitrarily label him ADD because the psychologist was able to discover that he was bored and had a hard time processing what he wanted in written format. Granted he does have a huge imagination and spends a lot of time in it, but he doesn't have ADD.
I am very thankful that there are so many options out there for families who want to offer their children an education that is different from the one size fits all type. Although my son's former school did everything they could to meet his needs and provide him with help, it was limited because of the number of children with different needs. Last year he was different, the only one in a class of over 20 that needed a scribe and had special computer privileges. Now there are 10 kids in his class who receive a photocopy of the class notes to help them follow along and he's not the only one who can't get his written journal done. This has improved his self esteem because he doesn't feel alone or special anymore. This school is amazing and I am grateful that it is available for children like my son.
Getting Organized for Healthy Lunches.
When it comes to making the kids lunches everyday it can be a challenge to keep it healthy, quick, easy and affordable. I've spent the day grocery shopping, baking and making snacky food for lunches. I am always looking for new ideas to make lunches fun. What is your fun lunch ideas?
I always have granola bars (bought and homemade), cereal squares (homemade), fruit, crackers, cheese, and a treat in easy reach. It takes all day to grocery shop, bake, and organize the snack box. Packing all the food into snack sized baggies and making jello, pudding, canned fruit and yogurt in small ziploc containers. Keeping fruit washed and in snack baggies in the fridge to make it easy to put lunches together quickly. Organizing everything for lunches in the pantry and fridge so they are grouped together and make it easy to throw a lunch together.
My favorite thing to make is mix. I use the last little bit of cereal in the boxes, junk cereal like fruit loops, raisons, craisons, and chocolate chips. I fill snack baggies for lunches.
Recipes:
Rice Squares: over low heat 3-4 on the stove melt butter 1/2C butter and 40 large marshmellows. Stir while melting and as soon as the marshmellows are melted then remove from heat and add rice crisp cereal.
Options: add chocolate chips to the melted mixture just before adding the rice cereal.
Options: add multi colored marshmellows just before adding rice cereal for extra chewy squares.
Puff wheat squares:
1/2 C Corn Syrup
1 C Sugar
2 tbsp butter
1/2 C chocolate chips
Melt the ingredients together on mid low heat and just as it bubbles remove the pot from heat and stir in puffed rice cereal stir to coat.
Always cut up into individual servings and wrap keep on hand for lunches.
Do you have a favorite receipe for lunches?
I Hate Going to the Hospital the Wait is Way too Long
My son woke up this morning with pains in his chest that were coming and going. When after 4 hours the pains were still coming back I took him to the emergency room at the local Children's Hospital. The pain stopped completely an hour later yet we waited 4 hours for a docter to see him. The doctor had no idea what the problem was but ensured us it wasn't anything serious, well after 3 hours of no pain I kinda figured it wasn't.
I expect to wait, heck even if you make an appointment you still wait. This was the first time in 9 years I'd taken him to the emergency room and I forgot how tedious it was. I can't imagine if I'd had a sick child that need to run to emergency on a regular basis.
I don't know the logistics behind an emergency room but there has to be some way to make it better. If I triple booked and made prospects wait even 5 minutes I'd loose the sale, yet we only have the choice to wait for a doctor. I rarely go even when sick because they usually just say they can't do anything and send you home.
My day was blown and then when my son was eating dinner the pain came back - Joy.
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