Overwhelmed with the daunting task of packing your child's school lunch? Fear not, we're here to take on this challenge together. Equipped with tried-and-true techniques from my own experience and work with clients, this episode is a goldmine of practical advice to help you navigate the school year with a picky eater.
First, we share a simple and fool-proof approach to assembling school lunches that are nutritious and enjoyable. We emphasize the three Ps - packaged items, protein and produce. Let's ditch any pressure or guilt associated with feeding our children and instead, focus on creating a relaxed and positive meal experience. Additionally, we reveal the perks of involving your child in the lunch-packing process. It not only makes the task fun and educational but also offers an opportunity to introduce varied produce options in an appealing way.
Lastly, we address the importance of being responsive to our children's food interests and incorporating them into their school lunches. No food should be off-limits or put on a pedestal. We also highlight potential red flags in their eating habits at school. Tune in to learn how to build a positive food environment, set effective boundaries, and make sure there are healthy snacks to fill the gaps between meals. Together, let's ensure a great school year for our children!
Shownotes Links:
Questions about today's episode or do you have topic requests for future episodes? Please send your feedback via email to hello@crystalkarges.com or connect with Crystal on Instagram.
Overwhelmed with the daunting task of packing your child's school lunch? Fear not, we're here to take on this challenge together. Equipped with tried-and-true techniques from my own experience and work with clients, this episode is a goldmine of practical advice to help you navigate the school year with a picky eater.
First, we share a simple and fool-proof approach to assembling school lunches that are nutritious and enjoyable. We emphasize the three Ps - packaged items, protein and produce. Let's ditch any pressure or guilt associated with feeding our children and instead, focus on creating a relaxed and positive meal experience. Additionally, we reveal the perks of involving your child in the lunch-packing process. It not only makes the task fun and educational but also offers an opportunity to introduce varied produce options in an appealing way.
Lastly, we address the importance of being responsive to our children's food interests and incorporating them into their school lunches. No food should be off-limits or put on a pedestal. We also highlight potential red flags in their eating habits at school. Tune in to learn how to build a positive food environment, set effective boundaries, and make sure there are healthy snacks to fill the gaps between meals. Together, let's ensure a great school year for our children!
Shownotes Links:
Questions about today's episode or do you have topic requests for future episodes? Please send your feedback via email to hello@crystalkarges.com or connect with Crystal on Instagram.
Hey there, mama, you're listening to the Lift the Shame podcast. I'm your host, crystal, mama of Five and your family's intuitive eating dietitian, here to help you cut through the diet culture clutter so you can enjoy freedom with food as a family. I'm on a mission to help you end the generational legacy of diet culture in your home so you can experience motherhood free from food guilt and body shame. Listen in weekly for guidance on how you can ditch diet culture, heal your relationship with food in your body and confidently raise intuitive eaters. Let's dive in and lift the shame together. Hey, mama, welcome back to the show. I'm so glad that you're here and at the time of this recording we are full swing and back to school season, and I bet that you probably are too, so I hope that that's been going well. I know it's always a transition, no matter what ages that you might be parenting.
Speaker 1:Today and over the last few weeks we have been delving into some deeper layers around picky eating, and over the next few weeks I want to start a new series around back to school topics. So today's episode is going to be a little bit of overlap between two of these topics, and that has to do with how to support your child who may be dealing with selective eating when it comes to eating at school. Selective eating or picky eating can be tough to navigate at home and you may also be dealing with some fears or uncertainty about your child eating at school. So, whether your child is eating a school provided lunch or if you're packing their lunches, sometimes that different environment can be more challenging for a picky eater. Our last few episodes on picky eating have definitely looked at some of the deeper pieces connected to how we feel about our kids who might be more selective with food, and those topics are definitely important to consider how we're approaching and showing up with them in our feeding relationship, and today I'm hoping that I can just touch on some practical tips and applications and strategies to help you as you're considering supporting your child who may be more selective with food as they go to school. So, as a reminder, I have two picky eaters myself. One is currently 11. One is seven, and a lot of the things that I'm sharing are things that have come from my lived experience in terms of mothering my picky eaters and learning how to support them, especially as they go to school, and some of these things are also just things that I've experienced and navigated with clients of mine who are nervous sometimes about sending their child to school and afraid that they may not eat anything or having their child come home with a full lunch box and wondering how on earth did my kid make it through the day today without eating any food? And all these things can be really hard and you want to be able to support your child to get what they need and eat in a manner that feels safe and supportive to them.
Speaker 1:Now, when we're thinking about a school setting, this can be different for all kids. I've seen many different scenarios. I've seen sometimes that being in a school setting where kids have peers their age who are also eating different foods or having low pressure exposures to eating and trying different things. Sometimes they're in an eating environment that may feel more relaxing to them and that can have an effect on their appetite. So I have seen in some scenarios where kids tend to maybe do a little bit better with eating at school or in their school settings.
Speaker 1:I've also seen, on the other hand, where school can be harder and sometimes we see picky eating behaviors ramping up in a school setting, and that can be for different reasons too. Sometimes there's just more going on in the environment. Kids are more distracted. They're busy playing with friends and engaging in different activities that they're enjoying and food feels secondary to them or it feels like an interruption of other things that they'd rather be doing. I've also seen where kids have such little time to eat sometimes and for kids that just take longer to eat or may need more of a supportive structure or environment for eating, that can make it challenging too. I know some schools are aware of this and trying to change the schedule so that kids do have a little extra time for eating and playing because it's so important to their ability to learn and focus throughout the day.
Speaker 1:But you might find yourself in that situation with one of your kiddos where maybe they don't feel like they have enough time at school and that can add pressure to eating or just not allow them to eat what they need. Here are some children who are maybe more highly sensitive, may not be conducive to their overall appetite, and some children who maybe internalize everything that's going around them that can be kind of a blunt force on their appetite, where they may not realize they're hungry or not as in tune with what their body is telling them, and so it's just harder to eat sometimes at school and this can also happen in situations where your child might be more easily distracted by playing and again being with friends and everything else that's going around them it can be hard to be attuned to what is happening in their body, and sometimes it's not until they get home after school that they realize oh my gosh, I'm famished, I need to eat. So there's different scenarios that may be showing up in terms of how your child is feeling about eating at school, and it can also just be helpful to be aware of, maybe, what are specific challenges that your child is dealing with or encountering and how can you best support them through this. So, like I said, I want to just walk you through some practical tips today that can be helpful when you're considering navigating lunch and school lunches with your child, who may be a more selective eater. And I guess an overarching thing that I want you to consider is what are some of the expectations that you might be holding, either for yourself or for your child?
Speaker 1:Because, again, as parents, in our present day modern culture that's so influenced by diet culture, there is so much overwhelming information about what to send our kids with to school for lunch and what they should be eating, all these embedded ideas or rules about what their lunch boxes should look like or what they should be eating. And it's kind of funny because I remember growing up and having a paper bag lunch no ice pack, none of that and it was either peanut butter and jelly or baloney sandwich or something of that nature. And it's interesting how much school lunches have evolved over the years and it doesn't take too long to be on social media and see all these ideas about what our kids lunches should look like. And, quite honestly, it can be really overwhelming to be bombarded with all these pictures and things that might feel unrealistic, especially given whatever parenting season that you might be in. And I'm talking about pictures of things like bento boxes with all the different colors and every little compartment has a different color in it and sandwiches are cut out in cute little images or it's like a theme.
Speaker 1:And I want you to hear if you enjoy doing those things and that is your jam and you just get so much joy out of creating that type of lunch for your child. That is wonderful and kudos to you, and this is not about creating shame around that whatsoever. I just want to start this conversation about how, sometimes, when we are approaching lunches with our kids, especially for school, sometimes we are playing against these ideas about what we think it needs to look like in order to be healthy or in order to be satiating, and I just want you to ask yourself is that realistic for you? Do you enjoy doing that? How does your child receive those foods? Is it making it easier for them to eat? Are they allowed to eat the foods that feel safe and enjoyable for them too, even if it doesn't fall or fit into that criteria of maybe what you think they should be eating? So these are all questions to examine, because I know again the pictures that we aren't undated with, especially on social media, showing what kids lunchboxes should look like, or maybe you follow an influencer or content creator who's showing how they pack their kids lunches, and maybe you wish you could do that, but you're just in a season where you're super stretched. I just want to encourage you and remind you that it's more again about the approach and how we're feeding our child and, especially when you have a picky eater, it's okay to rely more heavily on easily prepared foods that come together seamlessly, that are more convenient, packaged, processed. All of these things are ways that we can keep our child fed and satiated, especially if they might be more selective.
Speaker 1:And sometimes, when it comes to feeding kids and sending them to school with lunches, we can have these hopes or expectations that they might branch out or might eat different things, but you may find that your picky eater again, those picky eating behaviors, may be ramping up more during the school year and that could be part of how they're staying grounded. Sometimes, when there's a lot of changes, especially during times of transition, macro transitions like starting school, starting a new schedule, having a new routine these can all be challenging for our children to navigate and sometimes this can be a source of dysregulation and kids often look to food as tangible forms of grounding and comfort and reliability, and so putting a variety of different foods in your child's lunchbox that may be more challenging for them, especially if they are a pickier can be tougher for them. So we just want to think about ways to best support them and also to just meet yourself where you're at. It's okay to fall back on foods that are easy again, things that you can assemble quickly, especially when you're navigating, feeding multiple kids and packing multiple lunches and snacks for school, it can become a lot. So I just wanted to start out with that that. Any expectations that you're holding for yourself, you have permission to let those go in order to meet yourself where you're at and feed the child in front of you.
Speaker 1:All that to say, let's dive into these tips. They're pretty, hopefully, easy things that can be tangible for you to implement in your home, whether or not you have a picky eater. I think these things can be supportive in terms of thinking about lunches and packing lunches for kids and making it easier and more enjoyable, because this is something that you are likely doing multiple times a week for many months over the year, and so we want to keep it easy and a streamline as possible so that you don't burn out and that your child doesn't burn out either. So my first tip we kind of talked about this a little bit, but that is to incorporate many of your child's preferred foods.
Speaker 1:I like to think about lunchbox meals and packing lunches for my kids, including most of the things that are preferred and satiating for them, and I know this can be challenging, especially when you have multiple kids who like different things and I know it's hard to keep up with the food bill these days and the rising cost of food. It's all a lot, and sometimes you might find that your child's preferences are changing so much that it makes it hard to actually know what are they going to like today. It can feel like a guessing game every day, but this is where I think standard processed, packaged foods can actually play a huge role in making this easier and simple for you and your child. And I like to incorporate kind of a simple framework to help me when I'm doing this, and I will actually link a little cheat sheet that I have for you in the show notes if you're interested in utilizing something like this. But when you think about packing food for your child, I like to break it down and you may have heard this before, but into the three P categories. So this includes packaged items, protein and produce. So those are kind of the three guidelines that I use to help assemble my children's lunches and in that sense I know I'm including a variety of different foods that will allow them to feel satiated, will help them maintain energy. But now the caveat here is that we don't want to pressure our kids to eat any of these foods and obviously we're not there when they go to school. But we don't want our kids to have this sense of pressure or feel like we're attaching any stipulations to the foods that we're including or providing for them. But this framework can help you just put together or assemble a lunch in a more streamlined way for your children.
Speaker 1:Now, within this framework, I like to lean on my child's preferred foods, and I think about this framework when we are going grocery shopping. So picking up packaged items that I know are reliable for them or things that they enjoy. That can include things like goldfish crackers or different kinds of crackers, chips, popcorn, pirate beauty, all of these things. Pretzels kind of fit into that packaged category and what we'll typically do is a salty packaged item and then a sweet. So we might do a bag of chips, a bag of popcorn or pretzels and then some kind of packaged sweet, so that can look like cookies. We love to shop at Trader Joe's and they have so many fun different cookie items, especially during the fall months, and so we'll include some cookies and kind of rotate through. So that's one way that I think about packing their lunches.
Speaker 1:Now for the protein component. This one can be a little tougher and especially if you have a picky eater, for our picky eaters, they don't like sandwiches, like at all. And it's so funny because I think sometimes we feel like I have to send my kid a sandwich, and this is something again that can be perpetuated by unrealistic expectations that we see on social media or you know, just these embedded rules or ideas about how our kid should be eating. But for a lot of kids they may not like sandwiches. And one thing that I found that was really interesting with my son is he liked sandwiches but on a special kind of bread which I know again, can be hard to start to accommodate for all the different unique changes. But for a long time we would get different kind of like multi-grain type of breads. And one time I remember picking up or we try to rotate through different breads and we picked up a loaf of potato bread and my son loved that with Nutella in it and he wanted to take that to school.
Speaker 1:But it's just interesting because again, when we have these ideas like, oh, my kid should eat a sandwich on a multi-grain or whole wheat bread, you know it's important to remember that, especially if you have a more selective eater. They may be more sensitive to different tastes and flavors and textures and sometimes like the different kinds of seeds and oats that they put on the outside crust of the bread you know your child may not go for, may not like it because of those things, and sometimes it's a little bit of trial and error in figuring out what works for your child and what doesn't. And this is where I just want again to give you permission to let go of any unrealistic expectations, like this idea that your child has to have a sandwich and that's the only way that they're going to get protein. It's important to remember that many different foods have overlapping nutrients and your child doesn't necessarily have to have a sandwich. And especially if you find yourself sending sandwiches and they just come home at the end of the day and then you end up throwing it out, it's okay to maybe think outside the box and explore some different options that may work better for your child. I know for my son. He really loves gogurt and beef jerky sticks. He loves taking leftover pizza in his lunch.
Speaker 1:So my point being that all of these different kinds of foods are things that do include protein for our children. So it's okay to mix and match and just kind of figure out what is working for your child in the season that they're in and making that work for them in their lunch as feasible as possible. Another thing that my kids really like is when I just bake up a tray of dino nuggets the night before and I'll just kind of portion them out in their lunch boxes with maybe a little dip on the side, and that can be a great source of protein to you. And there are things that are reliable and easy and safe for them and it's not necessarily traditional sandwich per se, but it's something that they feel comfortable with and that they're still getting nutrition from. I've also gone through seasons where my kids like just taking like pepperoni and salami kind of like a homemade lunchable, I guess, where we would have Ritz crackers and maybe sliced cheese and pepperoni and they like just kind of assembling that and eating that together.
Speaker 1:So there are many different ways that you can fill in this protein category and it's okay, again, to lean on the foods that your child prefers that feel safe and comfortable for them, because it's only going to make it easier for them when they are going to school and eating, and this is where it's important to challenge any unrealistic expectations that you might be having around what they should eat or what you should send, because if they're not eating it, you know, you might think, well, what's the point? And there's other ways, and though there will be other opportunities for your child to be exposed and learn how to eat, and also the thing to remember is that your child is being exposed to foods that they are seeing other kids their ages eat as well, so there doesn't have to be this pressure of getting their lunchbox to look a certain way or sending them to school with a lunchbox full of foods that you hope they will eat. It's what I call, like the fantasy lunchbox idea, where we pack these things and hope they'll eat them, but sometimes it's just about coming back to basics and what you know will work for your child. A second tip here is to allow your child to help or have a say in what goes in their lunchbox. Again, this is going to look different for every different family, but one thing that I've really learned and realized, especially for children who are more selective, is that having a say, having some autonomy over what goes in their lunch, or even just being allowed to play a role in preparing it can really make a difference for them, and there are many different ways that you can do this. It doesn't have to look a certain way, but I, as an example, will usually put my kids lunchboxes out on the counter the night before and just ask them okay, guys, go and pick out a couple things that you want in your lunch and usually these are the packaged items, like they'll pick out chips or they'll pick out the cookies that they want. But these simple steps can play an important role in helping them feel more comfortable and confident in what they know is going in there, and I find that it helps them to get kind of excited, like, oh, I get to have these, or I'm excited to put this in my lunch, and it also just helps them feel more prepared for the next day too.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, especially for kids that are more highly sensitive or that are more selective with food, it can be a little nerve racking to open up their lunch and maybe see a bunch of things that they're not excited about eating or that they feel unfamiliar or uncomfortable with, and so we can kind of help alleviate some of that pressure by allowing them to play a role in packing their lunch, in putting items in there, and I do this across the age spectrum with my kids. So we have five through 13 year olds, and some of them want to be more involved than others. Some of them want to pack the whole lunch, others just want to put a couple things in, and it really helps to kind of talk through the options with them as I'm assembling their lunches together. Now, depending on your situation, this may be easier for you or harder, and what I find these are just some things to be aware of is that sometimes, if you are looking to have more control over what your child is eating or what is going in their lunch, it can be really difficult to relinquish some of that control to your child, and this is a clue that it may be even more important for you to involve them in this way. Sometimes we want to be the ones that have the say about what goes in there, how does their lunchbox look, and all of these ways that we might try to control or micromanage them can make it harder for them to eat or want to eat what's in their lunch. Some children, just by nature of their temperament, resist anything that they feel like they're being forced to do or made to do so.
Speaker 1:If you have a child in this category, it may be really helpful to try this out with them, where you're saying, hey, you be the one to go pick out something that you want to stick in there, or this is the options that we have. We have some oranges, we have apple slices, which one sounds good to you? So giving them an option and allowing them to have the say of what goes in there. This can be especially helpful for the produce category, which I realized it didn't talk through. But produce is really any type of fruit or vegetable, and what I find, particularly for our more selective eaters, is that fruit tends to fit this category and go over much better and much easier than veggie. But not to say that we don't occasionally throw in there or ask them hey, do you want some chopped up cucumbers or baby carrots or edamame? You know something easy. But generally they tend to prefer the sweeter flavors that are offered through fruit, and this can also include things like fruit cups, where it's a cup of, let's say, canned fruit chunks, like pineapple or mandarin oranges my kids love those or applesauce pouches or fruit leathers. These are all things that fit within the produce category.
Speaker 1:That can work a little easier for kids who are more selective, and it can be helpful, as you're incorporating your child, to give them an option between two choices. I find, especially for younger kids, if you present them with too many open-ended options or just ask that open-ended question like, hey, what do you want for lunch tomorrow? Sometimes that can be too overwhelming, where there's so many things they don't even know what their options are or they might not want to make a choice or they'll literally start saying no to everything and at that point it can feel like a guessing game. You're like do you want this, do you want that? No, no, no, and that can be really frustrating. But I find that if you run into that situation with your child, presenting an option between two choices can make that a little easier because you're essentially narrowing it down for them and allowing them to pick.
Speaker 1:So again, this is a great place where you can try this with the produce category, where you're saying, okay, we have grapes or we have strawberries, which one sounds better for your lunch tomorrow? And sometimes I will double up the fruit. I just know for some of my kids that tends to work better for them. So we'll do two servings of fruit and they'll love that and eat that at school, versus like doing a fruit and a veggie. Just remember, this doesn't have to look a certain way. You don't have to follow certain rules or protocols. You can mix a match and do what works for your child. Logistically. Sometimes it can be harder to allow your child to pack their lunches. I do think over the long term, while it may take more time and more energy and require more bandwidth of you, I do think it can be a worthwhile investment in terms of supporting their autonomy, allowing them some independence and also helping them build the skills they need to learn how to feed themselves over time. These are great things to practice all across the lifespan, so keep that tip in mind.
Speaker 1:Another thing that I like to just think about doing we do this in our home and also this can be helpful, especially if you have a picky eater who's coming home with a full lunchbox is to think about sandwiching lunchtime. So we like to bookend lunch at school with a good breakfast in the morning and then a decent after school. It's basically like a meal or a mini meal or a snack or whatever you wanna call it, but you really wanna think about giving your child good eating opportunities before and after school, the reason for that being that, again, if you have a picky eater who maybe is just having a harder time eating at school, or you just have a child who's more distracted whatever the reason might be it's generally expected that your child is going to come home more hungry. And usually what I find is that when those distractions have dissipated and they're back in their normal routine and environment at home, kids are able to tune in to what their bodies are needing, and sometimes kids have to do a little bit of catch up from maybe not eating enough during the day when they were at school. So I really think about it. I know sometimes we think about it like an after school snack, but I started thinking about it as just like another meal and that was kind of a game changer for us, because previously I would just put out maybe one or two things, but then I realized like that wasn't enough. My kids were constantly going in the pantry or in the fridge until dinner time and I just realized I was not putting out enough food for them when they came home from school and they were hungry for it. And now I realized this may depend on your individual family situation. So if your child is maybe in after school programs or activities and they're coming home later and maybe you're having dinner soon after that, you can adjust your schedule as needed. But I think, just understanding that when your child comes home at the end of their school day, they likely are going to need a good opportunity to eat a meal that does offer more satiating components, given that they may not have quite gotten what they needed over the course of the day. So something they keep in mind. And also for the morning too.
Speaker 1:I know the mornings can be hard. Not all kids are breakfast eaters. Maybe their appetites kind of strike later when they're waking up more. And we don't want to pressure or force our kids to have to eat, but we just wanna think about what kind of options are we putting out there. My kids love eating cereal in the morning and I also know that that is not something that's going to have staying power. I know if I eat a bowl of cereal that I'm usually hungry like an hour later. So I try to also put out some foods that do give more staying power to the cereal or the waffles or the toast or whatever that might be, and those include things like produce and protein. Do you see the theme here? That framework can really be applicable to all your eating times, because protein usually has a mix of protein and fat. Produce has fiber in there and those things do help promote more satiety. They do help food digest a little more slower in the body so that there's a steady stream of nutrients and the bloodstream and keep blood sugar and energy levels more stable. So thinking about that in that framework can be more helpful. This doesn't mean you have to make this whole production. I know mornings can be super stressful getting kids ready and out the door in time for school, but just think about easy things that you might be able to incorporate. This can include something like instead of just a waffle at breakfast, maybe it's a waffle with the option to put peanut butter or banana or something on top of it to go with it Simple things that maybe can be added to help promote satiety.
Speaker 1:Now again, the caveat here is that we're not pressuring our kids to eat. I think sometimes as parents we have so much concern about our kids not eating enough or being hungry at school, or maybe not being focused because they're hungry and melting down at the end of the day because they didn't eat enough. All of these things are totally valid concerns and we also have to remember what is in our realm of control and what is our kids jobs. When it comes to eating, we can just focus on providing, making sure those different options are available and then creating an eating environment that feels safe, that feels nurturing and connecting with them and knowing that they will get what they need over the course of the day.
Speaker 1:Now, going back to this point really quickly, I know it's really hard to feed kids and do all the things that have to happen in the morning and sometimes our kids aren't eating or not wanting to eat because they don't see us eating. And this was something I learned the hard way, especially with my youngest, where I was like up and busy and in the kitchen and trying to finish packing lunches and do all the things, and my youngest, who just started kindergarten this year, didn't want to sit down and eat. And I realized that when I sat down with her, even just for five minutes, and she saw me eating something and she wanted that connection piece. We have to remember that, that modeling of us taking the time to sit and eat something and nourish our bodies even if you're just drinking coffee or nibbling on something until you are ready to eat later you want to think about the message that you're sending your child, especially in the mornings, before running out the door. Sometimes our kids are like why should I eat if you're not eating? Or that's the message that's being sent to them. So if you have a child that's struggling with that, consider what is happening in the morning and are there ways that you can adjust the eating environment to better support your kids and the example and the message that you're sending them through the way that you're approaching food for yourself.
Speaker 1:So last tip here and then I just have one more kind of bonus tip. But last tip and we've talked about this, I'll just briefly summarize is just to let go of those unrealistic expectations. Again, your child doesn't have or need to have a perfectly colored bento box with different colors and flavors and cookie cutter sandwiches in order to have a healthy lunch. And there has been so much negativity around packaged and processed foods and yet we forget that these can be an instrumental part of feeding and nourishing our kids and ensuring, especially for picky eaters, that they have something that feels safe, especially when they're at school and their environment and things are different for them. It's okay if your child's lunch doesn't look like what you see on social media. That is not a criteria for feeding your child in a healthy manner, and the most important thing that you can do is be attuned to your child's needs and what helps them feel safe and enables them to enjoy food when they are at school.
Speaker 1:Now a couple of little bonus tips to wrap up our episode for today. Number one is be aware of any foods that your child might be showing an interest in. So this is why I really love school environments or just environments where your child is going to be exposed to other foods. So, whether the school is providing something or your child sees something that someone else is eating, this is really important to be attuned to and to pay attention to, and I'll tell you why. If you notice that your child is saying, oh, so and so had these cookies or they got to have a lollipop or a piece of candy in their lunch, we want to pay attention to those things, because this is when we want to take that step and be proactive about integrating the things that our child is showing an interest in. It's really easy to control what our kids have access to in our home, but when you start having school-aged kids who are now exposed to things that other children are eating or, let's say, your kids are getting older and have more freedom and flexibility over what they can eat or they can start buying things at school I know for my oldest, who's in eighth grade they have like a snack shack at school where they can buy a cup of noodles or ramen or pizza days or a package of cookies. We don't want those times to be the only times that our kids get access or exposure to some of the things that they're starting to show an interest in. So be proactive about taking notice of that and trying to incorporate it where possible.
Speaker 1:Now, this doesn't mean you have to buy every single thing that your child's asking for or wanting, but it can be really helpful when those things are integrated in their lunchbox. I know, just as an example, for the longest time one of my kids friends would bring fruit by the foot, like those fruit roll-ups, and that's just not something that we normally buy. We'll do like fruit gummies, fruit snacks. But we weren't buying fruit by the foot for no particular reason. It just wasn't something that was on my mind to buy. But one of my kids kept asking about it because she saw her friend have it. And, sure enough, when we went to the grocery store and they happened to see it, that was something that came up like oh mom, these are the ones that my friend buys. Can we try them? Can we try them out? And just because I saw that high interest that was starting to kind of creep up in her mind, I wanted to incorporate that. I wanted her to know that all foods are safe. We can incorporate and try lots of different things. And so we bought a box and we kind of rotate through different things in that way where things that they're showing an interest in can start to be incorporated in their school lunches.
Speaker 1:Another thing I like to do hauling meals around the corner here during this time of year or really any candy centered holiday when you start noticing that they're putting out those candies on the shelves which happens earlier and earlier, I swear, every year it's okay to buy the bag and maybe start putting a few pieces in your kids lunch or let them pick out a couple pieces to take to school. This can be really helpful to prevent any particular food from escalating on a pedestal in their mind, and you're also showing them that these foods are safe and you are safe to eat these things, and it's never a thing like, oh, mommy doesn't buy these foods or we're not allowed to eat these foods in our house, and it only intensifies their desire and longing for those foods. So we want to be intentional, and that's just. The tip is like be intentional as your child is going to school and being more aware of what other kids are eating or what they have access to. Take notice and maybe be intentional about incorporating some of those things in their lunches too.
Speaker 1:Last little bonus tip here is just a couple red flags to be aware of when it comes to your child and eating school lunches, and we're going to talk more about this. This is part of the reason why I wanted to do a little mini series on school related topics, because I know it's not as straightforward as packing a lunch for your child and sending it to school. Your child is likely hearing diet, culture, dialogue, whether it's from a well-meaning teacher or their health curriculum or other kids that they're around. So we're definitely going to be addressing that. But something I just wanted to briefly address especially if you have a pick, your eater or just a more anxious child is some things that can be important to tune into. So if you notice your child consistently not eating anything that's being sent in their lunches, or complaining that they're not hungry at all at school, or maybe you notice that your child is anxious about eating at school or is worried about what other kids are thinking about them in terms of eating or how they look eating certain things, these can be things to just clue into.
Speaker 1:Sometimes kids start feeling peer pressure at young ages about what they're eating, or they're noticing or picking up on what other kids are talking about, or kids saying things like oh, I am not allowed to eat that that has so much sugar in it, or things that kids are regurgitating because they're hearing it from their own caregivers and that can sometimes play a role in how our kids feel about eating or eating at school. But we just want to look for reoccurring patterns as your child consistently not eating at school or avoiding eating or scared of eating, or doesn't feel safe eating at school. These are things we want to tune into and potentially intervene early if possible, especially if there are some other things going on that are making it difficult or challenging for them to eat. So I hope this was helpful for you. Again. I just wanted to give you some practical tips to work with, especially as so many of us are spending our kids to school at this time of year.
Speaker 1:As always, I would love to hear from you if you have any questions, if you would like some additional information or if you have any special requests for our upcoming series on school related topics, especially as it pertains to food and body image and navigating diet culture in school. I would love to hear from you. Feel free to send an email hello at crystalcargiscom. You can always reply to any of the emails that come your way over the course of the weeks and let me know what's on your mind. And, as another reminder, I will stick my free little planning cheat sheet in the show notes for you that you can download and print that out so that you have more guidance when it comes to planning lunches for your kids and it hopefully can feel a little more streamlined for you.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm hoping that your kiddos have an amazing year ahead in school and thank you so much again for tuning in. I'm so appreciative of you being here with me. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of the Lift the Shame podcast. For more tips and guidance on your motherhood journey, come connect with me on Instagram at crystalcargis. Until next week, mama, I'll be cheering you on. Bye for now.