Just a little note about the cafeteria lunches. . .

Our school seems to do a great job of keeping the kids well fed on a variety of fairly healthy foods. We are very far from perfect, diet wise, but we do try hard to provide the best food possible to our kids. I am not opposed to buying the school lunch at all. It just isn't a great fit for us most days. We do go over the menu and notice when something sounds especially appetizing and let our daughter choose whether or not she wants it.

She has eaten school lunch twice. Once because she really wanted what they were offering ( home made mac n cheese with cornbread, both favorites) and the other time was because I woke up too late to make her lunch. I woke up too late to even get her to school on time. School lunch saved the day! The possibility of her trying things she normally wouldn't is also there. If she sees her friends eating it, she's more likely to try it too.

I don't think that my girl is ready to take on lunch choices full time yet though. She came home the other day disappointed that she had said no to the salad, only to realize later that it was her favorite kind. The other issues are time and consumption. They have so little time to eat, I want her to be able to get right down to business. She's pokey, so every minute counts. I also get to see her leftovers come home daily. I know how much she ate. If she is wild and cranky after school, a quick peek in the lunch box can tell me a lot!

I will continue to keep her school account filled with enough money to buy milk every morning and a few lunches here and there, but probably will be making the majority of the lunches for a few more years at least!