Bento Madness

 WTH is this trend where the “cool” mommies feel obligated to stand in the kitchen, early in the morning, and cut up little pieces of cheese, fruits and veggies to resemble some robot or animal or spell something or any other assortment of edible art? Then, place it in a container with sections, each having its own little healthy theme, and send it off to school. The idea being, to make their kids a lunch that is impressive to look at and will hopefully entice their child to eat healthy foods they may not necessarily like.

Wow, score another one for the overachieving mommies! Who has time for this? I mean, for a special occasion or once in awhile thing maybe, but on a regular basis? Do you get to looking at these masterpieces and start to feel as though, if you’re not doing this for your kids, you are failing them somehow? Don’t get duped into believing that you’re not up to par if you can’t keep up with this trend.

Yes these are adorable, but most likely, your child won’t eat it just because it looks cool. If they don’t like the food, it may get played with but will stay in its little section of the bento box, turning brown or smashed and looking sad.

I realize that things are more forward thinking and kids are savvier today than when I was a kid but my mom made the best ham and cheese or PBJ’s in the world and they went great with a bag of chips and a few carrot sticks…maybe an apple. She made us eat our veggies at dinner with a well rounded meal and we got all the nutrients we needed.

Since when are mom’s expected to add artistically beautiful lunches to the number of things that they are supposed to do to make everything “special” for their kids. You don’t have to aspire to be the culinary whiz. Not every aspect of your kids lives have to be extraordinary for you to be listed in the “Great Mom” category.

Yes, pack a healthy lunch. Pack a lunch your child will eat. Pack a little treat but most of all, pack them with love.