To all my fellow mommies out there:
Is it better to pack your kid's lunch or let them get lunch at school?
I am on the fence with this one. My daughter starts school this coming Monday and I am not sure which one I want to go with.
On Monday I was set on letting her get her lunch from the school cafeteria, especially since I was told that I would need to set up a lunch account through the school. I called the company that handles the lunch accounts and based on what they said, I am not sure on the idea of it now. I would not have any control on what my daughter eats. Giving a 5 year old free reign on what exactly she gets to it is not a good idea. On top of that there is no way to control how much is charged to the account. If Sweet Pea wanted to buy 3 lunches and 10 snacks she could. The lunch account is charged via a card (like a debit card) and supposedly the teacher is given control of the cards. Not to sure I like this idea. I have no idea where the cards will be kept and who besides the teacher will have access to the card.
On the other hand I could pack her lunch and not have to worry about any of the above. I would be able to control what and how much she ate..........well not really but I would have way more control than going with school lunch.
Lets look at the $$ side of this:
Note: Sweet Pea will get her breakfast and an afternoon snack from her daycare so I don't need to include those in my calculations.
School lunch is $2. At $2/day that is $10 for the week. I can definitely do that or less by packing her lunch.
I am leaning towards packing her lunch myself. I just want to make sure I am not missing anything. I am new to this whole school business. Feel free to drop some knowledge or your opinion in the comment section.
Is it better to pack your kid's lunch or let them get lunch at school?
I am on the fence with this one. My daughter starts school this coming Monday and I am not sure which one I want to go with.
On Monday I was set on letting her get her lunch from the school cafeteria, especially since I was told that I would need to set up a lunch account through the school. I called the company that handles the lunch accounts and based on what they said, I am not sure on the idea of it now. I would not have any control on what my daughter eats. Giving a 5 year old free reign on what exactly she gets to it is not a good idea. On top of that there is no way to control how much is charged to the account. If Sweet Pea wanted to buy 3 lunches and 10 snacks she could. The lunch account is charged via a card (like a debit card) and supposedly the teacher is given control of the cards. Not to sure I like this idea. I have no idea where the cards will be kept and who besides the teacher will have access to the card.
On the other hand I could pack her lunch and not have to worry about any of the above. I would be able to control what and how much she ate..........well not really but I would have way more control than going with school lunch.
Lets look at the $$ side of this:
Note: Sweet Pea will get her breakfast and an afternoon snack from her daycare so I don't need to include those in my calculations.
School lunch is $2. At $2/day that is $10 for the week. I can definitely do that or less by packing her lunch.
I am leaning towards packing her lunch myself. I just want to make sure I am not missing anything. I am new to this whole school business. Feel free to drop some knowledge or your opinion in the comment section.
Comments
Ask her what she wants to do to start with, maybe ask the teacher what most kids normally do and go with it. I would suggest re-asking the question again after the first and second weeks to see if maybe she has changed her mind.
It seems doubtful that she would charge 10 lunches to the account each day. The biggest concern is making sure she likes the food and is getting a balanced meal.
My parents always went with the buy your lunch but all the cool kids brought their lunch I always wished I could have a yummy packed lunch that I could unpack with the cool kids.
I agree with HisHers. My son was excited about being able to take his lunch. He took it for the first few days. Everyone else was buying lunch so after that he took it maybe 2 more times the whole year.
Plus school lunches are hearty, hot, and nutritious meals. So I agreed to let him buy lunch thinking its way better than a turkey sandwich I pack or pb&j or lunchable. You know he can eat and dinky sammich, chips, fruit, drink does not do the job! I ended up spending much more to FILL his lunchbox so he would be satisfied. I imagine 'Sweet Pea' will feel the same way unless u can find something filling that will last in a lunch box. That girl can eat. lol.
Also, I nominated you for a blog award.. http://adayinutah.blogspot.com/2008/08/everyone-needs-friends.html