The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Yuni at Love Your Abode.
Can you believe my kids started school last week? Yeah, me neither! Summer always seems to fly by too quickly and before I know it, I’m attending open house, buying school supplies and packing school lunches. Mornings can easily get frantic with getting the kids ready for school. The last thing I want to do is pack school lunches and prepare breakfast at the same time while simultaneously making sure the kids are washed up and fed. Today, I’m sharing tips on how I keep lunch packing simple and efficient so that your school mornings can run smoother.
Tip 1: Fill water bottles the night before and store them in the refrigerator.
My kids have to take both a water bottle for lunch and one for snack. This means we have a lot of water bottle containers in the home. I fill them every night, place them in a basket and then put the basket in the fridge. In the morning, I take the basket out and put the water bottles into their book bags and lunch boxes. This saves me time in the morning from having to fill them. Plus, I’m not stressing over missing straws or tops in the mornings when I’m in a rush. It’s one of those simple tips that have really made a difference in our home.
Tip 2: Keep sandwich ingredients corralled into baskets.
I started doing this last year and it has been a huge time saver! I keep all sandwich meats, cheese and condiments in one basket. In another basket, I keep cream cheese, jellies and peanut butter in another. I no longer have to take out one item at a time from the refrigerator or look for the missing mayo jar. Sandwich prep has become much more efficient now that I keep these ingredients organized in simple dollar store baskets.
Tip 3: Store chips, cookies and all other snacks into zip lock bags for easy access.
Every two weeks, I pack chips and cookies into snack sized zip lock bags. I separate them into baskets and place them in my pantry.
I place granola bars and crackers into baskets and this also makes it easy for the kids to grab a snack after school. You can grab a few snacks easily if you need to take your kids to after school activities. You could also do this for apples, grapes, carrots, etc and store them inside zip lock bags in the fridge.
These tips have really simplified my lunch packing every night which is important for those early mornings. Do you have tips to keeping lunch packing as stress free as possible?
Yuni is married to her high school sweetheart and is a stay at home mom to three precious miracles. She is passionate about Jesus and loves creating a home with purpose. You can find her at Love Your Abode where she shares her love for DIY, organizing, cooking, and interior design. She loves gathering, feeding, and celebrating people.
Venetta says
Yuni, you are so organized. I have my girls make their lunches the evening before and put them in the fridge. In the morning, they add the ice packs.
MomofTwoPreciousGirls says
My kiddos are very particular and boring. Since my oldest started kindergarten, they always eat the same thing. I have all their lunch snacks in a lower cabinet along with their daily water bottles. The moment they come home they have to pack their snacks and switch out their water bottles in the backpacks. They also need to put away their ice packs. This way in the morning I just have to make their sandwiches. They could do that in the evening also, BUT I don’t like sandwiches that are made the night before so I can’t bring myself to give them to the kids either!