Making school lunches doesn't need to feel like Iron Chef!

Is anyone else stressed out about Back to School? My eldest is going into preschool and my littlest is going into playschool/day care... And I'm feeling such anxiety about the first day of school...

You know, the basic anxieties surrounding such questions as:

How will the first day drop off go? Will I cry too?

Are they going to have teachers they like? Please be a loving, wonderful, giving, amazing teacher...No pressure!

Will they make friends? Please have nice, sweet friends and be a good friend!

Will they be happy? 

That's all there, running through my mind... But those aren't the biggest sources of anxiety... The biggest source of anxiety is related to being organized enough to pack their lunches.....

Where will I find those 15 precious minutes it takes to prep?

What will I make, day in and day out?

Am I organized enough to plan for a whole week?

Do we pack lunches the night before? Day of?

What if they don't like it, will they starve?

Do I need labels? Thermoses? Tupperware?

Ziplock or reusable bags?

Love notes in each one?

It's enough to cause slight hyperventilation...

Then I realize they are psyched about the cartoon lunch boxes I got them! They love my smiley cheese and tomato faces so, I can pack do-it-yourself smiley faces! I should try to be environmentally conscious cuz heck it's the right thing to do... I'm not going to get every lunch perfectly right and maybe in my tactical approach to this, I'm missing a big opportunity! 

Yes, the purpose is to nourish my little men, and I've been doing that for a while now... But these lunches can also be a nice way to make the distance between us feel a little smaller during the day... This doesn't need to feel like Iron Chef!

I can find my unique ways of making it so when they open their lunch boxes, they find a little bit of home inside... In the way I slice the cheese or the way I spice up the tuna sandwich. A little something familiar in an unfamiliar place. A kind of lunch that feels like a hug...

Ok... I'm feeling better... I can do this... I can find those 15 minutes and pour my heart into a tuna sandwich. I will survive lunch prep... One hug-in-a-box, full-of-love, homemade lunch at a time.