Sunday 27 January 2013

Slightly Smug

Every morning I face bear's packed lunch with a sense of despair.  He does not want an apple or banana in there, or an 'orange' (any orange coloured citrus fruit), but will tolerate grapes.  Or cucumber chunks.  He insists on the fruit buttons and bear pointed out that they were 75% fruit. I pointed out that it didn't mean it was healthy.  Bear currently refuses raisins.  He will sometimes tolerate a mini scotch egg, or a cooked cocktail sausage.  He has a sandwich with the crusts cut off (which means he actually eats more bread as he doesn't leave the huge margin next to the crust and they actually fit in the Ben 10 holder) usually ham but occasionally chicken roll which he insists on. 

I could imagine other mums sneering at it.  In despair on Friday I ordered a book from Amazon on how to create lunchbox meals.  Bear was insistent.  He didn't want crisps.  He would not have a chocolate bar, he only wanted healthy things.  Healthy things do not include cheese, which bear treats with scorn.  Healthy things do include things like fruit buttons that have vast amounts of sugar in.  Fortunately is is very fond of his minecraft drinking bottle which had double concentrated low sugar juice in. 

Today I asked a few questions about bear's experience of lunches and particularly what he sees in the lunchboxes around him.  His answer ranged from chocolate spread sandwiches to boxes with cheese sandwiches, cheese strings and crisps.  I suspect that there is some simplifying going on, and that actually there are some healthy meals there, though I do know of one child with chocolate spread sandwiches on a regular basis.  Bear has decided to refuse chocolate bars in his lunch box as he only wants healthy food. 

So I need to work out inexpensive food that is healthy, that includes no cheese, limited and more expensive fruit, limited vegetables but does include overpriced, over processed fruit buttons.  But from the sound of things I am not doing too bad.  I'll take that!

2 comments:

Morgan said...

I don't think it matters if it is repetitive, as long as it is stuff that they will eat. The YFG has a fairly limited repertoire which includes an apple [but not a soft one], a frozen Frube, ham sandwiches, occasionally grapes or a pear, and a cake of some kind. Packed lunches have been the bane of my life for years, but now that my girls are older, I make them do their own - at least you have that to look forward to when Bear is older xxx

Lesley said...

You really aren't doing too bad! I have given up persuading my daughter to have fruit in her lunch box. My son, on the other hand, would eat fruit all day given the chance. So I've decided it is nature not nurture in this case!