Sonya's Blog

Sonya Murray is co founder of The Baby Gurus. The Baby Gurus' pregnancy and birth education services range from private individuals to corporate for some of the UK's leading companies.

As a wife and a mother of three, Sonya brings a personal understanding of pregnancy and parenting as well as tips on multi tasking and getting the most of the work life balance. Her favourite online stores are MACCosmetics.co.uk, MarksandSpencer.com, Boden.co.uk, JoJoMamanBebe.co.uk and JoMalone.co.uk.

Inspired Packed Lunches

Published on Monday 1st October 2007

Don’t children make you think. During my little man’s second week at school he came home with a message from his afore mentioned teacher, ”you’re not allowed to put the same thing in lunch boxes two days in a row...”

She of course said nothing of the sort but for such a young thing, I thought it was quite a clever way of saying what he needed to say.

I haven’t dared do the same thing twice again, instead I’ve set out to make the whole lunch box thing a bit more interesting, and with two wees ones I have to be organised.

So let start with the basics – a named lunch box is a must; a sticky name label on the inside (visit Labels4Kids and a cool key ring on the outside for easy identification. Remember that what looks unique in your house is just one of many at school (and half of them probably come from [John Lewis – so try to make it look different.

Then comes the kit – buy named cutlery as it’s less likely to get lost. And make sure you have a few lidded boxes in different sizes and shapes – orange for carrot sticks, green for apple slices (embrace the Monica in you), and label them all. You learn by your mistakes...like the day when I was brought home 3 lids and no box.

Food wise, buy a great book to inspire – I recommend Anabel Karmel but choose one that takes your fancy.

Stock up; spare crackers, portions of cheese and mini boxes of raisins all keep well, so fill the shelves and you’ll save yourself having to rush out before the Ocado shop arrives.

Carbs are essential to keep the rumbles throughout the afternoon, but change and vary the shape of bread (even if the fillings need be the same)... pitta, mini rolls, baguette, wraps... stick what you don’t use in the freezer and wait a week before you use that type again.

The whole thing needn’t be hard. Chopped fruit goes down well but just try and be a bit more adventurous than the usual apples and oranges. I enjoy packing new ideas; hopefully I won’t get a message from the teacher again.

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