School Lunches for Picky Eaters

If you're looking to focus on healthy school lunches for picky eaters, then I'm sorry, this isn't the post for you. It's also not about cute shapes and other sneaky shenanigans to get your kid to eat.

Ain't no one got time for 'dat. Seriously.

Here’s the deal: lunches aren’t about tricking tiny eaters with cute shapes or sneaky substitutions. It’s about balance + choice. I’m talking real food that they (still, somehow) might actually eat.

If you want to make sure your kid isn't hungry while she's at school, then welcome, you've come to the right place.

My 12-year-old daughter is still incredibly picky.

If I let her, she would survive on pizza, goldfish, salad, and waffles. There are a few other things, but the list of things she doesn't like is long, and even the things she likes, she prefers a certain way.

Now we don't cater to her whims or make extra meals, and our other kids aren't that way at all, so it's not our parenting style that caused this. But it is incredibly infuriating, especially since she's teeny, tiny. Although our sons have huge appetites and still aren't big, either.

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I make sure she eats well for breakfast before leaving for school and has a great snack and a good dinner.

But what do you do about school lunches for your picky eater?

Never mind buying school lunches. Especially if you keep hearing from all the negative Nancys that you need to make sure she eats healthy. Because they aren't finding that at school anyway.

My tweens both attend the local middle school. This school serves fried mozzarella sticks as lunch every other week. They have donuts in the breakfast line, and a school in the next town over actually has energy drinks available for purchase!

Now lots of people like those...that's not in question.

But fried mozzarella sticks for lunch isn't healthy, so if that's what the school lunch line is serving, you can't do worse.

The problem is when people are all about giving their kids only healthy foods, and never mind the organic-only mommies. And you're being shamed into feeling you aren't doing a good job. Don't worry about anyone else. Just do what works for your family.

I was like that once upon a time, too. One of those moms that said, "I won't feed them that", "I won't let them watch that," "I won't let them..." blah, blah, blah"

...that shit goes out the window when you need a real solution to a real problem that's landed in your household.

Or maybe you're just too tired and have gone too many times around the block for any of it to be important anymore.

💡Pro tip: No one actually cares or notices what you do anyway, and if they do, so what.

I wish I'd learned this a long time ago.

Even healthy food can be crap. Both my kids ate a lot of salads last year when they didn't like the main school meal being offered. On more than one occasion, they came home telling me they had either mold, a bug, or hair in their salad.🤢

So again, this post isn't on how to send your kid to school with the healthiest lunch. This is how to make sure your picky eater isn't hungry at school.

So here it is, plain and simple. Don't listen to anyone telling you what to send. Send what they like. This isn't about reinventing the wheel; this is about what works.

Yes, it may not be the best food, but the best for them is that they actually eat. I can't get over how many kids throw things away or trade their lunches away because they don't want them.

You can send cute cookie-cutter sandwiches and grapes that look like butterflies, but if they throw them away, what freakin' good is that? Cute doesn't make them like it any better. It's a freakin' waste of time.

The more hoops you jump through, just makes you more tired, which doesn't make your job easier or your kids happier.

They're better off with a quick note that makes them smile. Don't have time for ideas? You can print these out and toss them in, easy peasy. Just click here for a FREE instant download of these cute lunch notes, no subscribing, just the link.

Think they're too old for that, try it and see them light up.

More communication ideas 👉3 Easy Ways to Connect with Your Tween

A hungry kid doesn't learn well, and is frankly a pain in the ass. They get sleepy. They get crabby. All that happens when I get hungry, too. It doesn't help anyone.

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With the right supplies, you can send almost anything along with them to school. If they eat, it's a win. If they do like anything healthy, call it a bonus.

Here's what we use to make it work for all of us. These are the exact lunch boxes we have, and there are a lot of patterns to choose from. With two tiers, we can keep items that might get weird, like bananas and sandwiches, away from the ice packs.

While it did come with a container, it's not sectioned, so bento boxes are a nice reusable alternative to baggies. This works especially well for those picky eaters who don't want anything to touch.

Speaking of containers, they really matter. Think it's easier to send fruit in ready-made packs, think again. Those aren't as easy to open as you think. Turns out my kid couldn't open it, or it would spill all over every time. So what do kids do after a few times? Bring it home again, or throw it out. 🙄

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With these containers, it makes it easier to send anything that they like.

From oodles of noodles, mac and cheese, frozen, reheated pizza, make your own Lunchables, or any other item your picky eater likes. Finger foods with dips are usually a hit. Spaghetti sauce, ranch dressing, honey mustard, and ketchup all make good dips.

Within some reason, of course...I don't recommend just filling it with M&M's and gummy bears...that hidden stash is yours, dammit.

How about these cool smoothie pouches? Make it at home, seal, and go.

Let them go to the store, let them pick it out, hell, if they're old enough, let them make it too. And honestly, they are old enough; even 2 and 3-year-olds can help.

Shoot for this winning formula: Protein + Grain + Fruit/Vegetable + Kid-Chosen Favorite. But again, a full belly is the most important thing. Again, I'm not suggesting filling their lunch box with junk.

And if they eat the same thing all damn year? So what! They won't be hungry or wasteful. This isn't their only meal of the day.

Know I wasn't always like this...LOL. I'm a perfectionist, control freak. But the tiredness has taken over and forced me to realize that almost none of this really matters in the long game.

Remember: If the lunch comes home half untouched, that’s not your failure—it’s just part of the picky eater game. Keep showing up, keep packing, and one day they’ll surprise you. Years after writing this, at 19, she'd still be happy with mac & cheese and chicken nuggets (seriously), but these ideas helped me get a full lunch in her bag more often than not.

If you were looking for solutions from me, realize it's often the way you're looking at it that makes it more difficult.

You had the answers all along, you badass momma. 😉