My MIL says I'm spoiling my kids with their OTT lunchboxes

"In my defence, it's not like I’m still cutting their sandwiches into animal shapes."

Mornings in my house are already a whirlwind of lost socks, ‘stolen’ sports shorts (because somehow, despite them being different sizes, they always end up in the wrong drawers) last-minute homework stress and me yelling: “Has everyone put sunscreen on?” at least three billion times. 

And yet, on top of it all, every morning, there I am, dutifully making my kids’ packed lunches.

But lately, I’ve been wondering - should I still be doing this?

I know plenty of parents who’ve handed over lunchbox duties to their kids. 

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I like to keep things simple

It’s not like my kids aren’t old enough to make their own - they can happily cook simple meals for themselves as they’re,12, 15 and 15, so making a sandwich is definitely something they are more than capable of.

They do lots of other tasks around the home, but this is one I haven’t passed over to them – yet. 

My mother-in-law thinks I’m crazy for still ‘spoiling’ them, but my mum always made my packed lunch until I finished school and I know how much I appreciated it. 

It's not like I’m still making them little batons of veg and cutting their sandwiches into animal shapes (even when they were tiny, I was no Insta-lunchbox mum!) – I like to keep things simple.

But I know if I gave the task to them, they’d happily just grab an LCM and a bag of Shapes and call it a day (and that’s if I was lucky!).

Many of their friends’ parents have stopped making their lunches and my kids tell me that plenty of them don’t even bother eating lunch at all anymore. 

Karen and her eldest. Image: Supplied

The tuckshop temptation – does it save the day? 

As working parents, preparing lunchboxes is an added job on the never-ending to-do list of running a household.

It’s also an easy job to outsource to your kids – mainly as they actually know what they’re willing to eat (which means no more sad, uneaten apples making the daily round trip until they’re so bruised and battered that you finally admit defeat and chuck them in the bin).

With three kids, paying for daily tuck shop could solve the problem but it also comes with a price tag – three kids at $10 a day (minimum!) = $150 a week which is a lot more than a simple sandwich, piece of fruit, yoghurt and snack costs.

And let’s be real, they wouldn’t be spending that money on nutritious, balanced meals. I can almost guarantee they’d get a hot dog, burger or sausage roll every single day. Maybe with a chocolate milk and cookie on the side.

So it’s not just about them eating something, it’s about making sure that at least some of it has nutritional value! 

Karen and her family. Source: supplied

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Independence versus reality

On one hand, I want them to be independent. On the other, I know that if I leave their lunchboxes up to them, at least two of the three will not bother packing anything more than a handful of crackers.

And then there’s the time factor - are we really going to make it out the door on time if I add another job to our chaotic mornings?

They’re already so slow!

In one hour, I get myself up, wake them, eat breakfast, pack them all up and have time to do some emails and empty the dishwasher.

In that time, they barely manage to shove down a bite of Nutella toast (their current breakfast of choice – again, no nutrition in sight!) before I’m herding them out the door, as they frantically puff hair powder into their meticulously crafted I-just-woke-up-like-this hair do.

As a mum, I feel guilty. I feel guilty for doing too much for them.

Then on the flipside, I feel guilty if I stop as I didn’t have to make my own lunch, and I want my kids to enjoy being kids for as long as they can.

I figure there is no right answer here. 

I’ve decided to do a little experiment: they’re going to start packing their own lunches, and I’ll see how it plays out.

My guess? One will go all MasterChef and construct a gourmet, stacked sandwich tower – emptying the fridge on day one so there is nothing left for the rest of us, while the other two will exist purely on snack foods until they realise that being constantly hungry isn’t actually fun.

Or maybe, they’ll just happily exist on snacks which is possibly the worst scenario as I’d end up caving in and going back to making them food again for fear a diet of pretzels and popcorn will stunt their development and it will all be my fault! 

Will it work? Who knows. But at least this way, I won’t be the only one responsible for ensuring they don’t starve.

Originally published as My MIL says I'm spoiling my kids with their OTT lunchboxes