Saturday 29 August 2015

The Life-Rhythms That Never Change


I have been making school lunches for 15 years.  Fifteen years of getting up before the kids and getting their sandwiches made in the peace of a silent early-morning house.  When Miss Sunshine was in Prep (first year of school here) I remember getting six months and thinking "I'm going to be making school lunches for the rest of my life".  Well...15 years down the track I only have another three to go before they're all finished school.  That just seems a little bit wrong!

I was making lunches this week for the two still at school.  There are so many days when I really wish this wasn't part of the every-day deal, yet this week I found a small measure of comfort that there is in something that is constant in your life when everything else is changing.  Even when your lunch-making routines change slowly, they are still there.

Our lunches right now consist of wholegrain wraps (from Aldi) topped with Chipotle aioli (from Costco), grated cheese, sliced chicken and mixed salad leaves.  They get rolled, chopped in half and boxed in Tupperware sandwiches boxes.  I have a stack of these and the kids have two colours each to claim as theirs.  They know which one to pick up when they pack their bags.  I put the grated cheese directly on whatever the mayo is at the time, because the cheese sticks and doesn't fall out.  It was a whole thing!  Cheese falling out just doesn't work that great.

On the days when there is nothing left to make wraps with, or I lose the plot and refuse to make another wrap for the week I head down to the bakery and buy Hawaiian pizza rolls or some other savoury scroll thing.

2 comments:

Left-Handed Housewife said...

I am back to making school lunches ... another thing I rather enjoy at the beginning of the school year and then get tired of. It's turkey or tuna for Jack, cold pizza or pumpkin muffins for Will. I feed Will his fruit when he gets home, because he won't eat it at lunch. As Jack gets closer to graduating high school, I'm growing nostalgic ... one day I won't be packing anyone's lunch and I think it will make me sad.

xofrances

Joolz said...

I used to begrudge making my girls their lunches until they told me that everyone thought they were so lucky because not many Mum's did if for them (in high school, anyway). Then I knew I was doing it because I loved them and cared what they ate. I'd zip to the bakery of fresh bread rolls or bread and sometimes a treat.
They hopped on the bus at 7.30am and quite often took a just out of the oven muffin with them to eat on the way (and a Latte sometimes too).
Now I have to get my husbands lunch for him each day as he doesn't leave work for lunch. Most days it is leftovers from dinner the night before or a bought meat/salad roll from a deli or Subway. He also has a tub of yoghurt and a piece of fruit. I know when he's sick of bananas as they pile up at work and I then take them home to make muffins. :)

Cheers - Joolz xx