I tied this small handful of beans together to pack for my daughter’s lunch. I still like to make time to pack lunch for her when I can. Next year she’ll be off to university and I will miss this, so I’m getting my fix as often as is possible for me.
I didn’t want to put the beans in her container loosely since I figured they’d end up tossing about and all over.
The thought occurred to me that if I didn’t bundle them up, my 17-year-old would be annoyed; like most kids, she didn’t like her food mixing together in her lunch box. There's a tip I share often: if you want to increase the chances your kids will eat their lunch, keep things separate. Then another thought occurred to me. As a young adult, she’s probably going to open her lunch today, while hanging with her friends, and gasp. “Ugh. My mom is so embarrassing!” Hahahaha.
Truth is that the string that I carefully tied around the beans is a symbolic gesture of how I want to keep that which is so special to me carefully bundled together and safe.
My daughter was like the little beans not so long ago. I wrapped her in a blanket and kept her safe.
I am imagining her at lunch. I hope she pulls on the cotton string gently so that the beans don’t spill to the floor. At that moment I imagine she’ll understand that the smallest effort to look after something can often give you the greatest pleasure.
💚Beans that have been bundled by your mom so that they don’t get mixed in with your sandwich and your fruit
💚Beans that have been bundled by your mom so that they don’t tumble in a messy array onto the floor when you unpack your lunch
💚Beans that have been placed there with thoughtful consideration just for you
💚Beans that are a nourishing little bundle of joy
With love, from Mumma’s kitchen to you my sweet darling daughter.
Here's an article I wrote that's loaded with tips all about school lunch plus my answers to 10 Questions with Urban Suburban Mommy.