Do you know of a mom who isn’t busy? If she exists, I’ve never met her! Right now, this mom is working from home full time, and I have my daughter home with me. One of the busiest times of the day is lunchtime. It’s taken some time to nail down a routine, but we have finally found a good groove that works for us.
There are five easy things we do to keep lunchtime as easy as possible for me to manage during a busy workday. And it makes for an easy transition and happy mealtime for my 4-year-old daughter.
- Take advantage of Walmart Grocery Pickup and Delivery. I do my grocery shopping on Sundays. Over the past few months, I’ve been working hard to reserve the weekend as a special time to spend with my daughter since the workweek is so busy. Rather than spend the entire morning at the store, I’ve started using Walmart’s Grocery Pickup and Delivery. I order everything I need with the user-friendly online shopping option at Walmart.com. What’s better is that I can also throw other items in my cart that aren’t grocery related, taking care of several tasks at once. Win-win for sure!
- Let your kids make choices. Every Sunday when my groceries arrive, I take a little time to unbox all the food and prep sides and snacks so the rest of the week goes smoothly. When it’s time for lunch in the middle of my work-from-home day, I let my daughter open the refrigerator and select her fruit and veggie. I usually have strawberries, grapes, cucumbers, carrots, and a few other fruits cut up into lunch-sized portions, so she can grab what she wants and put it on her plate on her own.
- Stick with the classics. Kraft Heinz and Walmart have delicious lunchtime solutions that are kid-friendly and easy to access. From Lunchables to Easy Mac, to Bagel Bites and beyond, they have you covered with quick, easy lunch options that kids love. As you can see here, my daughter is a big Easy Mac fan!
- Empower your kids to help prepare their food. Yep, you can count meal prep as a math class, science class and good old-fashioned home economics. Your kids will feel more independent (I did it myself!) preparing their food. Once they’ve learned how to do it, you can take one thing off your daily to-do list. To prep today’s Easy Mac, I let my daughter add the water to the fill line, and stir. Together we read the microwave instructions, and I propped her up on a stool so she could press the correct numbers to microwave her food. Then, she helped me mix in the cheese. These are little things, but it involves your kiddo and teaches them to prepare their food for themselves.
- Put your kids in charge of cleanup. We have started including cleanup time as part of meal routines for our 4-year-old too. Once she’s finished her meal, she knows to bring her plate and cup to the sink and put her napkin in the garbage can. Then, she takes a clorox wipe and wipes down her space so it’s clean for the next meal. Again, little things, but teaching these good habits is important.. Plus, it takes the burden off of me when I’m so busy. She loves taking ownership of these tasks and even gets to color in a store on her chore chart each day she does it without me having to ask.
This is not a one-size-fits-all list but hopefully, these tips help you think more about how you can make lunchtime go more smoothly at your house. Back to school may still be an unknown, but figuring out what your kids will eat for lunch doesn’t have to be an additional stressor for you. Make it fun, make it teachable, and lean on Kraft Heinz and Walmart to help you along the way.
