Lunch = HUGE SUCCESS!

Before 9am this morning Beansprouts was already a buzz about who brought what for lunch and all the cool new lunch boxes!  I'm not exaggerating.  The majority of my greetings this morning, after a two week long break, involved the hot new topic of lunch!

Excitedly bringing lunch boxes out to the patio.

I want to give you a little background before I dive into how amazingly well lunch went today.  One of the first things I loved about Beansprouts was the healthy and very delicious looking food served here.  We have great parents who express care for their children's nutrition, but I've seen so many kids live off of donuts, goldfish and chicken nuggets, that I was over the moon with a preschool that ensured it's students were being served at least one healthy meal a day.  I loved how Maria would be in the kitchen every morning cooking up something delicious and nutritious.  It wasn't long before I realized the kids weren't nearly as excited by all this meal planning.  I can't tell you how many lunches I've sat down to and watched the kids throw away nearly everything on their plates.  It got to be such a guessing game.  Maybe if we try... We tried just about everything, to no avail.

Everyone did such a great job unpacking their own lunches.

It was with much hesitation that we introduced the new lunch protocol.  We thought and discussed, thought and discussed until it was just time to try it.  No more excuses were left.  The kids weren't eating.  It was just that simple.  Once the decision was made, I was confident it was the right one.  Little things kept reminding me how poorly our lunches were going and I began to look forward to the new routine.

I would be lying if I didn't acknowledge feeling a little nervous leading up to our first day of lunches from home.  Lots of what ifs were floating around and the big question was looming, "Did we do the right thing?"

It's only been one day (and I know the excitement will simmer down), but I am soooo happy with the decision to bring lunches.  I firmly believe that if I could sit each and every parent down and show them what lunch has been like for the past several months and what it was like today, it would wash away all the concern and skepticism.

The lunches were so impressive.  Lot's of healthy options and well balanced meals consisting of food the kids know and enjoy!  I'm proud of our parents for giving this big change a chance and I'm proud of the kids for handling it so well!

Lots of healthy choices for everyone.

Some adorable presentation!

A few highlights from the day include:

• Ak marched into the classroom with her new lunch box and immediately started showing me all she brought for lunch.
• All the kids were so excited about their lunch boxes they all took them out of their cubbies after circle and were disappointed when we reminded them that it was actually snack time, not lunch time yet.
• Beansprouts did a great job learning the new routine, putting lunch boxes into their cubbies, getting them out for lunch, pulling out all the food items and storing the boxes under their chairs.
• One of our pickiest eaters sat at the table for thirty minutes!
• Em brought both a fork and chopsticks!
• A child who typically doesn't eat without prompting and encouragement ate independently and ate well!

The kid's excitement could not be missed. There was lots of, "look what I brought today" and no, "I want your lunch instead of mine."  Our time at the table was doubled for just about everyone.  So many kids would ask what's for lunch and decide not to eat before we even started serving.  We would ask them to sit for a while, but usually, the decision had been made.  More time at the table also meant LOTS more eating.  I can't emphasize how much of an improvement this was!  We loved seeing all the fun lunches and we're already learning more about what the kids like to eat at home.

We store our lunch boxes under our chairs while we eat.

We will run into some bumps along the way, I'm sure, but the progress made today is hard to deny!

--Leslie