Back to school is a funny time. You can’t wait to get your kids back in the classroom because you might just get a few more hours to get things done if you are a stay at home dad. Or, you might be able to come home to a spouse with a little bit more patience and energy if you work outside the home. Also, when back to school comes around, your kids also might actually have some other things to do besides incessantly ask if they can watch TV, eat that candy from your personal junk food stash, or shave the dog. Plus you get to see them having fun with new friends and having new experiences at school.
But the flip side is that summer is over, you don’t have as much time with them, and back to school is a constant reminder that your kids are one year older. I was watching my daughter at a distance after I dropped her off at school, and couldn’t believe it was time for her to be in first grade. Sure there are times where she drives me so crazy I’m tempted to take the dog out and shave him myself just to get out of the house, but I wasn’t thinking about those times. I was thinking about how special our kids are to us dads. We should also remember the special place we have in their lives. The thing I love about back to school time is making my daughter special lunches as a way to show her that I am thinking about her, and how special she is to me.
Here is the “School Supplies Lunch” that I made her for the first day of school this year. It was fun and pretty easy to do plus its great to think back about my back to school times with the wedge erasers, pencils and chalkboards. And if I could have made a Pee Chee yellow folder with random athletes on it I would have! So give this lunch a shot because you might surprise yourself at how well you can make it—and how special your kids will feel when they open their lunch box.
