The Price We Pay for Back2School Cool

When my kids went back to school this fall they didn't "score an A in fashion" as the clothing industry would like me to believe they should.  They don't have designer jeans or snazzy brand-named sneakers.  Instead they went back to school wearing hand-me-downs, pre-loved clothes from consignment stores and last year's shoes (they still fit!)  Last year's backpack (a high quality one from REI) works just fine thank you very much.  The only new thing was a nice durable lunch box from Land's End.

When my 8 year old opens that new lunch box at school, he won't be able to "unwrap a smile" (with Little Debbie snack cakes), "snack strong" (with Doritos) or "dip into fun" (with Nabisco Handi-Snacks). He won't have the excitement of opening up a Lunchables, a product I don't buy even though it "feeds their day".   I wonder, will my son be ridiculed because he has peanut butter and honey on wheat instead of fancy, schmancy (unhealthy) Uncrustables?  Will he be embarrassed because he has a reusable container of crackers instead of a disposable bag of chips?   Frito-Lay may think they "grow the best snacks on earth" but I beg to differ.  Those "dangerously cheesy" Cheetos?  Plain old dangerous is more like it.

Sorry dear!  No pudding cups or tubes of squeezable goo.  No soda-pop or sugary 'juice' drinks.  No bags of snacks in neon colors and crazy shapes.  A cereal bar might sneak its way in there every once in awhile but that's about the extent of my pre-packaged snack inventory. 

We've been conditioned to believe that we need to buy all this stuff in order to be 'good' Moms....for our kids to "be cool for back2school"!!  It can be hard to resist the attractive ads and the seductive tag-lines.  The pressure's on...buy MORE, buy NEW and buy NOW!!  But at what price??  To fill up the landfill with discarded, out-of-fashion clothes?  To fill our children's stomachs with unhealthy, processed food?

Lucky for me my two boys (aged 8 and almost 4) don't give a hoot about what they wear. (..and yes I realize that it would be a whole different ball game if I had teenage girls!)  The snacks are a little tougher, especially when they see other kids that have them.  But I stick to my 'green' values and keep packing those healthy, waste-free lunches and keep my fingers crossed that my kids will thank me for it someday!  

(lunch box photo from laptoplunches.com)

This is my entry for the September edition of the Green Mom's Carnival, hosted by Surely You Nest.   

Comments

[eco 'burban mom]

I love it! Another mom unafraid to be 'that mom'. And, yes, last year my middle school boys were told by another boy that their fruit leather looked like "poop". However, I won't tell you just exactly how they responded to that, but let's just say he never bothered them again! ;o) By age 12 or so, boys don't take too much flak about their food... They're too hungry!!

[Green Me]

Excellent and to the point! Thank you for writing and for not giving in with your kids lunches. Honestly, I walk down the aisle of the regular grocery store and half of what they sell is not even food, but chemical substitutes.

BTW my mom kept me on whole grains and no added (or artificial) sugar as a kid. When I was about 12 I used my allowance to buy some green cool aid and a package of Oreos. A friend and I polished them off in an afternoon, got ill, our tongues were dyed green, our tongues and teeth hurt, and I never again questioned my mom's rule against Oreos and cool aid!

[Jennifer Taggart]

Yes, I'm that mom too! Love it. Today was ham & cheese in a reusable containers, raspberries & blueberries in a reusable container, trail mix (a few M&Ms thrown in) in a reusable container, organic apple sauce (okay, prepackaged because we had it), an organic dried fruit twist for snack and something else I can't remember. However, I do have a confession that some prepackaged snack foods do sneak in . . . but mostly because my husband buys them or if we've acquired them from parties. So, I'm mostly there on the lunches, but not always.

[Mother Earth]

love the languaging...squeezable goo!!

I was shocked when I was exploring labels and read the lunchables packaging - oh my goodness - an absolutely ridiculous level of sodium plus chemicals too.

My mom made alot of snack stuff - I admit then I adored the cake squares with frosting, yum, yet considering they were all homemade, not box made, individually wrapped in wax paper and frozen - grab and go for lunches, in the 70's were really the odd ones.

I bet currently that there are recipes for granola bars, fruit leathers and other things that could be managed the same way plus getting the boys involved in making them would have them be proud - hey i made that!!

I have almost 100% weaned ourselves from plastic snack bags to the wax paper ones - which we find re-use wonderfully and I appreciate them for freezing too

[N.]

There are a lot snack recipes online that you could customize. I'm addicted to Goldfish but now I can make my own. There are even recipes for vegan "goldfish" which is cool. Instead of chips we make tortilla or pitas and then make chips out of those. Personally I think making them is fun an you can add whatever flavors you want.

[Polka Dot Mommy]

My kiddos are pretty cool with their laptop lunch systems. :) Luckily our oldest in school kiddos are 8 (the teenage girl is homeschooled) so we haven't encountered any drama (yet). My son is decking himself in pink daily. Life is good.

Cheers!
Jamie

[Stephanie Jedlicka]

Perfect! :) We shouldn't be ridiculed (nor should our children) for taking care of their bodies and helping them grow up to be healthy, strong individuals. Way to go, Momma!

[emily]

great post! when i see kids totally decked out in adorable clothes, the first thing i think is "cute!!" and then immediately after i think, "they could have saved SO much $$ had they not cared about that back-to-school outfit"... way to be strong. they wont be ridiculed, with schools going green this year, they'll prob get the greenie award. more importantly, they're learning some really great lessons!

[Benny And Willow]

Back-to-school budget can be a very serious problem when kids are growing older.

Let's have a look at our collections for kids.

[Diane MacEachern]

You know, if you can just last about a week, all the whining dies down and the kids move on. A pair of earplugs and some great music help!

[MC Milker]

Great post!

I think the awareness about healthy lunches is high this year and more moms are on the bandwagon.

What's interesting for us is that other kids love to try my sons healthy snacks. Since my parents always packed us healthy lunches I too experienced this interest. unfortunately i was always happy to trade my healthy stuff for Little Debbies :-( I hope my son doesn't succumb!

[teri]

Glad to see other mom's being thoughtful about what their kids are eating. It is hard to resist the pressure sometimes but it is important.

[karen van staeyen]

Thanks for sharing your point of view! Keep going! I admit, being the mom of a 14 year old girl it is often hard to convince here that being more mindful (she hates the word ...) is good for yourself and the world in which we all live. However, it can be done! You just have to keep in mind that it is an ever going on kinda thing. You have to remind your kids several times a day about the importance of saving water, electricity, packaging and so on. It can sometimes make you desperate ... but there's always hope and progress! As you can see in this post :
http://thehappywoman.blogspot.com/2008/07/cheesen-toast-breakfast-prepared-by.html