School is here!

School started yesterday and all went well. Although Maiya was a little shy at first, she warmed up to her new class mates quickly. As a matter of fact, she was slightly annoyed when we came to pick her up yesterday. It's like she told us "Mom, dad, I work at school while you are at home." Glad we got that cleared and out of the way :o)

I've never had to think about packing her lunch so Monday was a new experience for me too. I ended up packing way too much food for her and more than half came back untouched. That's ok, I'm still learning! Today and yesterday I did pack it in baggies but for the future, I've invested in muck-free, i.e. lead, PBA free, Phthalate and PVC free containers and lunch bag. I know, I'm a freak but just for fun, do a Google search on the effects these substances.

I did a lot of research on line and looked at the laptop lunches. I almost bought one but gosh darn it, they are so expensive! Then I read the reviews and decided against purchasing one. Although the concept is great, only 2 of the containers have lids and some customers complained about the main lid opening and spilling all the foods, the lid not closing etc. No thank you! I was glad to save my money.

The next thing I looked at was the ThermaPod lunch box. Also expensive and you have to purchase the carrying case separately making this worth over $50. No, nope, not gonna do it! Although the lid seals all of the compartments and it's easy to open, it's big enough where little kids have a hard time toting it around. And it is EXPENSIVE! Two things to point out are that it comes with a one year warranty and is manufactured in U.S.A. Go Thermapod!

While searching out there, I found Citizenpip. For $12 I was able to order 4 muck-free containers. Sounds like a lot for some plastic boxes but now I save on the baggie usage. These containers are durable, lightweight and leak-proof. The snap on lids are easy to open even for a 5 year old. And did I mention that they can go in the freezer too if needed? Hopefully Maiya will like them as much as I think she will. One flaw is that there are no color choices but that's no big deal to me, I like the green.

To make sure the containers come home from school, I've ordered stickers through Name Bubbles.These stickers can go through the dishwasher, washing machine etc. and they withstand quite a bit of abuse. I spent $18.00 on 48 stickers to mark the containers, spoons, bottles etc. It was a little bit more than I like to spend but when you think about what you are getting it's not a bad deal. Permanent markers just never worked for us so hopefully these stickers will.

The Arctic Zone lunch bag and the Tinkerbell water bottle/Thermos I got from Walmart and they are also muck-free products.

I will post pictures of my lunch treasures when they arrive. Have a great and safe school year!