School lunch boxes - what's wrong with a cheese sandwich?????

[Feedingthebirds1]

Just fallen over this online. Who has the time? Does anyone actually do this sort of thing?

www.msn.com/en-gb/foodanddrink/other/5-fun-and-healthy-lunchbox-ideas-kids-will-love/ss-AANLq7G?ocid=msedgntp#image=5

That's very standard in Japan.

There are five different ones to scroll through. Even in Japan would they add all that decoration?

I can only get to a pokemon one, but yes, id say in Japan it is ALL about the presentation.

Here's more!
macaro-ni.jp/tag/459

Kind of feel insane to put so much effort just for lunch, but this is quite normal and can get quite competitive among parents too.

A mum in my kids school does lunches like this. I’ve always wondered what happens to the leftover bread/fruit when she’s finished Edward Scissorhandsing it into stars and butterflies. Seems a massive waste. My kids get sandwiches, fruit/veg and a penguin/club bar/kit kat. As they aren’t Gordon Ramsay they’ve never moaned about the presentation yet.

How do they stay nice though? My kids drag their bags around, sling their bags on their shoulders and race around the playground with them. Surely the lunches get shook out of shape?

In Japan you can buy rice ball molds to make the shapes quite easily. You also get stamps and cutters to make the vegetables. It’s doesn’t take that long, but most Japanese kids walk to school so by the time they eat their lunch, it’s usually a mess.

That’s an insane amount of prep for a lunchbox! And surely it would all get shaken up on the way to school, and the Death Star apple would go brown well before lunch?

It's instahun/mommy blogger shit..

In real life..

Minion ham (or that teddy bear shite from the Tesco deli) in white buttered bread. (For some reason they fucking love it, making you pissed off at yourself for all those puréed veg cubes you spent hours preparing in the weaning days..ungrateful shits)

Anyway also add frubes or other fake yoghurt.. they love these.

Cheese string or baby bell (you think they are a little healthy they'll just get left)

Pot of blueberries/strawberries/raspberries (these go down a treat and make you look like you have your shit together)

No one I know has ever done this, I think it’s a ridiculous waste of time. My kids get a sandwich, fruit, salad and jelly or yogurt most days. Sometimes I’ll put pasta or different bread or fillings but that’s it, they’ve never complained.

I used to think the same, as I'm more of throw a ham or cheese sarnie in the lunchbox with a a bag of crisps and a piece of fruit such as an apple/satsuma whatever person, but now, really, is it any different to any other hobbies people have?
I mean I can spend hours writing stories as a hobby.
If someone wants to put their creative side into dinners, how is that any different?

Mine were not that fancy at all but I did do bento boxes for work and school. The way food looks to some cultures can mean a lot and is part of the enjoyment. When I make rice at home I shape it in a bowl. It takes about 10 seconds per serving. I remember when I started cooking for English friends, they were very complimentary and I used to think they were being too generous but to them having rice in a moulded mound was unusual.

I do a bit of faffing with DSs dinner box stuff. Funny picks and shaped fruit and stuff. I have a sandwich cutter that shapes butties like a teddy face. Mostly wasted on DS, it's to encourage him to eat but doesn't always work like that. I like doing iit and I have the time and the inclination most days.

In Japan, people are often out of the house for a long time. Men often work long hours and kids have clubs straight after school, so for stay-at-home mums, the bento was a chance to show their appreciation and love for their family, so that's one reason, they put a lot of time and effort in making a nice, well-balanced bento. Character bentos are usually only for kindergarten-aged kids and one reason to make the food cute is to encourage them to eat a more varied and healthy diet. Nowadays, a lot of mums in Japan are working, so more are relying on pre-packaged food and not putting in so much time, I think.

I think, in Western cultures, some parents are also using bento ideas to encourage their kids to eat more healthily. When I was a kid, I had a cheese sandwich, penguin, packet of crisps, etc. for lunch, but nowadays a lot of schools are trying to encourage more healthy eating. But, I do think a lot of the stuff posted online is more Pinterest showing off and not really practical. But, small things like drawing a picture on a banana or cutting sandwiches into shapes don't take that much time and left overs can be eaten at home.