After researching ideas for helping Sean eat at school when he gets in Kindergarten, I decided to invest in a
Goodbyn Lunchbox for him to use. I was looking for something that would be easy for him to manipulate, that wouldn't produce trash like disposable packaging, and that would be very kid-attractive. The other option I had considered was
Laptop Lunches, which I've eyed for years but hadn't purchased. The pro's to Goodbyn is that it is a single unit piece so we don't need to keep track of lots of lids and boxes, plus Sean doesn't have the fine motor skills yet to open that type of packaging.
I wanted to get our Goodbyn's now so that we can work on using them over the summer and encouraging Sean to eat what we pack in them. I also bought one for Aidan to use on the occasional days he'd like a cold lunch so that he can serve as our peer role model. Siblings are nice that way. ;)
The order arrived very quickly and the boys were eager to start decorating their Goodbyn's. The only guidance I gave them was the suggestion to spell out their names on them, just in case anyone else happens to use a Goodbyn. Other than that, they both just had a blast designing their own boxes.
We went on a field trip with Sean's class to the zoo shortly after getting our Goodbyn's, so the night before the trip I decided we should take their lunches for a Goodbyn test drive. I put together lunches based on what we had in the fridge.
Here's Aidan's (top row: teddy grahams, pears & spoon, dried cranberries. middle row: ranch dressing, water bottle/napkin. bottom row: cheerio snack mix, ham & cheese "man" sandwich, carrot sticks.)
And Sean's (top row: yogurt, applesauce. middle row: water bottle/napkin. bottom row: ranch dressing, sliced bread, carrots.)
If I would of planned it earlier, I would of filled the drink boxes with water and put them in the fridge the night before to use as a cooling element. Luckily the weather wasn't that hot and everything was a good temp when we ate. I did learn that I need to make sure each cubby section is snapped down tightly all the way around, because there was a gap by Aidan's ranch dressing and it spilled over a bit. I also should put a straw in for Sean to use because he thought it was more fun to tip the water into his bread section than it was to drink it. I hope to gradually change him from yogurt cups to just eating yogurt/applesauce directly out of the box so he doesn't have to have help opening those.
The verdict: Goodbyn's hold a lot of food! The boys enjoyed picking things out to eat. Sean did pretty good for a first run: he ate several bites of carrot dipped in ranch, a couple bites of bread, a bite of applesauce, and half the yogurt. He was pretty distracted by all his classmates and the setting so he didn't venture into the meal too excited to eat. Aidan ate most of his food, we packed a bit much for him.
I've found a couple of Goodbyn blogs to follow and gleam ideas from:
Goodbyn Lunch Ideas, a British working woman's blog,
Leslie's Bento Blog, and
Fun with Lunch.
