As a Certified Health Coach, I am your personal advocate and guide in helping you pack lunch boxes full of variety and loaded with foods that support a positive mood and improve concentrate for learning.
One of my favourite suggestions is to include a love note in your child’s lunch box.
Why? Well Love is a food too? Seriously!
Did you know that studies indicate people (babies, children, adults) who feel loved generally are healthier than those who don’t feel as loved. Love is proven to lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety and depression. So the way I see this, Love Notes Are Food Too – perfect for the school lunch box.
I include a love note in my children’s lunch boxes – sometimes on paper, sometimes written on the skin of say a banana or mandarin. It doesn’t take a lot of effort but it makes a huge difference. I’d like to share a little story about how I know this.
The other day my 8yo daughter who is in year 3, was working on one of her assignments. She had to write an exposition on the fors and against of the One Child Policy in China. I asked her what an exposition was. She said let me give you an example mum. Her example was this:
Let’s pretend I had to write an exposition on why every child should have a message written on their banana in their lunch box. Then my exposition would go something like this. Every child should have a message written on their banana so when they open their lunch box and read the message, they know they are loved and their mum is thinking of them.
And My.Heart.Melted.
So I thought I’d share my tips for how to use love notes as a food in your lunch boxes.
Lunch Box Love Note Tips
- Include love notes randomly, this way you give your child the element of surprise
- Choose the day & the message based on what you sense from your child in the morning
- Use whole fruits with the peel or use little post it notes (Coles and the $2 shops often have lots of different varieties)
- Be Creative. Draw pictures, write words, do a mix, or even make a guessing message You m_ _ _ the world to M_.
- I’ve even included notes to my daughters friends because she said they’ve commented about how they don’t get them
You may even wish to try this with the significant other person in your life. You may well be surprised by what a difference this makes to their day, and maybe your night – wink wink, nudge nudge:-)