Healthy Lunches, Owls, & the Government...

So there's all this hubbub about the government checking children's lunches brought from home. They claim they want to ensure we parents are providing America's future taxpayers with healthy options.

I will refrain from my soap box on the government interfering in our lives once again, as that is not the point of this blog.

But seriously...okay, no. Moving on.

Anyway, all this commotion got me thinking about my own children's' lunches and the quality of the food I am serving them each day.

Now some days are just a wash, let's face it, mothers of the world. Some days my kids have eaten skittles for lunch or nothing but goldfish as we rush from place to place.

Thankfully, however, these are just some days.

Today, I decided to present them with their usual fare in a unique and fun way, because after all, aren't we mothers supposed to be the pinnacle of interest and excitement for our children? (Or wait a minute, I might have that mixed up with the Wii) I am usually quite uninteresting, as a matter of fact. But I was willing to give it a try.

Quite happily and feeling inspired thanks to Pinterest, I began preparing two lunches which would delight my children.

Lunch number one:

I'd say it was a hit.

She smiled and laughed and enjoyed eating, um, her usual two bites.

There's one.

And there's two.

What the heck? I just made your lunch into a nature scene complete with an owl! Are you kidding me?

Not to be disheartened, I had the genius idea to morph the owl into an alien. Aliens are totally tasty. Everybody knows that.

Still nothing. She looked upon it in relative disdain.

She did enjoy the two cookie eyes, however.

Ah, well, such is life.

Lunch number two:

I have a child mastering the art of telling time and thought this clock face made out of cheese cubes, olives, and celery would be fun (and also a clever disguise for some good for you food).

I am happy to report that this lunch did get eaten (and lest you judge me for not giving her as much lunch, you should know she also ate half of the unwanted alien).

But do you know how I was rewarded with my industriousness? Here I was, expecting praise and exclamations of how lucky she was to have such a creative, wonderful mother. What did she say? Hmm, the exact words escape me.

Nope. I remember them quite clearly.

My oldest child looked at me quite seriously and said,

"Mom, why didn't you make my lunch into a fox?"

The other one then informed me that she was allergic to owls.

Perhaps having the government's involvement would not be as catastrophic as I originally thought. If they want to give it a shot at persuading carb-loving tots to eat their leafy greens and flaxseed, I'm happy to let them take a turn. I'd love to see Nancy Pelosi try her hand at character themed grilled cheese. Who knows? It might even persuade her that women who stay at home to raise their children are not the waste of oxygen she likes to make us feel like.

I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. The political side of me just took over my hands for a second.