Happy New Year!

I hope your back to school or day care went smoothly. I tried to remember what it was like to be at school on the first day of the first term so that I could understand what my kids have to deal with this week, but alas, I realised it's way too long ago to be able to access those memories!

When I chat to other moms about their back to school week, they don't complain about the early start or getting the kids into the car on time, they don't complain about the traffic jams or parking issues, what they do tell me is that their biggest challenge is "the snack box critics". I know exactly how they feel!

If restaurants could receive feedback and criticism the way I do from my kids about their school snack boxes, they would be fine customer focused establishments. Alternatively, the owners would exclaim, "Oh for goodness sake I can't take this anymore" and slam the doors closed forever. I am banking on the latter option.

Alas, driven by guilt, moms continue to endure and comply with, "I don't eat red apples, please only pack me green" or "I prefer 2 small lunch boxes rather than 1 big lunch box" and even "my sandwiches need to be cut from corner to corner in 4 triangle shapes, not 2 rectangle shapes".

Finding the right brain boosting, low sugar, but still interesting assortment of snacks that your child is not intolerant to is a challenge in itself. Then "the snack box critics" throw in colour, shape and texture constraints too! And just when you think you got it right, they change their minds about what they do or don't like or you find out they have been swopping all their expensive snack box treats for trading cards. The specific orders you were getting were for maximising the quantity of cards per swop and not the nutritional and taste requirements of your own child.

Oh well, I guess it's a daily reminder that we are raising unique, resourceful little humans and not robots!