Mornings are kind of crazy during the initial weeks of back to school in most households. Gone are the morning for sleeping in, tasty hot breakfasts in PJs with cartoons and a leisurely start to the day. Now we are rushing through breakfast and running for buses and drop off lines. One thing I do to make my busy mornings easier when we have to get out the door is to prepare ahead as much as possible. My most time consuming task is packing everyone’s lunches. To make it even easier, I’ve set up a lunch packing station. I make sure to include lots of fruits and veggies and a source of protein. With a little one lots of lunch foods come packaged and I have two favorite brands that I love for our little one and us too. Annie’s Cheddar or Graham bunnies are so tasty and their fruit snacks are a new treat for us. Plum Organics makes JDub’s favorite pureed squeeze pouches, and Jammy Sammy are becoming popular around here too!
I found this adorable metal plant stand, yes you read that right. This adorable metal piece was in the garden section at Target! That’s why I walk ever aisle, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. So as soon as I saw it I knew I had to grab it up and this would be the perfect use for it since I’m not much of a plant person.
I filled it up with fresh fruit, juice pouches and our favorite snacks. I put it out on the counter and it’s ready for lunch packing. JDub takes his lunch in his super fun whale lunch bag by 3 Sprouts. I make sure to have his favorite cup and lunch box labeled with adorable personalized Mabel’s Labels, so I get them back at the end of a play date or outing.
Tessa Shull says
August 10, 2015 at 8:47 amAnnie’s … Target … 3 Sprouts … How have I not found your blog before? Yes, to all of those things and seriously great idea. In a few weeks, I’ll stop working from home and be going into work instead, so I’ve been trying to think of ways to save time shuffling the kids out the door for daycare or grandma’s. This was definitely helpful. The best trick I’ve come up with so far is from a thrift store find that is basically a tall connector with 7 clamp hangers up and down it. I plan to hang one on the wall outside of each kid’s closet and put their outfits on it for the week.
Lauren says
August 10, 2015 at 10:45 amthis is such a great idea.. I totally want to try it this year! I bet my son would love packing his own lunch using the options I set out for him!
Krystal says
August 10, 2015 at 11:01 amTotally doing this for my kids. Let’s hope it cuts down on the whining process in the mornings. 🙂
Sherry says
August 10, 2015 at 12:08 pmI’m doing something similar
I have designated shelves in my pantry
One for breakfast foods
One for lunch foods
One for snacks
One for the dogs
…,
Jessica says
August 10, 2015 at 2:04 pmI really love this idea. Packing lunch for both boys has become a really long process every morning (or night if I get to it) and having a station for the “side dishes” would be amazing!
Jaclyn says
August 10, 2015 at 3:34 pmOBSESSED with this!! Especially since I am always looking to save a few minutes anywhere I can spare them!
Carly says
August 10, 2015 at 4:37 pmI absoutely love this idea! So easy!
Lisa Heath says
August 10, 2015 at 6:32 pmSo cute! I’m not a morning person so I usually throw a lunch together at night.
Doria says
August 10, 2015 at 8:05 pmThis is so clever!!! I love it 🙂
Kelley says
August 11, 2015 at 6:50 amCutest idea!! I need more organization in this aspect of my life
Carrie @Frugal Foodie Mama says
August 11, 2015 at 8:38 amThis is pretty much a genius idea! 🙂 Love this!
Claudia says
August 11, 2015 at 1:32 pmThis is such a great idea! Super cute. I’m going to give this a try.
amber.m says
August 12, 2015 at 9:19 amI so need to set up something like this! It’s brilliant!
Aliza B says
August 17, 2015 at 11:58 amI have a nice spot in our pantry where I can do this. It would be much easier for my kids to just grab what they want for their lunch. I’ll have to do this tomorrow before school starts!
Tanya @ Mom's Small Victories says
August 21, 2015 at 8:11 amI made a lunch packing station at the kids height so they can pack their own lunches. Even my 5 year old packs our lunches for picnics in the summer so he’ll be ready when he starts Kindergarten next week. It’s such a help to have healthy snacks at the ready for them! Thanks for sharing with Small Victories Sunday Linkup. Pinning to our linkup board and hope you found some great posts to visit this week!
Joann says
August 21, 2015 at 11:55 pmMy kids want to start making their own lunches – this may be an idea to help me bridge the gap and get them on their way doing it.
Stephanie says
August 22, 2015 at 4:57 pmThis is such a great idea! Its a shame my kids do not take their lunches anymore, then again I guess I could use this same idea for after school snacks!
Sarena @ Teal Inspiration says
August 22, 2015 at 8:34 pmThis is such a great, time saving and cute idea! Thanks for linking up with us at the #HomeMattersParty and I hope you’ll join us again!
Theresa @DearCreatives says
August 23, 2015 at 1:23 amSuch a great idea. I have a shelf in the pantry just for lunch stuff. The nice thing about having it on the counter is having the fresh fruits there too. Thanks for sharing at the Inspiration Spotlight Party. Pinned & shared.
Erin @ the-organized-life says
August 24, 2015 at 9:02 amGreat idea! I’ve been meaning to implement something like this in our house. Nice to have a lot of what you need for lunch packing all in one place.
Cathy says
August 26, 2015 at 6:02 pmWhat a great idea to have everything in one spot – so convenient. Thank you for sharing at Share It One More Time. Cathy
Cassie @ Beauty & The Boys says
August 27, 2015 at 8:10 pmThis is a fabulous idea!! I’m looking for ways to make school days easier and I started with a system for the boys school clothes, I will absolutely be adding this to our routine! So cute and so perfect!