The best laid plans...

Not that I am the best by any stretch of the imagination, but I am pretty good, usually.... This weekend we had a really long day of activities and sports. I packed a substantial lunch and snack for Zachary, which included a Clif Bar and a container of yogurt for myself. Mackenzie and I had to leave the house a little earlier for skating and Zachary was going to his track meet with my friend and her husband whose son is also on the track team. In the haste of getting out the door, Zachary forgot to take his lunchbox.

Fortunately he had his tote bag with his number for track and his sweats, but no lunch. My husband called me shortly after he left feeling bad that he had sent him off for the day with no food and no money. I reassured him that my friends would not let him starve and that I would make sure that Mackenzie shared her lunch and snack with him when we arrived later. I always pack more than what they will eat, not to be wasteful, but to give them a choice, to have enough to share (usually with me!), and enough just in case there is a delay in getting home, which happens from time to time. I would rather overpack than go through the infernal drive through.

Our day on Sunday was pretty long, but not unusual for us. M and I had to be out the door by 9:30 to be on the ice at 10:30. On mornings like this breakfast is almost always to go since we have a 40 minute ride to the rink. Since Z wasn't being picked up until 10:15, Daddy took care of breakfast for him.

I made a microwave cheese omelet and wheat toast with butter and jam for M. Normally I am not for prepackaged convenience foods, but I bought these from a school fundraiser for her preschool, so we'll eat them. I can truly appreciate the appeal of convenience foods; it took 30 seconds to remove the omelet, nuke it, and put it into a container for her. It's fast, it's nutritious, I get it.I put it into a Rubbermaid sandwich container and gave her a Light My Fire spork and a cloth napkin for breakfast in the car.

My kids spill. It's sad and sometimes annoying, but true. Finding suitable non-spill tumblers for them proved challenging indeed. The straw style containers are fine for clear liquids, but I am wary of them for milk products. There is something about dairy going through a straw that is icky to me. Don't ask. I have a few quirky food issues like that. The adult style travel mugs work a bit better, but many of those are not truly spill-proof. They will minimize spills, but not eliminate them altogether. Enter the Playtex Coolster Tumbler Sippy Cup. It has the sippy style silicone valve to prevent spillage but the profile looks like a grown up coffee cup. I have read that the valves are not good for older children, but I'm not worried about it too much. My kids take the lids off to get the last little bit out of the cups. At some point soon I they will graduate to grown up reusable non-spill travel mugs, but for now this is what they have.

Sunday wasn't a complete bust. Mackenzie shared her snack, although there wasn't enough fruit or drinks for both of them. During the track meet Zachary asked for some money to get something from the snack bar and I let him. He wanted a soft pretzel, but they were out of them, so he got some Gatorade instead. He could have easily gotten candy or chips or something else that I wouldn't have preferred, but he didn't. He's learning to make good choices and it makes me proud.