This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Smuckers.
I’m not sure where I first got the idea of putting notes in our little man’s lunchbox. I know that it wasn’t any sort of original concept, so my best guess is that I probably saw Claire Huxtable put a note in one of her kids’ lunchboxes on The Cosby Show when I was younger. Of course I wasn’t consciously trying to pick up parenting tips from a TV show when I was, you know, thirteen, but I’ve never been one to underestimate the lasting influence of a family sitcom.
I mean, do you know how many times I’ve thought about Jan Brady running into the family portrait on her bicycle when I’m trying to teach our son about being responsible?
YOU ONLY HAD TO WEAR THE GLASSES, JAN.
YOU ONLY HAD TO WEAR THE GLASSES.
Regardless of where the idea originated, I first started putting notes in Alex’s lunches when he was in Mothers’ Day Out. At the time he couldn’t really read, of course, so I’d just draw a big heart and then sign “Mama” at the bottom. When he started four year-old kindergarten and was recognizing a few words, I moved up to “Alex – I love you, Mama” – and the notes have gotten more elaborate over the last couple of years. He always thanks me for the notes when I pick him up from school, and lots of times I’ll find the notes when I unpack his lunchbox – with little jelly or Cheetos fingerprints all along the edges.
Last year Alex ate in the school cafeteria a good bit (I have NO IDEA why, but he really gets a kick out of going through the lunch line), so I didn’t pack lunches nearly as often. But at the end of the school year, his class had a field day, and since the cafeteria was going to be closed that day, the teachers asked us to send a lunch to school.
It just so happened that the week of field day was a hard one for us because our dog Maggie died. She hadn’t been well for awhile, and I don’t think any of us were prepared for how difficult it was when she finally passed away. Alex took her death particularly hard – it was the first time he’s ever had to say good-bye to something he loved – and the week was filled with hard questions and hard answers. We talked a lot about the fact that there’s purpose in every single thing that happens in our lives, and we talked about how grateful we were that we got to share life with Maggie.
But oh, how he cried. And oh, how he missed her.
When I was packing his lunch the Friday morning of field day, I decided to stick a note inside. I tried to make it upbeat and comforting because I knew how much his little heart was still hurting. And sure enough, when I picked him up from school that afternoon, he said, “Thanks, Mama, for the note you sent me. It made me smile.”
A few days ago I asked Alex why he likes it so much when I send him little notes, and he said, “Because when I’m thinking about you at school, the note reminds me that you’re thinking about me, too.” It’s such a small thing to do – it literally takes less than a minute – but I really do believe that that kind of intentional, loving communication with our kids reaps huge benefits. If you’ve ever written a note to your child(ren), you know that you can see the joy all over their face when they read it.
After the little guy and I talked for a few minutes about lunchbox notes, I had a hunch. Since field day was the last lunch I packed this past school year – and since he told me at the end of that day that he threw away all of his trash at school – I wondered if maybe he held onto the note when lunch was over. So I went in the pantry, pulled the lunchbox off the shelf, and sure enough, I found what I suspected that I would.
He kept it.
Bless his heart.
To celebrate the ways that moms connect with their kids over lunch – whether it’s by putting a note in a lunchbox or making special plans to sit in the backyard and eat sandwiches together – Smuckers has created a really neat program called Kidvitations. It’s a way for parents to intentionally make mealtimes special – and I think it’s awesome. I also think that you and your kids are going to love it.
If you’d like to enter to win a $200 Visa gift card, leave a comment and tell me one of your favorite ways to connect with the children in your life.
There are also BlogHer.com Smuckers roundup page.
And if you enjoy a little light reading, you’re sure to be delighted by the BlogHer.com Smuckers official rules.
This giveaway will run through August 23rd, at which point I’ll use random.org to select a winner.
Can’t wait to read your comments!
Create a Kidvitation!
Home can be a busy place with the hustle and bustle of everyday life. That’s why it’s important to set time aside to spend with your kids. Use Smuckers® Kidvitations to invite your kids to share a moment with you over a perfect PB&J. Check it out.
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Ok… So I am not officially “THE WORLD”S GREATEST COOK” (even though I do have an apron and a coffee cup that would back me up if I wanted to claim that title) and I have to admit I do tend to let my car swing into the nearest fast food driveway whenever it (my car that is) feels like it needs some greasy french fries and cooling carbonated drinks. My sweet boys are very used to this and even the one year old whines if we pass said fast food joints without swinging in. Most of the time my oldest boys lunch boxes have a juice box, an apple, cookies and an UNCRUSTABLE.(Not trying to get suck up points here but can I just say best invention ever! I even eat them for dessert!) But my favorite mealtime “moments” with my kids have always been something that I did with my mom and grandmother. My mom would pack a lunch (her car was not as driven by grease as mine is) we would load up in the car with my grandmother and we would go “parking” on the bluff in our hometown. It is a beautiful spot overlooking the water with sailboats in the distance and the smell of salt air blowing through our open windows. We would settle in and eat our lunch and prepare for stories from my dear “Grandma Gracie” about her childhood in the south. (I know you are thinking beautiful thoughts right now about windswept beaches and lightning bugs…think more like twisting a chicken’s neck or rollerskating through the courthouse…Grandma Gracie was a bit of a rebellious child)I say all this because I take my boys to the bluff, and we settle in with the boats in the distance and the salt air wafting through the windows and we share. We share our lunch, we share our thoughts, we share our memories and we share our dreams. We sometimes share a good chicken neck twisting story. I love my kids and I love sharing time at lunch with them.
Oh you have such a sweet boy!
My baby is only two but we leave notes for her and she “writes” notes to us quite frequently. If we aren’t going to be home when Daddy gets home we leave a note on the door with a magnet. She loves to talk about how we left Daddy a note and what it said. If he leaves HER a note – oh the joy. She wants to read it over and over and loves to talk about how Daddy wrote HER a note. It’s adorable and I love that she feels special from it.
Well my daughter is 2 1/2 so I haven’t given her any notes yet. It is neat to see how my husband and I have different ways of connecting with her. His involves tickling. She loves being tickled by her dad! She looks at him with such adoration – it melts my heart! Mine involves singing songs. I have a silly song for just about everything. I love the smile she gives me when I sing to her. I just know that is our special time together.
We love to read. and watch movies and swim, got get off the couch sometime, right.
My kids and I have a always loved to read together. I also try to take just one or two (of the four) with me when I run errands.
I still put notes in my 16 year old son’s lunch sack.
But lately my favorite way to connect with him is when we run together.
My kids are almost both teenagers – now when we ride together in the car – just one of them with the mama – they usually talk more than any other time. It’s our time together.
I always loved picking my boys up from school because on the ride home they really spilled out all the things they had been wanting to talk about all day at school. I learned lots of helpful information during this time.
Thanks
Brenda
my son loves when i play games with him, lately we’ve been playing alot of memory together
nannypanpan at sbcglobal.net
I like spending time with them one on one doing something they enjoy.
amandarwest at gmaildotcom
I stick notes to special mini candy bars and put them in my lunch, the get a sweet treat and a little love!
We read and pray together as a family before bedtime :-)
On Tuesday nights we have a free municipal band concert. My kids are all grown, but we all sit together and enjoy the music!
My niece and nephew and godkids all live far away, so we don’t see them more than a few times a year. So, the mailman is my friend! We send postcards every time we’re in another city and funny cards for holidays. It always seems a little silly when I’m doing it, and then I remember the sheer thrill of receiving real, grown up mail when I was a kid.
We haven’t been blessed with children yet, but we have three nieces. My youngest niece is 17 but she LOVES for us all to play boardgames. Sometimes it’s the simplest things that mean so much to a child (even teenagers!).
Notes to my daughter always with Love you the most. Lucky You
My daughter is almost 12 and getting into that tween-y type attitude, but when I make time to go out and do something just the two of us, we have a really great time together…window shopping, getting an ice cream, going to a movie, whatever. I get glimpses of the relationship I hope we have when she is grown up.
I would connect with our son-to-be by singing children worship songs together.
we do thanks and giving every night at the table. One thing we are thankful for and one thing we gave that day. It helps us all connect.
I connect with my daughter by teaching her some of the same games I played as a child (e.g. Solitaire card game). She just turned six and is still a little young to play it by herself or play double solitaire yet, but we’re enjoying playing it together.
I just had my third baby, so I am trying hard to spend a little bit of one-on-one time with the older ones when I can. As much as I hate the grocery store, I have found that taking only one child there is a great way to have good conversations and have them be mama’s big helper. Great giveaway!
I put notes in the lunch too but my favorite connecting time is our mornign “snuggle time”!
I like to read to my kids before their naps and bedtime. It gives us a little downtime to just cuddle :)
Story time is my favorite time to connect with my daughter. She is always so interested when I read to her and her little eyes light up :)
I love to cuddle and read with my little man.
Dinner together. I like to go around the table and asked each of them to tell me about their day – or to summarize it with something good that happened/something they learned. I share too!
my son is only 17 days old but I love to pray over him and hope to one day put notes in his lunch boxes too!
We connect in many ways, but just this past week we were at Disneyland, and I was so thankful that it gave me three straight days to hold their hands. My 7 year old gets embarrassed at school to hug me goodbye many times, but this week he held my hand gladly. My little 4 year old has the cutest hands around, and although he’s still always willing, it was nice to feel those little hands in mine three straight days in a row.
I think just the fact that we do everything together. From playing games and dancing to laundry and cooking!
Megan
mommyminded.blogspot.com
mommyminded@gmail.com
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We have tons of “connecting” each day as my little one is a social butterfly and both a Mama’s and Daddy’s girl, but my favorite times lately are our bedtime book each night. She cuddles up into my side and we read the book together. (Sometimes I read by myself and sometimes she says the words she remembers along with me.) It’s so special and she loves it as much as I do. :)
I like to play outside with my girls – bumping around the volleyball or kicking the soccerball or playing pickle.
My daughter saves all her notes in the bottom of her lunch box. They got all wet one time when her juice leaked. I said I was going to pitch them and she cried and asked me to dry them out so she could save them. Made my heart happy.
I connect with all 5 of my kids as I transport them to violin/cello lessons and soccer. But I really connect with my two oldest via texting. I know – it seems so impersonal, but I can tell my 13 year old that I love him and he’s not embarrassed to say it back to me. Yet. I savor some of the texts that I receive from my son and daughter.
I too put notes in my daughter’s lunch. But the one thing I really enjoy is cuddling up on the couch and reading. She’s soon to be 12 yrs. old and I’m hoping it never stops!
I write notes on my kids’ napkins every time they take lunch. As they got older, I was afraid it would embarrass them, but they love it and I think their friends are jealous..ha
My husband and I take turns writing our 3rd grade son, Luke, notes and putting them in his lunch box. They are sometimes sweet, sometimes funny, sometimes make believe…just whatever. We never knew the impact these notes had until one day when I went to his school to take him his lunch. As soon as he sat down, several kids said, “What does the note say today?!?”. He didn’t have a note since I was there. Later I asked him about it and he said that his friends get really excited about the notes and they would ask to pass them around. So we weren’t just writing the notes for our son…a whole class read them and looked forward to them. Amazing! :)
I don’t have any children yet, but I give my relatives’ children birthday cards! :) Thank you for the giveaway!
Trying to get them to put things into perspective, but also really listening to them about why such little things seem so important to them.
We love cooking and baking together! Reading together is also very special.
My nephews are the children in my life. Though, one day soon I hope to have children of my own. I love rocking the littlest one to sleep and snuggling on the couch watching a movie with the oldest.
Deborah
homemakerhoney @gmail .com
Connect time is after dinner we go and sit on the front porch We chat and watch the cars and neighbors go by
Love leaving lunchnotes!! I have to travel sometimes with my job…and I make sure that she has a lunchnote for each day I’m gone…to give her extra special mommy love throughout her day. One of her favorite lunchnotes…is to write on the skin of a banana! The kids and teachers have all commented how much fun that is! I read that on a popular blog I follow…and it’s been my best tip yet for lunchnotes! Would love the giftcard!
I like to connect with my children about the personality traits that they have gotten from me, it makes for a lot of laughs. :)
Believe it or not, texting and Facebook. My baby’s 19 and that’s how he communicates. It works for us!
I put notes in school lunches too. Also, we share our high and low moment of each day at dinner! :)
our special time is at supper when we eating and sharin what went on in each of our days, laughing at past times and just being together.
I always put notes in my daughter’s lunchbox too. She really loves it! I have a 3-yr-old boy too, so she and I try to have regular “girl” time alone since he gets me alone all day. Last weekend we went to see Ramona and Beezus together. During the pre-movie ads, there was one about going to the movies to enjoy birthday parties, date night, girls’ night out, etc. and she said, “Mommy, that’s what we’re doing, Girls Night out!” My heart just melted!
When I get to spend time with my neices and nephews, I always want to tell them just how much I love them. I send them FB messages or mail them cards!
When I get to spend time with my neices and nephews, I always want to tell them just how much I love them. I send them FB messages or mail them cards! I don’t have any kids, but does it count I leave my husband little post it notes telling him how much I love him!
My kids are not so young anymore, so as adult teens I have to be very creative to get any alone time with either of them, so I make sure that on a night when I know one or the other doesnt have plans, I make up their favorite appetizers and snacks and we sit outside with music and the chimanea and torches lit and talk and snack and catch up on all the things they dont share with me on a daily basis. Now I am working on setting up special time with my beautiful new granddaughter and 2 step grandchildren!
I love bedtime. Praying with them, talking to them about their day and reading stories. I have so many great memories because of bedtime.
I love singing songs & playing toy instruments with my 2 year old.
We pray together every single night and share snuggle time…best way I know to connect!!
I am extremely close to my twin nephews (4years old). I spend weekends with them (playing, going to malls etc). Thanks!
My nephew Ryan has a toy mailbox that he keeps at our house, and every time he comes for a visit, which is at least once a week for a sleepover, I make sure there’s something new and fun in there because he just loves to check his “mailbops.” :) And I love that he’s finding lovies in there from his Aunt Shari.
I ask if anything exciting or fun happened to them today and listen intently to their answer.
I’m still sending notes in my boys lunch boxes. They are in the 6th and 8th grade, but still like to know that Mom has taken the time to send a little “happy” in their lunches.
My little guy is almost 4 and first thing in the morning, and in the bed at night are when the most precious things are said. What he dreamed about, and what the best part of his day was. I love those moments. I have to say, my mom used to put notes in my lunch when I was little. I’m 33 now, and I will never forget it. One of my fondest memories. Always made my day a little brighter :)
I like to send my sisters kids small little gifts several times a year for no particular reason. Just because I love them!
I love to read to children! It’s fun and educational, and we love to “go on adventures” together. Plus, it’s easy and perfect for passing the time or putting them to bed.
My daughter and I started “First Friday’s” last year. The first Friday of every month we go to breakfast together, just the 2 of us.
My son in 15 months old. We connect a lot through play and reading.
Even though my kids are all teenagers, we still love read-aloud books :) Even my older 2 love to listen when they’re home visiting!
We all eat supper together and read a story at bedtime!
We like to cuddle up on the couch and watch movies and eat popcorn.
We like to have lunch together whenever we can.
lkish77123 at gmail dot com
I have a goal of doing 2 projects a week with my children. It was hard at first, but now it is easy and my children really look forward to it!
I love to leave little cute notes in their lunchboxes….so fun!
We try and have a specific time with each child where they can do what they’d like for the afternoon…we will get some lunch, maybe go to a movie, or, just play games at the house.
I love to just sit and read books – it’s so soothing for everyone!
Snuggle time before bed. We talk about the day behind and the day ahead. Love that time with the girls! PS I really missed you at Going Beyond Tulsa, but already making a plan to attend dotmom Dec’11. =)
Having a special day where they choose the meals, activities, and fun!
I’m beginning to notice a trend in my answers to these comment questions – they always seem to include food. Hmmm. Anyway, my favorite way to connect with my daughter has been over food. When she was little, it was about taking her out, sitting with her and listening to her little ramblings. Now..it’s about cooking for her and her boyfriend and then sitting with them as they share their thoughts and dreams. Love it!
As the mom of a teenager almost 17 and a college grad who lives a few hours away, texting is the BEST!
We employ a variety of “together” activities…supper at the family table, a walk around our neighborhood lake, family game night, family Wii night, morning devotions, bedtime stories, and just plain ‘ol sittin’ around and shootin’ the breeze. My kids are 7, 5, 3, and 21 mos.
We loving reading and doing art projects together
i like to take my niece for long walks in a park
We sit down every night at dinner and talk about “What we liked the best” about our day. What we liked the least about our day. And what did we do for someone else that day.
We love to read to both of our girls each night before bed and then we talk about the day and then pray before hugs and kisses each night. They are 6 and 2 and no matter where we are at bedtime(vacation or at my parents, etc.) we have to follow routine! They both love it and look forward to that time as much as my husband and I do.
I put a hershey kiss in my son’s lunch box occasionally. it’s a kiss from mom when I can’t be with him.
My favorite way to connect with my 4 year old is just to sit quietly with her on my lap and cuddle and look through a book together. Sometimes there just isn’t much time in the day to just sit quietly for a while so it makes those moments extra special.
I LOVE TAKING MY NEICE & NEPHEW TO THE CARNIVAL, IT ALSO KEEPS THEM IN A GOOD MOOD FOR AT LEAST A WEEK AFTERWARDS kytah00@yahoo.com
My favorite way to connect with my daughter is with books. We both love them and we spend a great time together, searching the bookstores for new series to read.
I spent an hr or so this afternoon in a crazy little Connect Four tournament with my 8 yo. It was a blast.
I like to leave notes on the breakfast table for my children to read while I am running around getting breakfast ready – “Mommy loves you even though she cannot sit down for breakfast!!!”
My daughter and I would have a girl’s only trip to the library to pick out books to read together when she was little. We still do that even though she’s in college now, although now it’s movies we watch together instead of reading books.
My kids are only 2 and under, so mealtimes are a little hectic for us, but I’m looking forward to the days of packing lunches with notes!
with the small ones its reading
I love to paint our nails with the girls. Gives us plenty of time to talk while they dry.
When I tuck my chicks in, I always ask them what the best part of their day was. I also travel for work quite a bit, so each airport I fly through I get a magnet for my little guy and a keychain for my daughter. It’s a small thing, but they think it’s really neat.
I love bedtime with my two-year-old…books, prayers, lots of kisses, etc!
My daughter loves to swim so we go to the beach or pool.
I always make time for us to share what our day was like and what adventures we encountered.
I love surprising them with special trips – like to the movies or eating out. They get so excited and I love being able to spend this time with them. They are growing up so fast and we need to enjoy every minute of it.
At night, when I am tucking the boys into bed, we’ll just lay there sometimes not saying a word. Other times, we’ll chat. And always, they’ll ask me to rub their backs. And I hope they do that until they are out of college…
I love to snuggle with my boys right after lights out. They are much more apt to tell me all kinds of things when they’re pooped and about to fall asleep.
Because I work full-time and my son goes to preschool, I really enjoy the ride to and from work. We have that 20 minutes each way to talk about the day ahead, or what happenend and what he learned that day without the distraction of toys, the dog, or the TV at home. We’ve had some of the best and most entertaining conversations in the car.
We don’t have kids, but we like to send our nieces and nephews little care packages every once in a while, even the ones that live close by. They love getting mail, love calling to say thank you and know that we’re thinking of them!
I don’t have kids of my own, but I do care for foster kids from time to time. I keep a little file on each kid with their likes and dislikes listed so that I can make their time with me as much fun as possible.
I love to use lunch box notes!