MINI SANDWICH BENTO

Mini soft dinner roll stuffed with ham, sliced strawberries and a wedge of orange

I think I am starting to get the hang of preparing bento for Bebe.  The key is to make stuff the night before and pack it.  That way, in the morning, when I'm rushing off to work, I'm not freaking out trying to make her something cute so she'll eat it.

But hey, I'm thinking I need new leak-proof bento boxes with dividers that look pretty.  The Lock 'n Lock are great because they don't leak, but not so pleasing aesthetically.

Tonight, I had a huge bag of soft dinner rolls that were perfectly sized for her tiny grade 1 appetite.  I sliced a nice thick chunk of ham for her because she likes her ham thickly sliced and not that pre-packaged paper-thin kind shaped like a square.  I found wrapping the bottom half of the bun in plastic wrap helps keep her hands clean or conversely, the food clean if she doesn't wash her hands properly before eating!  yikes.  I know.  I put a recyclable snack bag filled with folded diaper wipes in her lunch bag.  I also have a mini bottle of sanitizing gel in there.  When I check the level of the gel in the bottle, I notice it hasn't been used...and I grill her about whether or not she washed her hands or not.

Ew.

I counted the diaper wipes I had in the little plastic bag.  None are missing.  I give her a stern look.  She shrugs her shoulders.  "But mommy, I washed my hands at school..."

Whew!

"...at recess"

Aww man! Kids are so gross sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, Bebe is one of the cleanest kids I know.  Well, at home under my evil eye, she is.  She even comes up to me and asks, "Mommy, how's my breath?" and she'll go and blow in my face, "hoh!  how's that?  Do I need gum?"  She makes sure I include sugarfree gum in her lunch bag just in case.

Well, I try my best you see, but apparently there's not enough time at school for the kids to all wash their hands before eating at recess and at lunch.  I was told by a teacher friend of mine that if they had them all line up to do that, it would take so long that no one would have time to eat.

I can see that.  But...ew.  Now do you see why kids come home with all those viruses?

I'm still pressing her to use her gel or wipes, but I think I have to write little notes to her or something.  I put the bag of wipes on the top of her box of food, hoping that she would have to touch it before getting to her food and perhaps remember to open it to clean her hands.  It's a 50% success rate right now.  Sometimes, she'll use it and sometimes she'll tell me she washed her hands at school (yeah, right).

Now you know why I have the plastic wrap around that bun?

And why I include a little reusable plastic fork?

I have a feeling she'll use the wipe tomorrow at lunch because she's got the wedge of orange and she doesn't like sticky hands, ironically!