Do you often spend your days rushing to find your son’s soccer shoes just before his carpool arrives?
Or picking your daughter’s clothes off the floor after you’ve asked her three times and just-can’t-face-another-argument-right-now?
Do you sometimes get that horrible sinking feeling that you’ll be doing everything for your kids until they’re full-fledged adults, and possibly beyond?
Some days it feels like, without you, they’ll end up living in a pigsty eating McDonald’s for breakfast, Taco Bell for lunch and Domino’s for dinner. Every. Single. Day.
Sigh!
Raising responsible, independent kids is tough. It’s so important to let them do things on their own, from making a snack to walking to school by themselves, right from the time they’re little. But it’s so hard to let go, whether it’s accepting a messy kitchen or acknowledging that you can’t hold your child’s hand forever.
Our ultimate goal as parents is to send our kids off into the world armed with some basic life skills and the ability to make healthy choices. At the very least I want my kids to be able to do a load of laundry, run the vacuum, and prepare a meal.
And by meal, I mean a healthy balance of all the food groups, not reheated nuggets and frozen pizza. (And yes, they need to be financially literate, socially responsible, and culturally aware… but baby steps people, baby steps.)
So, where to begin?
I started with Lunch!
Let me explain.