It looks like a trifle, but I'm sure that the topic of lunch box is at least partly responsible for a large number of divorces in Germany. When it comes to lunch boxes, it's never just about lunch boxes – it's about who equips the offspring correctly and in an exemplary manner for life. It's not just about rye, liver sausage, cheese and cucumber, it's about the principle.
Some mothers cut out star-shaped bread
How do I get it to be a hot topic? I talked to other mothers about it – and it triggered waves of emotion. "The lunch boxes are getting me ready," said a friend of mine over a beer in the evening and rolled her eyes. "Lunch boxes are a real problem. It's not just about the lunch box, it stands for how healthy you feed your child, how well you take care of it. Ultimately, it stands for what kind of mother you are." Then a discussion developed about whether you can do crispbread in lunch boxes ("It will be mushy") and how exactly apples have to be cut ("In exactly the same size slices") so that my friend's son also finds them well.
"Why don't our men do that?" one of us called out. "Thomas cannot cut the apples in such a way that Linus eats them," said another. Then we all had to laugh. Until she added, seriously and whispering, "Honestly, he won't eat them!" Then she admitted that she had even cut the bread out in a star shape for a while so that her children wouldn't bring it back home. At the moment it seemed completely normal to me: after all, there are even mothers who carve faces into vegetables. Seriously.
You can't do it right!
When I told my colleague that I believe that the lunch box is an important topic in German households, she was immediately hooked: "Great topic! My husband does this with us because I hate it so much!". Then she had not only uttered great wisdom. Because I also hate the lunch box. All my heart. You never have enough time to prepare this extremely important piece of care, it is also difficult to prepare, because everything tastes sticky. And you can't do anything right on the subject anyway. No chance! Either the child nags (it would have preferred Nutella toast with normal wheat flour bread) or the teacher ("Please only organic whole grain, vegetables and fruit in the lunch box!").
Yes, in some schools an example of the perfect lunch box is shown at parents' evening, which has nothing to do with the reality of an average mother. In fact, there is a Din-A-4 note on our classrooms with information about why squeezers come straight from hell. An insane pressure is built up around the "Lappalie break snack". I was really relieved when my daughter recently announced with a shocked look: "Mom, Paulina had a milk slice in her lunch box". I felt even better when she told me that Karl had completely forgotten his and had NO bread with him. He survived the six hours without incidentally. His and Paulina's mother all have my sympathies.
"Who is taking care of the Sch *** lunch box now ?! I always have to do that!"
Besides that, this cracked lunch box has caused serious trouble between my husband and me. Somehow I don't want to be responsible for this tiresome topic, but somehow I take it over and over again. It definitely happened that I shouted in a fight "And who is taking care of the *** *** lunch box ?! I always have to do that!" – and almost burst into tears. Why am I an emotional wreck? No idea. But since last week I know that I'm not alone with it.
Incidentally, I cut apples very irregularly, and my child also sometimes gets crispbread, even if it no longer cracks during the long break and has no star or heart shape. Blueberries do not have to be chopped, it occurred to me recently: that's why they are now more common. All in all, one can say: my lunch box does not say: "You are the perfect mother!". She rather screams: "It can be done better, it really can be done better. Don't you love your children ?!"
I want to get out of the lunch box hell!
Actually, there is only one question: why am I still doing this? I don't want to submit to this delusion anymore, I want to get out of the lunch box hell! Who needs the perfect lunch box ?! But what should the solution be? Chocolate bread from the baker every day? NO! My colleague is right: my husband has to take on this task – immediately. He doesn't understand the theater anyway. And from the third class onwards, the children fill their cracked lunch box themselves. Of course, only with organic wholemeal bread.