This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Smuckers.
We have our winner! Comment #306 – Kimbly! Congratulations and thank you!
Lunch.
It happens everyday.
Every. Day.
*insert excitement here*
Can I be honest? The school-lunch-making process can be, shall we say… mundane. But when I put a pen to napkin… the food feeds the belly, but the words feed the heart. While the kids pack their fruit, snacks and drink — I make their sandwiches and often, a note…

Somewhere in my boxes of childhood memorabilia, are several notes… written on napkins and torn pieces of paper… from MY dad. I remember reading those short words of silliness and reminders of love from him… I remember how much those little surprises meant.
Now it’s my turn… to surprise my kiddos. With a little joke, a “you rock” or just a “Love you, Mom”… I am carrying on, well, a family tradition!
I was sorting through piles OF piles in my son’s room recently. Can you guess what I found? A couple of my lunch notes to him. I figured he’d toss ‘em. Nope. Looks like he’ll have a few notes from mom is his childhood box of memorabilia too.
Is there anything that you do, as part of a lunch time ritual, or to make lunchtime special in your family? If you do, share it here for a chance to win a $200 Visa gift card. But this isn;t only place to join in on the lunchtime conversation — 9 other bloggers giving away a $200 Visa gift card, and there is also a sweepstakes on the round-up page for a $400 Visa Gift Card! Follow this link to go to there! Contest runs from 8/5 to 8/25/2010.
Rules:
- No duplicate comments.
- You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
- You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
- This giveaway is open to US Residents, aged 18 and older
- Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
- You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
- BlogHer.com Smuckers roundup page. You can find the official rules here.
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 HERE! Also, I invite you to visit the Smuckers official page!
Keep up on the ridiculous, the insightful, the always digressive…
Get Jenny On The Spot by RSS or EMAIL or newsletter!
Follow JOTS on Twitter, join the Facebook Fan Page and/or Networked Blogs!
















My mom used to let us put our own topping on personal pizzas she made!
I always pack a surprise on test days.
My mom used to pack an extra treat on Fridays for us.
We like to picnic at local parks! Thanks! senekers@comcast.net
I like to give my children choices. They pick the foods they like and then get to help me make lunch and/or set the table!
sazzyfrazz at gmail dot com
sneaking a homemade baked treat
I wouldn’t say we have a lunchtime ritual, but I always make sure my family has what they want for their lunches. My husband and teen daughter usually like lunchmeat sandwiches (though sometimes she gets a hankering for tuna!), and I usually have a bagel and some yogurt. If I can help it, I don’t want them ever thinking they have to settle for whatever’s available instead of what they want!
Many thanks!!
Well lunch is there pick,so whatever within reason they want i will make to order!
ardelong2(at)gmail(dot)com
when we shop for lunch items I let them pick out something different each week
We do leave little notes in their lunches when they are in school
ardy22 at earthlink dot net
I put “just because” notes for no particular reason or holiday specific treats, I draw faces on the bananas, etc.
We have pizza alot for lunch and to us thats special.
I tweeted http://twitter.com/bsw529/status/22104789063
Hmmm – if they are going to take away the name and email fields, but welcome me back, then why are they giving me an error that I need to fill in the fields that aren’t there?
My son eats peanut butter every lunch of his life. So sometimes I put chocolate syrup in the sandwich, sometimes marshmallows, sometimes marshmallow cream, and sometimes a combination of both. He seems to enjoy it
When we have sandwiches at home I always cut them into butterfly shapes.
Our family sits down and eats together – breakfast, lunch & dinner – whenever we are home, but no real “rituals”.
http://twitter.com/susan1215/status/22098174306
I like to put a note and a special treat in my daughters lunch box.
tweet
http://twitter.com/maybaby522/status/22097926200
nbalogh522 at gmail dot com
I like to let me daughter be involved in making lunch. She helps make sandwiches or chooses what we have. I also like to do fun things like cutting cheese in to fun shapes with cookie cutters.
nbalogh522 at gmail dot com
I Tweeted this giveaway. http://twitter.com/lisalmg/status/22096910235
lisalmg25 at gmail dot com
My children love my peanut butter chocolate cookies so I love sneaking them into their lunch boxes as a surprise.
lisalmg25 at gmail dot com
Growing up, my Grandpa and I would be out working, Grandma would make a big lunch, we would come in, eat like pigs, and fall asleep for an afternoon nap on the couch!
tweet: http://twitter.com/js22222222/status/22096306644
We make raisin faces on our peanut butter toast.
no fun lunch rituals in our household.
Thanks for the giveaway!
I have to say that lunchtime is not the meal that I ever try to make special. During school my kids take hot lunch and during the summer they are with my husband. If I am going to make something special it is usually dinner and I try to make things that my kids really like and do dinners up really nice.
I love to leave my daughter notes in places she is not expecting to find them including in her lunch, notebook, etc. She likes to do the same for me as well.
Creating lunches from around the world….simple stuff, like french food with french toast
My mother also left notes in our lunch and was really creative when making our lunch – cut the sandwiches into shapes, etc
She really made us feel loved
I tweeted: http://twitter.com/guettel78/status/22079215040
In addition to notes that I often will leave in the lunchbox, I sometimes like to throw in a little surprise gift, especially when it looks like the kids start the day in a grumpy or stressed-out mood – things like gift cards to the local movie theater or arcade or things they like, such as baseball cards or books. Thanks!
When I was young, my Mom always made us be home at lunchtime to sit and eat and have some time with the family to talk about our days so far. I continued that tradition with my daughter, family time is so important and lunch and dinner are both great times for that
I make lunchtime special by cutting up the sandwich in 4 squares, kids love those!….and I also present it in a cute way, with a pickle on the side
we put a big colored marshmallow in the lunch pail
no rituals yet but I just might steal this
jdmimi at gmail dot com
Sometimes I will do something for the younger kids, such as making hearts or smiley faces with their food, but usually I just try to get them fed with something good to eat.
My girls don’t take packed lunches to school so no cute little notes in the lunch. But this did make me think of putting them in their bookbags. I’m going to go get some sticky notes and put notes on their folders. Thanks for the giveaway!