It's that fourth meal that does it

This was one of those annoying yet funny things that happens when you have children and it has to do with school lunches. I almost always pack school lunches for my three daughters because 1)I want to know what they are eating and 2)to save money. I can pack a lunch, including packaged items for about half what the school charges. I have a deal with the girls that they bring home everything they don't eat so I can see what is actually being eaten and what isn't and can adjust what I put in their bags in the future. In return, I don't get mad at them for not eating something or whatever those lunch bags may reveal.

Lately I've been noticing S coming home with practically her whole lunch. She sits down at the counter in the kitchen, pulls everything out and eats it as her after-school snack. My thought was that after the morning snack in the classroom she probably ate one small thing from her lunch, then rushed out to the playground to get started on recess. Kind of sweet and no wonder she was hungry after school.

This is the note that came home with her yesterday. Click to enlarge it if you can't read it here. I had NO IDEA this was going on!!! No wonder she brought her lunch home! No wonder she has a more average weight than the other girls (the others are very slender). It's that fourth meal that has been keeping her in the pink of health! I have now made it extremely clear to her that if I send a bag lunch with her, that is the lunch she is to eat. If she wants a heavy snack when she gets home, she is welcome to have one.

Oh, I purposely made her a bag lunch today and made a big deal out of telling C and E they can have a school lunch today and what the various options are for them. I hope they all enjoy their lunches!