Bento Boxes Are for Suckers
Image credit: BentoAnarchy.com
While I never said I loved being in the kitchen, I’ve tried nearly everything to persuade BooBoo to venture beyond his diet of chicken nuggets and cinnamon apple sauce without success.
I read somewhere that a food must be introduced at least 15 times to see if a child will accept it. Well, let’s see, if we subtract the first two years of his life (you know, due to solids and choking hazards), that leaves approximately 1,065 days of his young life that I’ve attempted to introduce things like edamame, carrots, potatoes in non-French fry form, and endless varieties of casseroles and pasta dishes.
He’s picky, I get it. I’ve lived my whole life as a picky eater, but that doesn’t mean his self-imposed dietary limitations aren’t frustrating. One mom suggested I try bento boxes as a “fun and exciting way to get my son to try new foods”.
You see, I would … except I don’t want to. Look at these things, they’re edible masterpieces! Not only do they presumably take forever to make, I just don’t care that much. Would I like my kid to embrace the cornucopia of fruits and vegetables available from my grocer’s produce aisle? Sure. Am I willing to quit my day job and take up professional bento-ing to do it? That would be a negative.
I posted on my Facebook fan page, “I don’t love my kid enough to make a bento box. Just had to get that off my chest” and a bunch of y’all agreed. When did every single thing we do for our kids have to be so dang special? Can’t I save the special for when it really matters? We’re talking about lunch! Eat it or don’t eat it and let’s move on.
For all you bento-loving culinary geniuses, despite the title I’m not here to insult you. If anything, I’m envious. I’m envious that you enjoy bento-ing. I’m envious that you care more about your child’s nutrition that I do. I’m also envious that you’re the kind of mom who sees the value in making food fun.
I’ll tell you what I think is fun – ice cream. And all I need is 30 seconds and a scooper to do it.
For those you culinary adventurers looking for a little bento inspiration, click here.
Do you bento?
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Contrary to the Bento Blogs, bento does not have to be all about being cute. Basic bento is easy, allowing for a greater number of foods per meal to be packed efficiently in one box. I bento not because it is fun or cute, but because it allows to me to use leftovers in small portions, and present new fruits and veggies as small (low pressure) components of a meal that includes a variety of foods.
Lam, see? That’s already way more than I ever knew about bento boxes! Maybe taking the creative and fancy elements out would make them a better fit for me.
There’s no law that says you can’t put a regular old PBJ in there with a cheese stick and some baby carrots.
Hello,
I’m not a mum (obviously) but I do bento, I’m not a culinary genius nor am I able to create bento that are as stunning as a lot on the net, but I think bento-ing in its simplest form is a great thing to do, I live in a place were you can’t get Japanese food so I just use food I have in and using left overs is a bonus.
Plus there is a lot of little things you can use in bento, like picks and sauce bottles, to instantly jazz up a lunch box
This looks like a cool idea, but kids need to learn to eat what’s been put in front of them. Not everything is going to be “special”just for them.
Want an easy (non fancy) way to bento? Buy reusable cupcake liners and fill them with various foods, put on a plate, and viola! Bento!! Kids love the little colorful cups and small portions. I’m not just creative enough or want to spend my free time making robots out of cheese. Plus I don’t think my kids would want to mess up the pictures either!
Wow. A friend suggest you try bento and you get all worked up? Who forced you to do it? Let those who enjoy bento do bento and do whatever you want.
My eldest doesn’t care for sandwiches, so when he started school last year I had to be a bit more creative for his lunches. I bought a bunch of containers with dividers and I guess what I make are Bento-ish, but I usually don’t go all out. I have molds for hard-boiled eggs, so those are made ahead of time. I make mini pancakes, mini muffins, etc., ahead of time and freeze them. Which is to say, it doesn’t take long to assemble his lunch, everything is made in advance.
I do special cutesy ones for a treat, but not daily
Must be a slow news day.
As a Mom of 2 bigs, and 2 smalls… I say bento while you can! The 2 bigs are “2 big” to bento now. After a certain age, they need/want more food, and having your foods cut up is just not cool!
I believe more in letting my kid help pick out and make her own lunch to prepare her to make one of her own. Food is food–I’d rather spend the extra time reading a book together or playing a game. We eat together and that’s special and entertaining enough for us. It’s just like Top Chef–I love seeing what people can do, but I have no desire whatsoever to do it. We like our blueberries in a bowl, our PB&J cut into triangles, and our broccoli served as “dinosaur trees.” For us, that makes meal time innovative
Whenever I’m on Pinterest I see those damn boxes. I never know who has the time for all that? Maybe someone with a bento box nanny
I make cute lunches for my son. It does not take that long. I make them in the morning while my kiddo eats breakfast. I do it because he enjoys it and so do I. Not “everything” I do for my son is “special”. When he is tired of the cute lunches, I will stop making them. But, I won’t stop packing nutritional lunches for him.
Wow, just glad my grands are happy with a simple “brown bag” lunch and that as long as grama made it for them its “good to go”. They have NEVER been picky about food and will eat anything that won’t eat them first. They have their sandwiches, small bag of chips/pretzels, homemade muffins, piece of fruit, a frozen capri sun (no color added), a fruit roll up. The only “special” item is 2 stickers in the bag of my grandson at his request and sometimes a “note” that he dictates to me for his bag. I guess sometimes he knows he needs more than “Have a great day grama loves you” and I’m fine with that.
This is a little bit silly… I know the author is trying to get people talking, but SERIOUSLY?! We’re being ANTI-BENTO now?
We do bentos all the time – and I do it because it’s faster + easier than other lunch options. I don’t go crazy making it ‘special’ but we do use silicone cups, and I have a handful of miniature cutters I sometimes use to make things into cute shapes (it’s faster to stamp a flower shape out of a cucumber slice than it is to peel the cucumber) and plastic flower-shaped picks to keep sandwiches or things together. It cost me less than $5 for supplies and they’re all reusable.
We love bentos because it gives our daughter a bunch of healthy choices. And it lets me use up what’s on hand – even if it’s just a few bites of one thing and a few of another. We waste less. We’ve virtually eliminated disposable packaging. And it makes my three year old happy.
What’s there to be ‘against’? Maybe try it a few times before you bash it.
I bento. I don’t think it defines me as a parent. I don’t think any less of anyone that chooses not to bento. I don’t think that cutting a sandwich with a cookie cutter makes me a better Mom. I do it because it makes me happy.
I am Japanese American…my mom is 1st generation Japanese. SO I grew up with a bento box….when it wasn’t cool. When all I wanted was to be like the rest of the kids with PB&J, a juice box and yogurt….my mom sent me to school with sushi/rice balls and all the japanese snacks
So to honor my heritage I do it AND it teaches my daughter portions, food groups and that healthy eating can be fun!
Ultimately you got to do what works for you….don’t keep up with the Smiths’, Jones’ or Yamadas’…..be the best loving mom ever and your kids won’t care what your bento box has in it! LOL xo Coffee and Whine/Fit & Savvy
I’ve used Laptop Lunchboxes (a type of Bento box) for years for my older son’s lunchbox. I don’t do anything fancy including cupcake liners but I do like them because they are sturdy, microwave and dishwasher and make the chore of making lunches easier. It’s gotten to the point where I can grab the case and containers out of last night’s dishwasher load and make a healthy and varied lunch in 5 minutes. Since my son is used to the box and now knows what fits in which container he can now make his lunch with very little help and he’s only 5 1/2. I never did the fancy stuff because I don’t have the time and I didn’t want my son to expect it in every lunch.
What?? I LOVE making bento. My teenager got me into it. We make cats and pandas and penguins and puppies out of rice balls and seaweed paper. We roll up swirly egg crepes and decorate with mayo squiggles and make little salads topped with stars and moons and hearts made from carrots and cheese and ham and what not. And YES we do it because it’s CUTE!!! Tell me, what exactly is so wrong with FUN?
I’d love have the time and energy to make cats and pandas out of rice balls and robots. I’d also love to grow organic veggies and make my own jam, learn to sew and knit clothes, have a spotless home, finish my novel etc. As it is I can barely get the laundry done. I try not to feel bad about this. I’m doing the best I can and pinterist can bite me. Having small children at home is easy for some and very time consuming/tiring for others. Depends on if the child is special needs or just high needs and the energy level/health of the mom. I don’t make special fancy lunches but I don’t think it’s okay to throw up your hands and say okay my kid will just live on chicken nuggets and box mac and cheese. There’s a happy medium between laboring over a work of art and letting your kid just eat junk. I think bento boxes are a great idea (they don’t have to be time consuming) and I don’t begrudge anyone who has the time to make the special ones. I applaud them. I do suspect that if they had a baby pulling on their pant leg and a preschooler on the spectrum having a melt as they stood at the counter, they wouldn’t be making the boxes either…unless they just had no need for sleep and in between the baby waking them up 3 times a night they snuck into the kitchen to carve radishes into roses for a cheese princess’ bouquet.
Forgot to add that the reason why people bristle over the modern day June Cleaver stuff is that it’s hard not to look at an idealized version of motherhood and housewifery and not feel that in some small way you are being told you’re a crap mom if you don’t do xyz too. There’s nothing wrong with sharing a turkey sandwich and an apple with your kid and then make a mud pie together. It might not look good in a glossy magazine or someone’s newsfeed or Pinterest but ultimately your kid needs you, not crafts. There’s nothing wrong with them of course and they can be enriching but not if it’s done in a competitive super mom way.
I agree with LAM – bento for me is more about using up the tiny bits of leftovers and introducing 2-3 bites of new foods and less about creating masterpieces with seaweed sheets. My kid might try a cherry tomato if there’s only one there but it can be too intimidating if there is a lot there. I do occasionally cut sandwiches or cheese with small cookie cutters, but that’s about it.
I wish I had the time (or maybe it’s just the creativity?) to make those beautiful edible bento creations! I think my kids would love them. For anyone reading more about lunchbox dilemmas, my School Bites blog is devoted to healthy eating at school (at home!). Please join the conversation at http://www.facebook.com/SchoolBites or http://school-bites.com