Why I Still Make The Lunches

It’s not because they can’t…and it reflects a philosophy about teaching.

My middle- and high-school aged kids get a lunch packed, complete with a daily note, as they walk out the door. I’ve made sandwiches on homemade bread, packed their bags with a balanced meal, and put it out for them before 6:40.

I know lots of fellow parents who have turned this work over to their kids by this age – a teenager is certainly capable of making her own lunch, so why not let them? There’s a solid argument that it’s good for them to take on that responsibility.

And yet, I keep making them myself. Part of it is as an expression of love. “I made this for you” is one of my favorite ways to show love. But there’s more to it than that.

Knowing that they can prepare their own lunches – they just did, all summer long – I like to take it off their to-do list, so they can focus on things that I think are more important. Their education, their extracurriculars, a few more minutes of sleep for their developing brains. There are so many opportunities for them to show maturity, leadership, growth…and I don’t think that making a school lunch is a high priority.

Finally, I am mindful of the temporariness of this situation. I won’t be able to make lunches for my kids for very much longer; and conversely, they have a lifetime of making their own lunches that starts in the very near future. I will hold onto this time for all it’s worth.

What’s this have to do with education? Simple. We have many different ways we can push our students to grow and learn, and sometimes we appear to be trying to push them in every way at once. As a teacher, I can take some challenges off of my students’ list, so that I can encourage them to grow in more important ways. For example: knowing my students can teach themselves their part on a piece, I then feel no guilt in providing part recordings.

I want my students (and my kids) to leave my care fully prepared to be self-sufficient adults. I just don’t think that means I need to insist they do everything they’re capable of doing, right this minute.