School Lunch Planning

We send our boys with a packed lunch to school 90% of the time.  For the month of September, the boys and I all bought lunch at school each day but then I really did start to understand that although buying a school lunch is cheaper than sending a Lunchable, it's not cheaper than sending a sandwich.  And in my case, my school lunch wasn't appetizing enough to justify the cost.  For the boys, it costs $2.25 for lunch, and I have to pay $3.25 as a teacher.  Buying lunch at school also meant that I had to go to the lunchroom during one of the three lunch times.  Lunch time falls during my planning period and having to pause a stream of planning efficiency to go to the lunchroom is somewhat of an annoyance.  So I began packing lunches again in October and I think the boys and I have only bought a school lunch on one day since then-- they each chose a random day and I chose the day that the cafeteria was serving their Thanksgiving lunch which was pretty good.

Packing lunches, although cheaper, is certainly more of a hassle.  It requires careful grocery lists to make sure that I actually get things that are suitable for lunch.  I pack a lunch and a snack for them. I always packed their snacks, even when they bought lunch, because the snacks sold at PE (which is always right before snack time) are solely candy-ish items. It takes some planning to pick out the items I want my kiddos to have for lunch and snack, which also means that I am specific in where I shop since not every store carries what I have come to rely on for their midday meal and snacks.  When I pack lunch, I have to write the carb amount of every item packed for Michael so this takes extra time.  Over the weeks, I've developed some time savers.  I try to pack up any pre-packaged and non-refrigerated items the night before, then I just have to pack the sandwiches, yogurts, or any other refrigerated items in the morning.

Here's some examples of what I pack.

The Pirate's Booty Cheese puffs, strawberry applesauce pouch, Slim Jim and one juice pouch (Koolaid Jammers or Capri Sun Roaring Waters since those two types are the lowest in carb count) are snack items.  The raisins, chips, other juice pouch, sandwich, and sugar free Jello pudding are lunch items.

Noah's food just has to be labeled as "lunch" or "snack."  Similar to Michael, Noah took Pirate's Booty Cheese puffs, strawberry applesauce and a juice pouch for snack.  For lunch, he took Fritos, pudding, 2 small Chips Ahoy, another juice pouch and two pepperoni-wrapped cheese sticks instead of a sandwich.

On this day, I took a photo the night before the lunches were packed which is why I don't have a picture of the sandwich.  Michael is pretty consistent with what he wants for lunch-- which is typically a PBJ sandwich.  We use Polaner's or Smucker's sugar free grape or blackberry jam, Jif peanut butter, and Sara Lee "45 Calories and Delightful" bread which is very low in carb count.  On this day, Michael would be having a sandwich along with 2 mini Chips Ahoy cookies, some Cheetos puffs, and a juice pouch.

For snack on this day, he would be having roughly 21 Goldfish, a juice pouch, Slim Jim, and a strawberry applesauce.

I also include a little joke/note for Michael.  On one side is a little Knock Knock joke, and on the other side is a spot for me to write a little encouraging note to him.  (When Noah reads with more ease, I will include notes for him too).

Sometimes it is hard to remember all the items I could use for lunch making, so I made myself a little list on the fridge that includes main dish ideas (PBJ, pepperoni cheese sticks, ham sandwich) and side item options so it's not so overwhelming.  I make sure my grocery list includes most of these items each week to make the lunch packing easier.

Until Next Time,
Much love, Reba

Lunches for Michael

Preparing lunch for someone with Type One Diabetes is never as simple as throwing things in a bag and saying "good to go!"  Meal times are also never as simple as saying "yeah, sure, get anything you'd like from the lunch line at school and don't worry about measuring exactly what goes on your plate." Every meal and every snack take a lot of work to correctly prepare.

Michael has wanted to buy lunch at school on a few occasions this semester.  When that happens, the lunch ladies are supposed to measure the scoop of beans or fries or whatever, and Michael's tray is then brought to the nurse's office where they calculate the carbs and dose Michael for them.  Michael then takes his tray back to the lunchroom to eat with the rest of his class.

On days when Michael packs his lunch (which are most days), he takes his lunchbox to the nurse's office.  They calculate the carb amounts that I've written on all items.  They dose him for the carbs (ie, give him insulin), and he then takes his lunchbox to the cafeteria where he eats with his classmates.

I took a picture of the typical lunch he likes to bring to school.  I pack his lunch and his afternoon snack.  If his blood sugar ever drops to a point where he'd need a morning snack, I have provided snack options which are stored in the nurse's office.  These items include peanut butter crackers, shelf stable chocolate milk boxes, etc.

For lunch, Michael typically likes to have a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, some type of chip (in this case it's Veggie Straws), something sweet, and a juice pouch (we use Capri Sun Roaring Waters).  For snack, I like to provide something with protein (Go-gurt, or a Greek yogurt cup, etc.).

For every items, I write whether it's for lunch or snack, and I write the grams of carbs.  This makes it easy on the nurses and also ensures that the correct carb amounts are dosed for, since types of breads vary in carb amounts, etc.

Until Next Time,
Much love, Reba

First Grade Performance

On Tuesday of this week, Michael participated in his school's 1st grade performance. The theme was Candy Shop, and students who chose to participate were encouraged to wear bright colors or dress like Willy Wonka characters or like candy.  The participation was voluntary, and parents were sent a note home in early February asking if their child would like to participate.  Michael was eager to do so, which makes my mama heart so happy. 

Michael would come home from school over the past couple of weeks and tell me some of the songs they were working on (like "Lollipop, Lollipop" and "The Candy Man," which he said he didn't like).  He's not a big one to wear costumes, but decided it would be fun to wear Skittles wrappers on a shirt. So on Tuesday, I cut open some small Skittle packets and then used safety pins to attach them to his shirt. He was quite proud of himself. 

At the performance, which followed an APT meeting, the 1st graders got up on stage and performed 5 songs. It was cute! Michael didn't fully do all the dance moves though, which is typical for him and he said later that he was nervous. All 6 grandparents were able to attend which is so fun and such a blessing!

Until next time, 
Much love, Reba

Precautions and Erasing the Board

The flu has hit our state hard and it just won't leave!!!  After Christmas break, we sent Michael to school as normal.  By that Friday, the nurse had called me to tell me that she was sending multiple kids home with the flu and it was so bad in the school that they were not letting Michael even come into the nurse's office to get his blood sugar checks-- the nurses were going down to his classroom to check him and administer insulin.  (I was SO thankful for that!)

I called my mom and emailed Aaron. My mom suggested that I call our pediatric nurse line and ask what to do.  The nurse suggested I pull Michael out of school for a few days.  I called the 504 Coordinator at Michael's school and arranged to do just that.

Michael was out of school for a full week, and the school nurse kept me informed as to the level of flu exposure at the school.  By the end of that week, the flu was still in high presence, so we planned to keep Michael out another week.  We had a holiday weekend in front of us, and then it happened to snow the remainder of that week, so we thought maybe the flu had run its course.  In fact, during this time of snow and ice, Noah came down with a fever and lethargy and I'm pretty sure he had the flu.  We instantly sent Michael to my mother-in-law's house to keep him from being around Noah.  Noah came around within 48 hours and we were able to get Michael safely back home (once the roads cleared up!).

I can tell you that as soon as Noah had a fever, I felt like I had been punched in the gut.  I was terrified that Michael would get the flu.  A Type One Diabetic with the flu is not a good combo.

Miraculously, Michael didn't get the flu.  We sent him back to school on Wednesday the following week when it seemed like the flu cases were down.  I had a 504 meeting on Friday at school to override the district policies regarding absences so that we could keep Michael out of school as a precautionary measure so that he didn't get the flu.

We thought things were finally looking up in the school.  However, on Monday morning, Michael's teacher and the school nurse were both calling and texting me to say that multiple kindergartners were coming down with flu symptoms.  I told them I'd come get Michael right away.  I got him and kept him home with me that day to watch for symptoms.  He didn't have any.  I made the decision to keep him out the rest of the week, and the nurse and his teacher kept me informed as to the number of students out.  By Wednesday night, Michael's teacher had the flu.  She would be out til Tuesday.

I thought about sending Michael back on Tuesday.  Then I was told on Friday that half the kindergarten teachers were out with the flu, and it was so bad that they couldn't find enough subs to cover the classes and they were having to combine classes (which just means more kids are exposed to each other).  The rest of the affected teachers couldn't return until Wednesday, so I decided to at least keep Michael home until then so that he wouldn't be in a combined class just in case the school couldn't find enough subs again.

On Tuesday night, I was informed that multiple kindergartners were still being sent home with flu like symptoms, and Michael's teacher had half her class out.  I decided to keep Michael home the rest of the week, to the agreement of the school nurse and his teacher.

As of Friday, 104 students were absent, which is a lot, but also considered "normal" for this time of year.  The nurse had sent home fewer students on Friday than she had been sending home earlier in the week.  My mom is a nurse at a hospital and notified me that she had seen a significant decrease in flu patients.  Michael's teacher texted to say that only 3 kids were out on Friday from his class, and one of them was Michael who isn't sick.

So Aaron and I made the decision to send him back to school this week on Monday.

I feel confident knowing that the school nurse and Michael's teacher will inform me if kindergartners are still being sent home in large numbers.  So far so good.

I feel, though, like I'm in a warehouse and looking at one of those white boards that say "Days Since Accident: 396."  Except, I feel like my board says "Days Since Exposure: 13."  And I'm about to have to wipe the board clean and say "0 days" since exposure.  I'm nervous that he'll end up getting it still.  But all I can do is trust God to keep him safe.

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba