Why I Took My Kids School Lunch Orders Away

Enough was enough! My kids had tossed three large bins of perfectly good toys into the skip bin without my permission and I was furious. They needed to learn a lesson. That’s why I took my kids school lunch orders away.

I had been saving those three large bins of toys to either give to someone in need. Or donate to a local charity. Our kids have so many toys and they had outgrown these. But they were still in good condition.

I was infuriated when I found out they had thrown all the toys in the skip bin. That was a lot of money down the drain. To teach them a lesson, I decided to take away their school lunch orders for the rest of the year.

Why I Did This

It’s important to me that my children understand they won’t always get everything handed to them. While we strive to provide the best for them. We also aim to balance that with valuable life lessons. As they grow, they need to learn to be independent and understand that their actions have consequences. There were several reasons behind my decision to take away their school lunch orders.

You can’t hit your kids anymore so that option was off the table. Even though I really felt like giving them each a good wack.
Sending them to their room or temporarily taking away their devices like we usually do, just wasn’t going to cut it this time.
Lunch order day is something our kids look forward to each week at school and I knew this punishment would be a tough one for them.
I wanted this to be a memorable lesson. Teaching them that there are consequences for their actions especially when they do something they shouldn’t.
We were going through one of our toughest financial patches. So, taking away our kids school lunches each week helped reduce one less expense to worry about.

How Did It Go

I wish I could say it was smooth sailing with no drama and that the kids accepted the punishment without question. For the first couple of weeks, it seemed to go well. But as time went on, they grew increasingly unhappy about not being able to order their school lunches.

Frustration and resentment began to build and they started blaming each other for tossing the toys in the bin. This often led to arguments and even tantrums. The kids even tried to complain to their dad, insisting it was unfair to miss out on their school lunch orders for so long. But they soon realized that tactic wouldn’t work.

Lessons Learned

It’s a new school year and the kids are back to ordering their lunches each week. It’s funny how quickly the hard times of no school lunches faded into the past. They got so used to it, that they actually missed a lunch order day at the start of the year. Only remembering when they saw other kids with their orders at school. After school, they were quick to remind me that they could have their lunch orders again. Looking back on when I took away their lunch orders, I realized they had learned some valuable lessons.

Gratitude – The kids were so excited and grateful to have their school lunch orders back and are so happy to be able to place their lunch orders each week.
Appreciation – They now appreciate being able to choose from a wide variety on their school lunch menu each week for lunch order day. They’ve also come to understand that not all kids in their class have the option to order lunch at school.
Achievement – The kids now understand that they need to earn their school lunch order each week. It’s not just something they automatically get. I remind them that it’s a privilege, not a right. So, each week before lunch order day, they must make sure all their chores are done and that the kitchen and lounge are clean and tidy. Only after they’ve accomplished this can they choose what they want for lunch on order day.
Humility – They have learned to be humble. A simple reminder of when their school lunch orders were taken away is enough to bring them back in check. Especially when they start to misbehave or act out.
Frugality – The kids also learned that we saved money by not ordering their lunches from school. We saved about $25 each week which included the surcharge and service fees associated with lunch orders. Consequently, we saved at least $100 each month during the ban on their school lunch orders. This helped us get through one of our toughest financial patches.

Summary

There will be times when you need to stand firm with your kids and show them some tough love. Sometimes, your circumstances will require you to pivot and adjust things to align with your lifestyle so that you can thrive.

It was challenging to maintain the ban on our kids school lunch orders, especially after about a month when we could see how much they missed them. However, we stayed strong and enforced the punishment until the end. Now, the kids understand that when they do something wrong or wasteful, there will be consequences for their actions.

Our children can now enjoy their school lunch orders each week but they know they must earn this privilege. If necessary, I would take their lunch orders away again. But they seem to have learned their lesson the first time.