I served my kids Lunchables again, and here’s why I don’t feel bad about it.

Well, I kinda did at first, but then I gave myself a break and moved on to the next thing.

After all, I’ve packed them in their school lunchboxes more times than I can count.

I would love to have the patience and resources to prepare all that’s healthy and fresh each day we’re home together, but that’s not practical right now. And, really, it never was.

I am one mom with two legs and two sets of hands trying to accomplish the workload of a team of trained specialists.

There’s the cooking.
And the cleaning.
And the refereeing.
And the negotiating.
And the teaching.
And the budgeting.
And the list goes on...

I’m not going to stress over serving fresh veggies every meal while I’m struggling to keep the house in order and protect the kids from injury.

Moms have always felt pressure.

But now we’re considering threats unlike anything we’ve ever known.

We’re feeling criticism over choices to protect our loved ones.

We’re questioning our own abilities, our contributions and our worth.

We’re extra sensitive to situations that trigger our emotions.

And we’re stuck at home to stew.

So instead of getting bogged down by the relatively small stuff, let’s give ourselves (and our loved ones) an extra helping of grace.

Yes, we don’t need to feed our families fast food all day, but we can pass out the Lunchables on occasion and save ourselves the guilt trip.

We can take breaks (regularly) when we need them and ask for help.

We can spend more time reading our Bibles than reading the daily news.

We can apologize when we hurt someone’s feelings then Let. It. Go.

These days are long and running together, but let’s not forget to take care of ourselves and appreciate the time we’ve got.

Our job isn’t easy. But we’re trying our best.

So, let’s be okay with Lunchables. They’re actually pretty good.

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