Dear Busy Mom,
If figuring out what to pack for school lunch feels like yet another full-time job, you’re in good company. Some days it’s tempting to just toss a granola bar in the general direction of a lunchbox and hope for the best. Today, I’m writing to share some much-needed relief on this front. We’ve partnered with someone truly special, Megan McNamee, MPH, RDN, a dietitian, mom of two, and the co-founder of Feeding Littles, to help us all navigate the wild world of kids’ meals. Megan has dedicated her career to helping families feed their children with more confidence and less stress. She’s all about realistic parenting and positive vibes around food, which is exactly what we busy moms need.
Let me start by saying: Megan gets it. She knows the mental load that comes with constantly worrying about your child’s eating: Is it nutritious enough? Will they even touch it? Am I a terrible mom if I send the same lunch two days in a row? (For the record: no, you’re not!) Megan’s philosophy is a breath of fresh air: she urges us to let go of perfection and guilt around feeding our kids. A lunch doesn’t have to look like a Pinterest masterpiece to be nourishing and filled with love. In fact, Megan assures us that it’s totally fine to take shortcuts and do what works for our unique family. Buy the pre-cut fruits, repeat the easy lunches, even lean on the school cafeteria when you need to – there’s zero shame in that. The goal isn’t Instagram-worthy bento boxes; the goal is a fed child and a happy mom.
Making Lunch Packing Easier (Yes, It’s Possible!)
One of Megan’s core messages is that packing school lunch can be simple – even enjoyable – once you have a system. She co-wrote Feeding Littles Lunches, a New York Times bestselling book filled with 75+ no-stress lunch ideas, precisely to help parents out of the “what do I pack?!” rut. One of the coolest things in the book is their lunch packing formula. I’ve started using it, and let me tell you, it’s a game-changer on hectic mornings. The formula is basically this: include a protein, a starch, a fruit, a veggie, and a little “fun” item in every lunch. That’s it. Five components. It’s flexible (swap in your child’s favorites) but gives you a blueprint so you’re not reinventing the wheel daily. Turkey roll-ups + crackers, grapes, cucumber slices, and a few pretzels? Check! Pasta leftovers, cheese cubes, cherry tomatoes, apple, and a cookie? Done! This simple template guarantees some balance and variety, and you don’t have to stress about perfect nutrition at each meal. Remember, as Megan likes to remind us, nutrition is balanced over time, not in a single lunchbox.
Megan also shares brilliant hacks to streamline the whole lunch routine. Her number one tip for parents: pack lunches the night before, not at 6am. If you can swing it, pack while you’re making dinner or right after, so you only mess up the kitchen once (queue the angels singing!). I was skeptical until I tried it – and wow, does it make mornings calmer. The lunches stay fresh (yes, even sandwiches, a thin spread of mustard or mayo on bread keeps it from getting soggy overnight), and you get to sip your coffee instead of frantically chopping fruit at dawn. Another pro tip: capitalize on leftovers. If you’re roasting veggies or grilling chicken for dinner, make a little extra for tomorrow’s lunch. Leftovers are budget-friendly and already proven to be something your kid likes. Megan even suggests reimagining dinner remnants in lunchbox form, for example, turn taco night leftovers into a DIY “nacho” lunch with some tortilla chips and cheese on the side. With a bit of creative repurposing, you save time and money, and nothing goes to waste.
Speaking of waste, that’s a big worry for us moms (those sad, uneaten lunches!). Megan’s advice: start small, literally. Pack small portions of new or less-favorite foods. Instead of a whole apple they might not touch, pack a few slices. Instead of a big pile of carrot sticks (that will come home), pack two or three pieces. Small servings are less overwhelming for kids and they can always ask for more during lunch or snack time if they’re truly still hungry. This tip has saved my sanity and significantly reduced the guilt of tossing out untouched food. Plus, if you’re dealing with a tight budget, small portions and focusing on familiar foods go a long way. Nutrition doesn’t have to be expensive. A lunch of store-brand whole wheat crackers, a slice of cheese, an apple, and a hard-boiled egg can be just as nourishing as the fancy bento-box fare, and it’s friendly on the wallet. (Frozen veggies and fruits are another budget-friendly hero Megan loves – they’re nutritionally rich and last much longer.)
Picky Eaters and Lunchtime Struggles: You’re Not Alone
Now, let’s address the adorable little elephant in the room: picky eaters. If you have one (or more) at home, you know the anxiety of wondering Will they eat anything I pack? Megan specializes in helping families with picky eaters, and her approach is both compassionate and backed by evidence. One reassuring fact she shares is that picky eating is extremely common and normal among young children. You didn’t mess up as a parent, kids’ tastes can be fickle and their appetites ever-changing. Some days they’ll gobble down a whole sandwich; other days, that same sandwich might come home with two bites missing for no apparent reason. And guess what? That’s okay. As hard as it is to see food come back untouched, try to remember that your child’s day-to-day intake will fluctuate. Children are intuitive eaters by nature; they eat when they’re hungry and leave food when they’re not, and over time it balances out.
So what can we do to gently encourage our picky kiddos to try more foods? Megan’s mantra is “expose without pressure.” This means continue to offer variety. Different foods, different textures, but without forcing or bribing your child to eat them. It can take dozens of exposures for a child to finally taste (and eventually enjoy) a new food. So don’t give up! If cherry tomatoes keep coming home, it’s not a failure, it’s an exposure. Maybe next time, or the tenth time, they’ll get curious and give it a lick or a nibble. To make this easier on everyone, keep portions of the “learning” foods very small (one or two bites’ worth) so it doesn’t feel wasteful or intimidating. And celebrate any interaction with the new food, even if it’s not eaten – did they touch it? Smell it? Great! That’s progress in the world of sensory learning.
Another brilliant tip I learned from Megan is to involve your child in the lunch process. Kids are more likely to eat what they’ve had a hand in choosing or making. This can be as simple as letting them pick between two fruits (“banana or strawberries today?”) or helping you assemble a trail mix for snack time. Megan even suggests looking at lunch idea photos or her book with your child and letting them point out things that look yummy. I tried this with my five-year-old, and to my surprise, she got excited about trying a “broccoli and cheese quesadilla” because she saw a picture of it and thought it was cool. Involving kids gives them ownership and pride in their meals – and even the pickiest eater might be more willing to taste something they chose themselves.
The Cafeteria Chronicles: Realistic Expectations
Before I sign off, I want to touch on something that was an eye-opener for me: the cafeteria experience itself. We tend to focus on what we pack, but Megan points out that how kids eat at school is a whole new world. The lunchroom can be loud, busy, and even overwhelming for little ones. There’s peer pressure (“Ew, what’s that green thing?”), time constraints (some schools give kids barely 15–20 minutes to eat!), and the sheer excitement of freedom with friends. All of this means kids might eat less at school than they do at home, regardless of what’s in their lunch. My first grader sometimes eats every bite I pack, but other days she’ll eat two crackers and call it good because she’s eager to go play. Megan assures us this is normal. In fact, she often finds her own kids come home famished and digging into their lunchboxes in the car ride after school. If that’s the case, you can offer the rest of the lunch (if it’s still safe to eat) as an after-school snack – just be sure to keep it light-hearted. (“Still hungry? Want to finish your sandwich now?”) No pressure, no punishment.
Also, a quick teacher-approved tip: practice opening those lunch containers and wrappers at home. Little hands can struggle with tight lids, and in a busy cafeteria, help may not arrive quickly. If you know that yogurt tube or thermos is a challenge, pre-open it or choose an easier container. The more self-sufficient your kid can be with their lunch, the smoother their experience will be (and the more time they have to actually eat). And if your school allows it, don’t hesitate to occasionally let your child buy the school lunch. School meal programs are designed to be balanced and kid-friendly. As Megan notes, they can be a godsend for busy families – and sometimes kids will try new foods at school lunch that they wouldn’t touch from home, just by seeing peers eat them!
Why Megan is a Mom’s Best Friend (in the Feeding Department)
In collaborating with Megan McNamee for this Dear Busy Mom series, I’ve realized she isn’t just a nutrition expert, she’s a mindset coach for us parents. Her core message is empowering: you are doing a great job, and with a few practical strategies, you can make this part of motherhood easier. Megan stands for balance, flexibility, and compassion in feeding our families. She’s not here to tell you to cut fruit into roses or swear off cookies. (In fact, she’ll be the first to say that offering dessert regularly and making it no big deal is key to raising kids who don’t fixate on sweets!) She’s here to remind us that healthy habits and happy mealtimes are built over years of small, everyday moments, packing the orange slices, sitting down to family dinner when we can, letting the kids help cook on weekends, enjoying ice cream on a hot day – all without stressing over perfection.
Megan’s work (through Feeding Littles courses and her book) has helped thousands of moms drop the guilt and fear and replace it with confidence. She combines her professional expertise as a registered dietitian nutritionist with her real-life mom wisdom. The result is advice that is evidence-based and totally practical for sleep-deprived, budget-conscious, busy parents. Whether it’s understanding how to prevent picky eating or figuring out how to safely introduce peanut butter, Megan’s got tips that make it doable. She’s also a fierce advocate for trusting kids with their own appetites and promoting a positive relationship with food. That means no forced bites, no diet talk, and no labeling foods “good” or “bad.” It’s about raising kids who enjoy a variety of foods and listen to their bodies, a gift that lasts a lifetime.
I could go on (clearly, I’m a mega-fan of Megan!), but I’ll leave you with this: You are not alone in the lunchbox hustle, and there are ways to make it easier. Take a page from Megan’s playbook and give yourself permission to simplify. Use the formula. Pack it the night before. Throw in the cookie. Embrace leftovers. Involve your kiddo. And know that if all that comes back is crumbs and a bite out of a carrot, it’s OK. Your child is learning and growing, and you’re doing an incredible job providing for them.
From one busy mom to another… You’ve got this!
XO, The momAgenda Team
