Making Lunch WIth Love

Every morning I send my husband off to work with his lunch packed in his vintage, metal lunch box.

He found it at the flea market a year or so ago, and he'd much rather use it than some soft-sided, nylon cooler bag.

That's his way.  Aesthetics matter to this man.

(he also has a thing for vintage thermoses and has quite a collection of them)

This week as I was packing his lunch, I thought about how many posts I read about doing special things for our kids, our friends, our fellow blogging buddies and the world in general.

But unless it is Valentines Day, I can't recall that many posts about special things we can do for the men in our lives.

That's messed up.

Maybe lunch isn't your man's thing.  But my man loves a home made lunch.

He'd much rather have home made than buy a burrito off the lunch truck or even grab a ($6) sandwich from Starbucks.

So I make his lunch for him.  Almost every day.

Can he make his own?

Of course.

But that's not really the point.

I can take out the trash cans.  But I don't like to.

So Aaron always does.

And I am sure, if Aaron were to pack his own lunch, he'd be always be eating pb and js  or getting lunch off the truck.  He just isn't a lunch maker.

Besides, I like to do it for him.

His favorite lunch is a salad. 
(I always think of this Seinfeld episode when I eat just a salad)

I make him one each morning, loaded with veggies and a few treats like: feta cheese, Kalmata olives, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, or avocado from our tree.

I make some dang good salads--they are one of my specialties.

And since Aaron has a problem with hoarding Tupperware, I stopped packing his lunches in plastic containers and switched to these glass, Pyrex containers.  

I have quite a few of them since I always keep an eye out for them at estate sales, garage sales and thrift stores.  As long as you don't buy them in sets, they are affordable.

Not only are they more aesthetically pleasing than a Rubbermaid container, Aaron also knows he'll get on my bad side if he leaves them in his truck for weeks (yes weeks--i told you he was a hoarder) at a time before bringing them in to be washed.

They work like a charm.

Making him a fresh salad for lunch really doesn't take much time.  Maybe 10 minutes--tops.

But there are mornings when everyone is starving and clamoring for my attention and I still want my coffee and I just need a couple extra minutes to get those carrots chopped.

Enter the love notes.

We don't do it every day.  

But at least a few times a week, the boys and I slip notes, cards or drawings into Aaron's lunch box to tell him how very much we love him.

I love to surprise him that way.

I haven't been doing it for long and I wonder why I never thought about it before.

I'm glad I do now.

The notes are not long.  Sometimes all I can manage is an "i love you."

The boys are more elaborate, and often give him drawings or sweet little notes.

This actually works in my favor because instead of sitting at the table asking for breakfast while I'm chopping lettuce, they are busy drawing pictures for daddy.  

It's a win-win.

And so, as he heads off to work, I can hand him his lunch box, his steaming cup (or thermos) of coffee and he can know in one more way that he is loved.

That he is appreciated.

That we are thinking of him all day long.

It's just a little thing really.

But I think that it's the little things that are often the nicest.

Besides, I have to fill that lunch box for him.

It goes so perfectly with his vintage ties.

I think I am going to try my hand at 5 minute artisan bread today.

Maybe it will make it into Aaron's lunch box tomorrow.

I'll let you know.

Love from,

Greta


PS. I have to give credit to my mom for teaching me how to love my man in this way.  She always went out of her way to pack my dad a nice lunch because she knew that was something that was important to him in the middle of a long work day.  Much like Aaron, my dad would rather have a homemade sandwich than stop in at McDonalds for a Big Mac.  In fact, I think both of them would rather starve than stop for a Big Mac.
We all show love to our men in different ways, but in my family, a home made lunch is a sure fire way to say, "you matter to me."
Thanks Mom!