Making a healthy, filling, nutritious lunch your child wants to eat shouldn’t be stressful – or break the bank. We share tips and tricks to help keep costs down while ensuring you’re helping make healthy food choices for your kids

School dinners have always had a bit of a bad reputation. Just try giving it a quick google: Why are school lunches… and you’ll get an autocomplete suggesting ‘so bad’. For many, the lack of variety and memories of past frozen, processed foods from our own childhood lunches make us wary of school dinners. As of April 2022, the average cost of a school dinner has reached £2.60 per day, making them a costly option for many families.

New research has revealed that packed lunches aren’t much better. According to research released by Starling Bank in September, the cost of kids’ packed lunches has increased by an eye-watering 70% since April 2021, from an average £1.40 to £2.37 per day. When you add in the additional time spent preparing lunches, cleaning up, and meal planning, not to mention the often strict school guidelines on what can and cannot be included in your child’s lunch, it can make preparing a daily lunchbox a stressful task.

With worries about the cost of living driving many families to cut back where they can, the rise in the cost of food feels like a double-edged sword. How are you supposed to give your child the best possible diet, without over-spending? The good news is, despite 41% of Brits associating healthy food with unaffordable prices, you can eat healthily for less. With a little bit of planning, getting back to basics, and trying top tips from nutrition experts, you can start making packed lunches a less stressful, more affordable option for the whole family.

What should be in a ‘school-approved’ packed lunch?

Making a packed lunch can be tricky. While the exact rules vary from school to school, many have banned items that were commonly considered as lunchbox staples. For parents with limited time and money, this can make lunches feel like a challenge.

It’s always worth checking with your school directly to ensure which foods are and aren’t allowed. Including banned foods can mean that part of your child’s lunch is confiscated, or they may be required to eat by themselves in another room. This can mean some kids may still feel hungry after lunch, as well as missing out on valuable time socialising with friends outside of the classroom.

Commonly banned foods can include:

• chocolate or sweets
• high-sugar yoghurts
• crisps
• anything containing nuts
• cake or biscuits
• fizzy drinks or squash
• foods high in processed sugars
• processed, packaged meat products (sausage rolls, store-bought pies or pasties)

Food also needs to be able to last until lunchtime without needing refrigeration and should be edible without the need for reheating.

But what is allowed in your child’s lunchbox? Schools often recommend:

• at least one portion of fruit
• at least one portion of vegetables
• meat, fish or non-dairy

Becoming a parent can bring so much joy, but there can be challenges with this new chapter. Here, we explore how coaching can support you

Any time we move into a new stage of life, there is a mixture of emotions that come with it. Even the most positive and joyful transitions like getting married, moving home or starting a family can be stressful. In fact, these are often cited as the most stressful moments in life.

If you have recently become a parent or are a parent-to-be, you may understand this only too well. For some, the transition can trigger mental health concerns including postnatal depression and even postnatal psychosis.

Speaking about the challenges of parenthood can feel taboo, however. With societal pressure to be grateful for what you have and for parenthood to be nothing but rewarding at all times. But, the truth is, many struggle. And even if your mental health isn’t severely affected, chances are you’re navigating a whole lot of change.

This is where, for some, coaching can provide a lifeline. Life coaching for mums and parents looks to help you identify the challenges you’re facing and find a way to move forward.

“Juggling motherhood whilst maintaining a sense of self and purpose can be a challenging prospect.” Transformative life coach Catherine Crawley explains in her article, Life coaching for mums and mums-to-be.

“Many women in today's society are often 'something for everyone', leaving them feeling frazzled, stressed, and often with a depleted sense of who they truly are in life. I am passionate about helping women come back to their real selves, taking responsibility for their self-care and needs in life without losing what the true essence of being a mum means to them.”

Here we take a closer look at some of the ways coaching can help parents.

1. Help you reconnect with your identity (and embrace new ones)

For many, the early days of parenthood are purely about the new arrival. Ensuring your baby is safe, healthy and cared for is top priority and anything else becomes background noise. While this is to be expected, over time that background noise comes back into focus and some parents experience a sense of lost identity.

Your lifestyle is likely very different from what it was before, and you may miss activities you did pre-baby. You may feel as though you have morphed into ‘mum’ or ‘dad’, and that this is all you are now.

Coaching can help you reconnect with your core values and beliefs, exploring what may have changed since becoming a parent, and what’s stayed the same. Your life won’t look the same as it did before, but a coach can help you remember who you are and embrace the changes as they come.

2. Help to overcome overwhelm and parental burnout

Speaking to parents about how they feel after becoming parents, a commonly used phrase is ‘overwhelmed’, and this isn’t unsurprising. Life turns upside down when you start a family, introducing a pile of responsibilities and life admin that can feel incomprehensible at times.

In time, this can lead to parental burnou

Support kids with the return to school, with these motivating and uplifting affirmations

With the school holidays coming to an end, and the school gates looming, it’s only natural that children will experience a host of different emotions. Mixed in with excitement about seeing friends and returning to routines, children might also experience anxiety about the coming school term. With academic pressure, friendship rifts, and growing pains, school can be a challenging place to be, sometimes.

This is where affirmations come in. They’re short mantras or sayings that we can repeat to ourselves to reinforce a positive self-belief. They can be used any time, any place. They can be said out loud, or in our heads. And they’re short and sweet, so easy for children to memorise and use themselves.

The key to a great affirmation is finding one that resonates with the individual. But, to start you off, we’ve got 30 affirmations to help kids with the back-to-school transition.

1. I am safe

2. I can ask for help if I need it

3. It’s OK to take my time with problems

4. I am interesting

5. I am ready to learn

6. I have good ideas

7. I am a good friend

8. I deserve to be treated kindly

9. I am focused

10. It’s OK to get things wrong

11. If I am worried, I can tell an adult

12. I treat others with kindness

13. I am clever

14. My thoughts are important

15. I can say ‘no’ if I want to

16. I learn from my mistakes

17. I am curious

18. I am in control

19. My voice matters

20. I am calm

21. I am creative

22. I can try again

23. I am growing and learning

24. I am talented

25. I am loved

26. I am supported

27. I can do the things I put my mind to

28. I ask questions when I need help

29. I try my best

30. I grow a little more every day

Interested in family counselling? Connect with a professional using counselling-directory.org.uk