Frankenschool - Frankenstein Bento for Preschool!

Monday, 11/5/12 - She qualified for the school district's preschool program due to a developmental delay in social areas, so this was her very first day. And not only was she going to a brand new school after the school year had already begun and the other kids all knew each other, she was going on the bus. Without me.
Since her new preschool is in the mornings, she is still able to go to her other preschool in the afternoons. And before anyone natters on about how it's too long a day for her, going to two schools, it's still less time than Kindergarten, which she'll be starting next year. And many kids are in daycare much longer as well. So I'm not worried. Plus yanking her out of one of the only places she's ever interacted well with her peers socially, seemed like a bad move, considering the circumstances!
The morning class has snack right before ending circle and some songs, and then she comes home for lunch. Since they mostly just have Cheerios and Goldfish (which are safe for her, but snacky,) I didn't want her filling up on snacks right before lunch, especially since we only have an hour to eat before heading off to her other school. Where she also gets a snack. So they said I could send her lunches for snack time. Woop!
This will present more of a challenge for me, since they'll have to hold up to more jostling than they do when I'm in charge of the lunch bag all day. But I'll manage!

For her very first day at her new preschool, she requested a Frankenstein lunch, even though Halloween was over. Anything for my Big Girl! So she took an EasyLunchbox in her purple insulated ELB bag (designed to hold them flat.) These, along with a toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, and detangler spray (to stay at school for when they do those things each day) were all in her way-too-huge backpack. With a Bag Tag from Mabel's Labels that I happened to order when I got a Groupon last year.

I tucked a Lunchbox Love note in, for the teacher to read for her. Which apparently didn't happen. She said she'd wanted to keep my special note all for herself. Awww.

Frankie Goes to School!

PB-honey sandwich w/cheese and nori details, cheese,
strawberries, orange and yellow carrots, Ranch

Could You Give Me A Hand?: I used the rest of the white cheddar from the Frankenstein face and some Colby Jack cheese to make a mishmash of hands and feet, using a mini foot cutter and a mini hand cutter (mine came from a bake shop somewhere.)

Frankenberries: When cutting the tops off the strawberries, I made a V-shape, so they kind of look like hearts. I cut them in half too, which helps them look more heart-like, but also makes them lay flatter so they can be seen! These are because I love her. And also Frankenstein has extra parts laying around...

No Bones About It: I used a very mini dog bone cutter on some orange and yellow carrots to make a mishmash of extra bones. I realize after looking at them in this picture where I pushed them up to show the Ranch container, that it actually looks a bit like the Bride of Frankenstein. If she were a plastic bear.

Frankensammie: For Frankenstein, I flipped a Halloween tombstone cutter upside-down. There were actually several cutters from the Wilton Halloween set  that would have made great heads. I cut out the bread first, then added the fillings, which makes the edges neater. Even though there is a child in her class with a peanut allergy, it isn't a contact allergy, so it's not a nut-free classroom. So I went with peanut butter and "Daddy's Special Honey" (creamed honey. He called it that the first time he offered her some, without thinking about how it undermines "Mommy's Honey" which is local and raw and helps with her allergies. Harumph.) I usually only use it on request, but this was a special day.

I used nori (found at a local Asian market) for the details. I pressed the cutter near an edge to try and cut out a chunk for the hair, but it wouldn't cut through. Made a nice mark though, to cut with my steak knife. I used kitchen shears (not the best tool. Will be getting stainless steel manicure scissors ASAP!) to cut the pupils, the stitches, and the bangs. I used PB to glue everything down.

A chunk of nori ripped off the side of the hair, so I used some PB to glue down triangle scraps from cutting the bangs. And two stitches fell off, so those got glued back into place as well. So far not a fan of the free-form cutting of nori. Shaped punchers I can do, no problem though!

I used a face cutter for the smile, and a mini oval cutter for the eyes. I really globbed on the peanut butter, since I wanted them to stay intact if it got too jostled. I thought about making a nose, but decided not to. His lack of  "angry eyebrows," however, was noted as unacceptable, and shall be remedied next time.

The bus stop is only three houses down, on the corner, so we managed to make it on time three days out of four that week. Yay us! (Well, technically only two days, but the first day the driver came back around for one last swoop to see if we were just running late. Which we were. I had her pick-up time mixed up with her drop-off time.)

Shadow Friends!

She did great. She was excited to wear her new backpack (her other school issues bags with their names written on that the kids keep re-using each year,) and wasn't too scared to get on the "Big Girl Bus" without me. Luckily her school is only a 5-minute drive away, so she doesn't have to sit on there very long.

Mountain Climbing

I will admit I cried like a baby on the walk home from the bus stop. One of those big ugly-faced crying jags, with drool and snot and blotchy faces. She's so little. Getting on a big scary (to me) bus all by herself, with strangers. But I did my job and talked it up, so she was more excited than scared. She claims she likes the school, but doesn't want to go. And gets on the bus without a fuss.