How the heck did another 180 days slip by? And how so fast?

I think about that a lot. How to prolong, or at least savor and appreciate these days. How do you slow down the pace of math word problems, of spelling tests, of packed lunches, of karate classes?

How do you slow them down just enough to appreciate them and the little people who populate them just a little bit more?

Obviously, we can’t. Not even metaphorically. And that might actually be a good thing.

Because things that slow time tend to be adversities or struggles. Which of course we all have. But there seems to be a critical mass that, once hit, can make time painfully slow.

And so I guess I take some comfort in knowing this year slipped by. While I’d gladly have traded away the tedium of math word problems or the hectic rush of after school activities or the occasional cranky child, those were not the magnitude of adversity that slow time.

And so that this year flew by, I think is a mark of a very lucky family. Even if the price of that luck is a little sadness that my little guy is growing up so fast.

Today is Parker’s last day of third grade. Which of course means he got to pick whatever he wanted for his lunch box.

And as I was assembling his lunch this morning, I realized what a horrible day it would be for a new reader to stumble upon my blog.

THIS is what this guy packs his kid for lunch?!?!

Why not? It’s the last day of school. It comes just once a year. And I have only nine of them left before my little guy is all grown up. So on this big day, I indulge. We can fight about kale tomorrow.

Parker put a great deal of thought into what went into his lunch today. And we worried he had hit a snag. Last week, Parker realized his favorite bakery downtown — The Crust and Crumb — would be closed yesterday — the day he needed to shop for today’s lunch.

Good thing the owner is a friend. She not only agreed to make the treats he was seeking — a key lime bar, a grasshopper brownie and a snickerdoodle cookie — but even deliver them to the house! Now that is an awesome bakery.

So after school yesterday, Parker and I headed downtown. First up, the local candy and chocolate store. This family-run place — Granite State Candy Shoppe — has been around for generations and they make tons of amazing stuff.

Parker went from bin to bin, assembling little bags of treats. Gummy dinosaurs, gummy cherries, gummy raspberries, candy raspberries and blackberries, fruit slice chews, candy Lego pieces, a chocolate egg.

The trick to making this work, of course, is volume control. I only let him purchase a few pieces of each type of candy. And then I packed even fewer of each.

After the candy shop, we headed to the natural foods store for a drink. He was torn over whether to get a raspberry chia seed kombucha or a mango spritzer, but the spritzer won out.

The final item? Candied bacon. Which I made this morning.

“I hope I don’t get a tummy ache,” he told me this morning.

The good news is he’ll stretch it out over two snacks and lunch. And it’s field day, so he’ll burn it off pretty quickly.

And the sugar crash won’t hit until he gets home. Joy!

Thanks to all for following along on this crazy 180-day ride. But don’t get off the train just yet. School may be out, but lunch duty continues. We have months of summer camp-worthy lunches to get through, so this blog isn’t going anywhere.

Read the original on: Lunch Box Blues