You know darn well that if you try to ask your Latino parents to buy you some Lunchables for school, the answer will be NO. Instead you’ll get a response like, “¿Si te puedo preparar comida en la casa porque voy a gastar $5 en estas ch*ngaderas?”
So instead of Lunchables, this is what you got for your school lunch…
Thinking of asking your mom to buy you some pepperoni pizza Lunchables? Think again.
CREDIT: @GEORGE DAVID SWEATMAN / @ALMA MARQUEZ / FACEBOOK
She should make a DIY-tutorial on this.
And if you also want to try asking for a fancy, overpriced lunch bag, this is what you get instead:
CREDIT: @CLAUDIA PAREDES / FACEBOOK
This mom has some topnotch drawing skills.
Your fancy lunch bags are substituted with paper bags, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, recycled grocery bags, and of course butter containers as tupperware.
CREDIT: @OLIVIA DOPE / TWITTER / @MARIAELENA JOHNSON / FACEBOOK
You just have to cross your fingers and hope that your mom doesn’t accidentally pack you an actual container with butter, rather than your lunch.
On mornings that you’re running late to school, you can expect to have one of your mom’s quick n’ easy sandwiches for lunch.
CREDIT: @SIL FLORES-FRANKLIN / FACEBOOK
And if you’re in a huge rush, then those salchichas won’t even be cooked.
Very quick n’ easy…
CREDIT: @BILLY TAN / @TAMARA BARBOSA / FACEBOOK
Doesn’t get any easier than Spam and Cheez Whiz.
And for a snack, there’s no way your mom is sending you with a greasy bag of chips. She makes sure you have something healthy, natural and organic to eat.
CREDIT: @JOHN TOM THOMPSON / @ADRIANA RODRIGUEZ / FACEBOOK
As long as you have that salt shaker, you can eat anything for lunch.
But no matter how different your lunch is from every other student at school, it’s still bomb AF. ?
CREDIT: @SABORLATINOCORUÑA / FACEBOOK
DE-LI-CIOUS.
Bougie Lunchables will never have anything on your mom’s fire homemade meals.
CREDIT: @JAMER PACHECO / FACEBOOK
I’ll take pollo con arroz any day.
And as for those who still have a desire for Lunchables, you can go ahead and do exactly what this woman did…
Mom always says the same thing every year, “Don’t get me anything.” However, we also know that it is best to go ahead and get her something. First of all, it shows her that you love her so much. Second, if you have siblings, it makes you better than the rest.
The perfect gift for the loving and proud moms of LGBTQ+ children. Or get two for your moms and they can proudly sip their morning cafecito before getting to work. Que cute.
A classic. We have seen this shirt and we love this shirt. We have also heard our mother scream this on Saturday mornings to wake you up and get you to clean. Trust us. Your mom is going to love this shirt. Buy it and find out.
We love our moms and understand that this world would not work without her. Dad never knows where it is. You can never make your beans like hers. No one will ever fight to defend you like her. So, let her know how important she is by giving her this shirt as recognition of everything she does.
Like, what else do you need explained here. Mom is la jefa of the house. Anything she says goes and it is impossible to have it any other way. She is the one who makes the rules, enforces the rules, and keeps everyone on notice. Isn’t it great?
Simple and powerful. Mom is everything. She gave you life, maintained your life, and is always there with advice when you are dealing with a serious issue.
Okay. This one is a little too much for some. However, imagine your mother’s joy when she unwraps this shirt for Christmas. Maybe this is how you tell her you are pregnant. Or you just give it to her to let her know that it is in your overall plan.
Here’s the thing. Moms are the only ones who could find anything in the house. However, there are things that you need to ask your father for. Even in those moments, we go to our mothers and even they need a break from all of the family bothering them.
People say marathons are exhausting. Those people do not have kids. Because at least in a marathon there’s a finish line, and it’s over. In parenthood, there is no finish line. Every morning I find myself running full speed and huffing and puffing trying to get them to class on time.
Throughout my years of experience as a parent, I’ve learned some helpful hacks to save time during morning routines so I can better spend more time enjoying the company of my chiquitos. All you need is just a few handy accessories and thankfully they’re available at your already favorite Back to School shop, Target.
Just one speedy trip to Target or a few quick clicks on the app and you’ll have these multi-use products in your home ready to spring yourself and your kids into the new semester.
1. Put the kids in the mood to jump out of bed — with música.
Target
Young or old, no one really likes waking up early. My mom used to open the blinds and pull the covers off of me to get me to wake up, but that never made getting up any fun. There’s something that universally puts everyone in a good mood — and that’s music. I started using music as an alarm clock and it has been life-changing. All I do is play the kids’ favorite music from my phone and into the JBL Bluetooth speaker that I purchased from Target, and it’ll slowly start waking them up. The kids wake up in the mood to rumba and this gets the drag out of the morning.
A great outfit is such an immediate mood booster for adults and kids alike. However, I know my fashion sense isn’t always the sharpest at 6 a.m. I like to get my little fashionistas’ OOTDs ready the night before, so there’s no scrambling in the morning. We pick their looks together the night before, lay them out on the side, so when they wake up, they’re excited to jump into their cool, well-planned getups. To get two steps ahead of the morning routine, I made sure I got my Back to School shopping done a few weeks before. I went to target.com and picked out a handful of outfits, that way my kids were extra excited to plan their outfits for the week.
There have been times when my kids and I were out the door when I realized someone had forgotten to pack their instrument, their notebook or their lunchbox. All it takes is one forgotten item to turn your morning into a whirlwind. That problem was solved when I created a routine chart. I never thought I could find dry erase products in such a fun, thin material until one day I stumbled upon these decals at Target! These are great because they’re not bulky and don’t take up much space. So, I placed these fun dry-erase decals by the door so they can look at their personalized checklist every day before walking out ¡y listo!
A checklist is only useful if I know where everything is. When I initially purchased our dry erase decals, my chiquitos still struggled to make it out the door on time because they were scrambling to find the items on the list. I made an addition that single-handedly improved our productivity in the morning — a cubby! Now cada cosa tiene su lugar and they know to place each item on the checklist in their cubby the night before, and where to find it in the morning. Target has a great assortment of cubby textiles and colors. We especially love our Pillowfort cubbies we bought from the Target app.
5. Have breakfast, lunch and snacks prepped and ready to go.
Target
The way to someone’s heart is through their stomach and kids are no different. I know that when I pack my kids a unique meal and something that speaks to their culture, they appreciate the effort I put into making sure they have a delicious meal. I love being able to provide snacks and lunches that I know not many other kids have. However, I know that cooking breakfast and lunch isn’t realistic during the morning marathon, so I make sure to pack their meals into containers the night before. I’m a huge fan of these Stasher sandwich bags I purchased from Target. They’re flexible, easy for my kids to handle and they hold enough food to keep them full all day. Prepping these containers the evening before saves time and also the guesswork of what I’m going to feed them that day.
This mamá is only as strong as my coffee. So before I start playing tunes for my kids to wake up, before I start gathering their belongings, I make sure I have my extra-strength mom juice ready to help me tackle the morning with my favorite humans. I’ve tried a few different coffee makers and these days I’m obsessed with my Keurig K-Mini Single-Serve K-Cup Pod coffee maker I was gifted from Target. For years, I wanted a coffee maker that wasn’t bulky but had the strength to get me going in the morning. I received this coffee maker as a gift and instantly loved how it fit perfectly on my kitchen counter without taking up much space — but that wasn’t even the best part. My favorite thing about this Keurig is how easy it is to use! When I’m half-awake in the morning, this tiny but mighty machine takes charge and does all the hard work for me.
