A bento box is a Japanese-style lunch box that is reusable. The bento box covers all the essential food groups, such as fruits, grains, vegetables, dairy, and meat – to ensure a well-balanced meal. If your child is a picky eater or you want to find a new and creative way to make them look forward to school, prepare a bento box lunch box for them. Here are eight fun and tasty ideas for boxed lunches that are also simple to pack up.

#1. Smiley Lunch Bento Lunch Box

Opening a box to find a meal smiling at them will brighten up any kid’s day. You can make thе smiling lunch by drawing eyes using a food-safe marker and then making wedge-shaped cuts in a hard-boiled egg and several rainbow carrots. To complete the crew, you can add googly eye toothpicks to grape tomatoes and a sandwich. Just make sure your kid knows that toothpicks are not for eating.

#2. Summer Sun

Prepare this summery lunch by filling the bento lunch box with delicious warm-weather fruits and vegetables—nectarines, cucumbers, snap peas, and strawberries. Complete with some deli ham spirals and a slice of hearty bread topped with sunny cheese cut-outs.

#3. A Box of Many Bites

Start with a multi-compartment bento lunch box. After that, add soppressata salami, pretzel crackers, crunchy veggies, dried mango strips, and berries.

#4. Breakfast Bento

You can try packing breakfast for lunch. This box is prepared for a preschooler and contains a couple of pancakes cut in half and stacked on top of each other, a small amount of syrup, chicken apple sausage chunks, and blueberries in a heart-shaped silicone cup. For an older child, you can add larger portions.

#5. Monster-Filled Lunch

To make this lunch box idea, you need some icing googly eyes and some quick cuts with a paring knife. Create the red monster by cutting a big chunk of apple to fit the lunch box. Cut the chunk into pieces, applying a zigzag pattern, and paste the eyes, using cream cheese, peanut butter, or honey. As for the meatballs – all you have to do is add the eyes.

#6. Snack Supreme

It may be fun to use cookie cutters and other bento tools. However, you don’t need a lot of gear to pack a beautiful lunch box. The key to a beautiful bento is plenty of colors. For this version of a grocery store snack box, pack fans of crackers, salami and gouda cheese slices, rainbow carrot coins, two kinds of berries, and a couple of small cookies.

Despite the tremendous strides toward acceptance of the global LGBTQ community, coming out, especially to their parents, is still a challenge for many young men and women around the world.

Parents play a vital role in their child’s coming out story, and their reaction to the news can make a world of difference. Whether they admit it or not, kids need their parents’ support and this is an opportunity for moms and dads to show their children that no matter what, they have their back.

Here are three meaningful ways for parents to support their kids when they choose to come out.

1. Offer Vocal Support for the LGBTQ Community

Whether wearing a Pride-themed shirt, providing positive feedback about a queer character on a popular show, or attending a local Pride march, demonstrating support to the LGBTQ community is perhaps the most effective way for parents to show their kids that they are accepted for who they are.

2. Be Patient And Show Love

Some parents notice the signs and understand that their child is different. However, they shouldn’t out their kids. Everyone operates at a different speed, meaning some boys and girls take longer to fully understand their sexuality. While waiting for them to come out, parents should listen to their children, participate and take an interest in the things they like, and last but not least, show unconditional love.

3. Set Aside Preconceived Wants and Desires

The moment a child is born, its parents instantly start envisioning a future for them. They discuss their potential hobbies, professions, partners, etc. When the time comes and everything is out in the open, fathers and mothers should have the ability, strength, and composure to understand and accept that their kids will take their own path and not the one that they have imagined for them.

The LGBTQ community still has a lot of challenges to overcome, which is why parents should do their best to not make the task even harder for their kids.