Goodbyn Lunchboxes – Awesome!

Edit: We used these lunchboxes for about 3 months, until an aide gently took me aside and told me that EVERY DAY, my kids required assistance both opening and closing their lunchboxes. Remember me mentioning a learning curve? Well, if my grownup self had trouble getting it closed, imagine how well my 1st graders did. We ended up switching back to our old, zippered, insulated lunch bags. Sorry, Goodbyn – LOVE the idea, love the look, love the stickers, love everything behind the company – but I’m going to have to amend my review and say that these are best for kids above probably 4th grade or so. Also, the bottles leak pretty regularly, and the fact that these are not insulated means your kids will be drinking warm juice and eating warm applesauce by lunch time. My thoughts? Great for grownups who take their lunch to work and put it in the office refrigerator.

I first heard about these fantastic lunchboxes from Kids Haus, one of my favorite blogs. As soon as I saw them, I was intrigued – having school-aged twins means I pack a LOT of little lunches, and we go through a LOT of sandwich baggies, Capri Suns, and individually packaged things like yogurt, applesauce, and string cheese. I was all over the idea of leaving behind all that packaging, so I decided to pick up a pair of these darling lunchboxes for Pablo and Mallory. The concept is almost like bento, except without all the foods touching each other. (A travesty in the mind of my child!)

My Goodbyn lunchboxes (purchased from reusablebags.com) arrived a couple of days after I placed my order – super fast! I was worried at first, because they seem so popular – I figured I’d have to wait awhile, but I didn’t. I ordered pink for Mallory and green for Pablo, and each one arrived with its own matching water bottle. Mallory’s bottle has sort of a wonky lid, but so far it’s working fine, so I’m not concerned. And each lunchbox contained a huge roll of stickers! Pablo and Mallory had SO much fun personalizing their individual lunchboxes – we sat at the kitchen table for close to an hour, applying funky little eyeballs and fried eggs and rocketships. So cute.

There’s been a bit of a learning curve with the kids getting the boxes open and closed, but I think they’ll figure it out in time. Since each compartment is separate, it’s important to take the time to seal up each area – it’s like putting on a Tupperware lid, except you have to press down in like 20 places. No biggie.

And the first day they took them to school, all the other kids flipped out over them. Pablo’s aide even mentioned to me how much the other kids liked his “lunchbox with ears.” I’ve been packing sandwiches, fruit, and cheese so far. I haven’t tried spooning applesauce or yogurt into the sectioned areas yet. I think we’ll try to master getting the thing opened and closed before we venture into messy foods!

But so far, no complaints. At around $30 each, they may seem a bit pricy – but the price includes the water bottle and the 250+ stickers for personalization. I’m sure we’ll make up that cost right away not buying individually portioned snacks and drinks. And best of all, they are BPA and phthalate-free. I am SO pleased with these lunchboxes, and my kids love them, too!

update…here are our Goodbyns!

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