My kids usually pack their lunches but buy milk at school. Well this year milk is up to 45 cents for the little cartons!!!! So I was in HyVee the other day and they had the 10 pks of Kool Aide Koolers for 99 cents!!! DD and I picked up four boxes!! Only one rang up at $1.97, so they gave me that one free!! So I got 40 drinks for $2.97!!! I know they are not as healthy as milk, but they can drink that at home.

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Ya we always buy the milks at school too, I hope I can find a deal like that!

I'm new to the whole school lunch thing and to be honest, I find it a little intimidating.

Why don't you just put milk in a thermos for your kids lunches? I do that and so far it seems to be working fine. I've read a lot of people saying they buy theirs and I am wondering why....

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I buy the Kool aid Koolers at Sam's club to put in DD1's lunch. I think they're great for lunches!!! They cost 14 cents each there!!! 14 cents compared to 40 cents (cost of milk at school) is much better!!! I also pack a stick of string cheese or a pudding cup so that way she is getting a little dairy for lunch anyways. DD1 always has a glass of milk for breakfast and for dinner and I know my kids get plenty of dairy everyday, so I think the Kool Aide Koolers are PERFECT!!! It's also kind of a "treat" in my daughters mind.

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One happy wife and mommy!!!

the milk at school here is only .35 so it isn't all that bad..

I'll have to invest in a small thermos and start using that for a drink..

My dd likes the juicy juice cartons of juice.. and those are 100% juice so I either let her buy the milk or give one of those.

I worry about the dyes.

Our ds1 is in Jr high and thinks taking a lunch is "uncool" Oh well we do give him a small allowance for school lunches but as of now ftbl season is here and every Wed he stays after school for his game so we gave him the choice....school lunches (that now are even more outrageous at 2.10) or on Wed I give him $ to eat before game. So he does the home lunch which is usually a wrap I make for him and then he tried to get over on me with "what do I drink?" So I usually buy Capri Suns or water for him to take because Gatorade is $1.25 for him to buy at school ala carte. Probably not the best to do but we try to make it work.
Our dd1 is in K half days so no lunches for now and ds2 is in Pre-k which is about $25 to 35 a month for snacks.

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~~Christina~~
SAHM with a DH, DS(13), DD(5), DS(4), and DD(2)!
Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You, too? Thought I was the only one." ~C.S. Lewis~

Milk is only .35 cents here too. .30 for kindy and preschool.

The only thing about those drinks are they aren't allowed at our school. The kids are ONLY allowed to bring 100% fruit juice drinks. I recently foung the capri sun ones at bjs and my kids just LOVE them. It comes out to about 1.79 for a box of 10, but thats still a deal, cheaper than walmart. I also send them a Roaring Waters, which is capri sun's answer to the flavored water, and they like those too. So they have a drink for snack, and a drink for lunch. My kids already get tons of dairy, as they get a yogurt in the lunch box, and cheese on their sandwich, and they drink milk with supper, so it doesn't bother me for them to have juice at school.

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The milk at our school is $14 for the whole year. That's when they start kindergarten. My ds is in pre-K so I pack the apples & eve 100% juice boxes from BJ's that are $8 for 36. That's $.22 each which is much more expensive than the milk at $14 for the year. Our school doesn't allow thermoses. I don't know if that's just preschool or the whole school. This is only our my second day of school.

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"Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body." ~Anonymous

I've been giving my daughter a sport bottle containing 1/3 to 1/2 juice, lots of ice and some water. I usually send her with some fruit, and she gets plenty of milk at home.