This will be the first year I will be sending a lunch and snack to school with my ds. I am trying to buy his school supplies here and there. Now I want to buy him one he can use for a few years so we are staying away from characters. I was looking at the Bento boxes which are neat, but I'm not sure if they will keep his food a good temp., if he as a kindergartener will he have a hard time opening it and cleaning it up. I saw the laptop lunches, like the bento's I love the compartments, but where does the drink go? does it keep there food well? He is a picky eater so the laptop and bentos make the food seem more appealing, Is there plenty of room. Or should I just get a regular insulated lunch box?

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

Both my kids use the LLBean soft/insulated lunchboxes...they wear like iron. They've both had their same one since Kindergarten, and they look brand new. I do wipe them out every day, and gently wash the outside as needed with a little dish soap and a sponge and let it air dry. No problems whatsoever. So it works for us. Neither of my kids want a "hard" lunchbox...it's just a matter of preference.

I have always gotten just plain insulated boxes that were on clearance. My 5th grader has the same one since kindergarten. He does not care that it is Ninja Turtles. (of course he does not like change.) My other 2 have ones that I had picked up on sale at Target or WalMart. My kindergartener will use a Spiderman one that I found up in our cupboard. They really don't give a lot of thought to their lunchboxes.

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~Happiness is a large family~

I seem to go through lunch boxes like crazy! I got my son a soft hotwheels lunch box, he threw up at school so I put it in the washer and that was the end of that. I replaced it with a soft lunch box but now the inside lining has torn away. Also his snacks get smooshed a lot. I'm very disappointed in both of them.

How old are your kids now? I would love to find a lunchbox that lasts more than one year.

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My 2 younger kids have the Land's End soft lunchboxes, this will be my DD's
3rd year using hers and my DS's 2nd year. I wiped them out daily and they both look brand new still I had their initials embroidered on the front so they are easy to find in the school lunch bins!

I have a child that just finished 7th grade, and a child that just finished 4th grade...so that's what? 8 years of use and 5 years of use for their lunchboxes.

I think it has a lot to do with the individual child...my kids aren't hard on their lunchboxes or backpacks, so they've worn extremely well for us for many years. Both Landsend and LLBean have wonderful customer service - so for any reason you're not happy with your backpack or lunchbox, even years later, they'll replace it.

I have some GAP backpacks that my kids use as swim bags for practice, meets etc They get a LOT of use...before we used them as swim bags, we used them for traveling, and they've worn really well too. It all just depends I suppose!

Both my kids have this: (which is now on sale for $12.99)
CleanSweep Solid ClassMate™ Lunch Box from Lands' End

They got them when ds was in kindergarden and dd was in preschool. Next year will be year 6 for the same ones and they are still going strong.

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That is what I bought my dd for Kindergarten. I had her name printed on it. They are PVC free.

I have bought the lunch bags from Target and Walmart for my hubby and they never last long.

We had our kids names embroidered on them too. And they are not suppose to go in the laundry but every couple of weeks I toss them in my front loader on gentle and they come out looking like new.

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