Remember the first time you packed a school lunch for your kid?
I do. I was using bento boxes because, honestly, when you're packing multiple lunches it's just easier to drop everything in compartments and go. Quick, efficient, done.
It Started With a Bad Day (and a Monster)
My oldest had a rough day at school. You know the kind—where they come home dragging their backpack and you can just tell. That night, while prepping lunches, I grabbed a marker and drew a silly little monster note. Nothing fancy—just something to make her smile when she opened her lunch the next day.
After school, I asked her about it. She got the biggest smile on her face.
The next morning when I was packing lunches, I noticed the monster was still in her lunchbox. So I left it there and added a new note beside it. Then another the next day. And another.
And just like that, lunchbox monsters became our thing.
The Daily Ritual That (Eventually) Became MiNote
Every single school day, they'd find a little note—sometimes from me, sometimes from whatever creature I'd doodled the night before. Some days the notes were sweet encouragement after a rough day. Other times? Pure ridiculousness.
The characters changed depending on my mood and what they needed to hear. But the message was always the same: I'm thinking about you. You're loved. You've got this.
Those few minutes of drawing became a welcome wind-down routine for me. And apparently, opening that lunchbox became the highlight of theirs.
Why Lunch Notes Matter More Than We Think
Here's what I learned from doodling these notes: elementary school lunch time can feel really long when you're little. It's loud, it's chaotic, and sometimes just plain rough.
That little note? It's a reminder that someone's thinking about them. It turns an ordinary Tuesday lunch into something special. It gives them something to smile about, share with friends, or tuck away to read again later.
But here's the thing I also learned: as much as I loved our lunchbox note tradition, some nights were hard. I'd be rushing around, mentally cataloging the day ahead, and I'd think, "I should draw something... but what?"
Then Life Happened
COVID happened, and everyone's routines got screwy. Kids were home. School looked different. My habit of drawing notes just... stopped.
My kids got older. And there are days when I still want to add a note, but I also don't want to embarrass them. There's that delicate balance with older elementary kids where they still want the connection, but maybe not a hand-drawn note in their lunch.
I wanted to bring my monsters back. But in a way that worked for all families—the busy ones, the not-so-artistic ones, the ones with older kids who'd roll their eyes at anything too babyish.
That's when MiNote was born.
Tomorrow in Part 2: Discover how MiNote makes lunchbox notes easy for every family—no drawing skills required.