halloween joke lunchbox notes: spooky, fun laughs

It’s almost Halloween!

And of course, I’ve got googly eyes in my back pocket at all times, but I’ve also got something I’m throwing in lunchboxes this month. . .

. . . something a little creepy (not really), a little spooky (just a teeny), and a lotof funny: Halloween Joke Lunchbox Notes!

Here’s the not-so-spookalicious skinny:

Halloween Joke Lunchbox Notes:

My pal, Kristen, who hit me with the super-fun Fun Fact Lunchbox Notes last spring sent me the first page of these Halloween Joke Notes last year. How awesome is she??

So this year, after I spent time at a twitter party one night last week, I hit the Melissa & Doug Facebook page to find a TON of really funny, kid-friendly Halloween jokes. So I had to add some to our lunchbox notes.

If you’d like to print out the Halloween Joke Lunchbox Notes for your own kiddos, here they are: 

(And if you like it, and you want to share the love via FB or Pinterest, I’d be over the moon!)

Maddy saves them in the front part of her lunchbox, and Owen lets his accumulate at the bottom of his lunchbox. Cora, since she cannot read the notes herself, tells me that she asks her teacher to read them every day–and I appreciate that it gives Cora a reason to chat with her teacher, a woman I know she adores.

I talked for a while with a Wall Street Journal reporter a few weeks back, as she was working on a story about lunchbox notes (see: To Pack an A-Plus Lunchbox, by Katherine Rosman, 10/05/11).

She asked me why I bother to send notes to school each day with my kiddos, and I told her quite honestly that I thought it was an ideal time for kids to do a little reading and to remember that their mama loves them.  And it really is.

Though I don’t do anything as elaborate as decorating a banana or gift-wrapping my kids’ sandwiches, I do, truly believe that everything we do counts–and if we can get our kiddos reading (or trying to read) during lunchtime, if we can give them a fun reason to talk with their teacher or a conversation starter with their lunchtime buddies–then why not?

And maybe some days they don’t even read the notes, and that’s fine. I’m cool with that.  Maybe they don’t care and they crinkle it up and throw it out with their trash.

But maybe one day, when things aren’t going the way they hope, and they’re feeling down, or they didn’t do well on a test, or their pals are ignoring them, or they forgot their library book, then the note will be there.  It’ll be hanging out in their lunchbox if they want it or need it.

And maybe, just maybe it will be the lift they need to get them through the day.

So do I send my kids to lunch with notes to fill every possible second of their day with reading and learning opportunities?  Um. . . no.  It’s for bigger reasons, my friends.  The learning counts, yes–but it’s the hug from home that I really care about.

Happy, happy lunchbox joke reading to you! And many, many thanks again to my pal Kristen and to my friends at Melissa and Doug for the joke ideas and inspiration, and huge thanks to Katie Rosman from the WSJ for including me in her piece.