Napkin Notes Can Make Lunchtime a Memory

One of the ways my wife and I try to make daily “deposits” of love and direction into our children’s lives is by writing a little note on the napkin we put inside their lunch bag before they head off to school in the morning. These “napkin notes” are just little inspirational sayings that impart some truth or character that we hope our sons will embrace. For example, “Everything turns out alright in the end so if everything’s not alright, it’s not the end”. Or, “What you do speaks louder than what you say, so DO something nice for someone today.” Often times I make up these sayings but there are loads of books out there that are filled with short, inspirational, spiritual and helpful quotes that you could use to come up with the things you want to say.

An interesting thing happens with these napkin notes. We discovered that the kids who eat lunch with our sons would start reading the notes. Some even asked if they could have one. So for awhile my wife was writing 3-4 notes each morning and putting them in our son’s lunch bag so he had notes to hand out to his friends at the lunch table.

You never know how some of these powerful thoughts and truths shared on a napkin will have an impact our kids. Jason just finished school this year. As he was cleaning out his locker, he noticed that his friend had taken one of his napkin notes, the one that had the quote about everything turning out alright in the end, and taped inside his locker. My wife has noticed napkin note quotes written on book covers and school folders of some of his friends when they come over to study or play a video game after school.

Will any of these kids ever come up to me or my wife and say “Gee Mr. & Mrs. Welday, I was really encouraged and inspired by that note you put on Jason’s napkin last month.”? Not hardly. But I know some of the messages from these notes are getting through. So try it. It’s just one more way you invest in your child, letting them know you care, that they are special and that you see a bright hope and future for them.