The bento is back.

It's a sad day, really, when the lunch box becomes the brown paper bag. I wonder if mothers take it as a true sign that their babies are growing up. The day that the stickers and cartoon characters are replaced by the plain brown lunch bag, and children succumb to the monotonous conformity that is the sack lunch.

Perhaps I'm being a bit over dramatic. I hate to compare "growing up" to a brown paper bag. But would I have really survived middle school toting around my red Care Bears lunch box? I barely survived the sixth grade as it is. Ugh. Sixth grade. Let's the change subject, shall we?

Let's discuss my bento lunch.

That's right: The bento is back and better than ever because Look! I got a new bento box!



And I packed healthy stuff in it, too. Like a cold vegetable medley of sauteed asparagus, green beans, peas, carrots, and radishes. And a hard boiled egg, grapefruit, and slices of Parmesan cheese. There's even a lemon garnish.



It's adult meets the inner child. It's proof that the fun of childhood is not sucked away by the brown paper bag. That a 25-year-old woman can still get excited over a cute lunch box. And even more excited about the colorful foods inside.



I can even take pictures of my lunch box before work in the morning, fully aware of the dorkiness of it all, and still not care what anyone thinks. Ahhh. I'm so glad I'm not in sixth grade anymore.