Later this week, my mini Fressers will be heading back to school.

Like most mamas, my feelings are mixed: delight at getting my calm, home office back; relief at not being responsible for the output (and motivation) of three people on a daily basis and excitement for them to finally rejoin their friends.

On the flipside is anxiety at sending my son off into secondary school — how is he old enough to be doing that? More anxiety at the stirrings of a second wave of Covid cases amongst teens at his and other schools; and even more anxiety at whether or not I’ve managed to tick everything off my back to school checklist, which seems to grow daily.

One task I’ve smashed though, is sourcing new school year food and drink containers. I was asked to review the latest range from Smash. And I totally picked the winners. 

My daughter has the lunchbox and water bottle of her dreams. The rose gold crackle effect bottle and a gold sequin-flip lunchbox are perfect. When the parcel arrived she literally did a happy dance. Won me a tonne of mum points.

For my son, a camo-patterned steel flask with flip lid was a huge hit. I got it so early that he’s been using it all summer. The matching lunchbox (also from Smash) had a freeze-able water bottle that you insert in the side of the lunchbox to keep everything cool in school. 

Both boxes have a special 'Blue IQ' lining which they claim has a protective barrier that prevents food sticking to it or being absorbed and cause harmful bacteria. While that seems to be all about food poisoning and not about to help with my pandemic problems, at least there’s room in their boxes for a teensy bottle of anti-bac. Which has to be this year’s must-have for any Jewish mother packing her children’s lunches.

More info on my lunchboxes and bottles here.