School's out for summer and the excitement over choosing a camp lunchbox is overwhelming. I guess it's just the little things in life that make children happy, but the lunchbox euphoria goes over my head. We went online together to lunchboxes.com, "your one-stop lunchbox shop." I thought my son was going to have a cow! Shrek, Spiderman, Star Wars and my personal favorite, Bionicles. If you have to ask...

On field trip days,campers are asked to bring disposable lunch bags and God forbid we send in the ol' kraft paper bags that we all grew up with. I found Spiderman and Hello Kitty paper lunch bags--woohoo! Let the party begin. Plates Plus for Kids has these paper lunch bags not to mention a large selection of lunch boxes, thermoses, canteens and other assorted superhero and princess lunch paraphernalia. Another option for the oh-so-fun summer mom are the personalized lunch bags from Stationary Studio. These make great goody bags, too!

We go to a very lax camp and shoes seem to be optional...so of course, every year on day one of camp, one of my children loses a shoe. This year I have vowed to label every piece of clothing and every shoe! Stuck on You has specialized labels for every article of clothing your children will lose. They come in iron-on, sew-on, stick-on, blah blah blah. I ordered the Day Camp Pack which comes with shoe dots, small labels, clothing tattoos, and a bag tag. Stuck on You also has allergy labels, which seems sorta handy.

Need to further pimp up your child's lunch box??? Have I got a hot tip for you! Rubbermaid (no I'm not suggesting a Tupperware party...yet) has come out with Hipsips. Rubbermaid's sales pitch is "make hydration fun". Ugh, you'd think they were saving the world. All that aside, I bought two, 'cause they really are cute. All the models come with a Sharpie to decorate with, a spot to add a picture, a hook, a carry strap and pockets to store ice cream money. The Diva and Fashion Models (I know, I know, sooo queer!) come with mini gems--exciting stuff, right? They can be purchased at Target and Walmart.

Some Helpful Hints from Heloise:

--Soy nut butter with lots of jelly tastes like peanut butter for those camps that don't allow real nuts.

--Freeze a juice box to keep their lunch cold.

--Save leftover birthday party napkins, 'cause any lunch tastes better w/ Dora and Diego wiping your face! Cheers-H.V.