Looking back on my bento-making journey through 300 days of bento records.

I started posting my bentos on Instagram as a 300-day bento record. Before I knew it, I had passed the 300-day mark. There were periods when I didn't post to Instagram, but I still took photos of everything, so I have over 100 unposted stock photos. I've probably made over 400 bentos by now.

Since it's a daily task, making bentos has become a habit, but it definitely took time to get used to it.
I feel like posting to Instagram is what supported me in making these bentos.

I'm going to look back on my bento records from two years ago to the present.

The memorable first post.
Back when I had just moved to Kyoto and was a stay-at-home dad for one month until kindergarten started. Out of fear for the bento life that was about to begin, we started 'bento training'—my daughter practiced eating, and I practiced making them.
I used to do meal prep back then.

Day 24. This was around the time I started adding vegetables to the bentos little by little.

Looking at it again, the portion is large. It was around this time I learned that my daughter was struggling to eat her bento.
There was a period when she would often say, 'I was the last one to finish eating,' looking frustrated.

Finally, the bento box got smaller. When my daughter asked me to make it smaller herself, I felt filled with regret.

And finally, it became a plastic container. My daughter's insistence that she wanted the portion reduced exploded.

As I approached 100 days of bento making, it finally reached this amount. Since I couldn't see her eating, I was conflicted during this time. It was a tug-of-war between me, saying it was okay to leave some, and my daughter, who wanted to finish it all.

I went through trial and error to find things my daughter liked so she would enjoy eating. On this day, I finally added 'soboro' (minced meat), which would become a staple menu item, to her bento!

At my daughter's request, who absolutely loved the soboro, soboro bentos continued. The soboro is still a bit coarse here 😏

Since I started making soboro bentos, she gradually became able to eat more.

After a year passed, I even made a bento like this.

However, there was another request to make the bento smaller. My thoughts from this time were memorable, and I even recorded them on note.

Recently, the soboro has become much finer!

A new favorite is shrimp mayo.
The bento size issue, which had its ups and downs, was resolved before I knew it, and now she asks me every morning, 'What's for bento today?' And she also complains (lol).

But my daughter has always finished every single one. She almost never left anything, and even when she said the bento was too big, she would come home having finished it all.
So, there was a part of me that thought, 'See, you can eat it,' but I realized she must have been trying really hard.

By leaving them on Instagram and looking back like this, many memories come flooding back.

Even if it's just a few words, I'm glad I recorded my thoughts at the time.
I don't think they need to be 'Instagrammable' bentos.
Keeping a record is, above all, for my own benefit.

I highly recommend keeping a bento record!

See you tomorrow.