Lunch Lady

The last three evenings, we have added something to our evening routine (if that's possible). I spend about 30 minutes with my son preparing a sack lunch for him to take to school. Sunday night when he was climbing into bed, he said “I’m too excited to sleep.” “Why?” I asked. “Because I get to take my sack lunch you made for me tomorrow.” And so far, his enthusiasm hasn't waned.

Yep, it’s my new calling – preparing sack lunch for my son. Last Friday, I went to eat lunch with my son at his school. By the time we had our food and sat down, we had a total of 10 minutes until we were pushed out the door. In that 10 minutes, I opened 6 milks, 5 bags of chips, 5 PBJ’s, and peeled 3 oranges for children sitting near me. Had I not been there to do that, those children (including my son) would not have been able to eat or drink those items. My son and his friends ate at a normal pace, didn’t goof off and still only consumed half their food.

I was very concerned about this. When we were walking back to the classroom, I asked his teacher, “Is lunch always that rushed?” “Oh, no, it’s usually worse that that.” I learned that for the children who order PBJ, they usually get 2 slices of bread, a package (like fast food ketchup) of peanut butter and another of jelly and are expected to make their own sandwich (without a knife of course). Friday, they were treated with Uncrustables, so they just had to worry about getting the package open.

After sharing this experience with every person who would listen, I decided that I would start making my son’s lunch – at least that way I could control that he was able to open his food and could see what he’d eaten and not eaten when he got home. But I wasn’t sure he’d be keen on this plan. I secretly bought him a Spider-Man lunch bag and I randomly announced “Let’s make a sack lunch for you to take to school tomorrow.” He was THRILLED! All the way to school Monday he sang a song about taking a lunch that he got to make with his mommy.

So yes, I am now a lunch lady. It may not be glamorous, but it’s pretty awesome! And the best part is, he thinks so too!