Kind of a Lunch
Caller ID: The Elementary School. I’ll answer this call every time.
“This is Tricia…”
“Hi, Tricia. First of all, everything is okay.”
Thank you. Because that’s definitely the ‘first of all’ I needed to hear.
“I’m just calling to see if you wanted Tyler to buy a lunch today.”
Oh, dear. What kind of storytelling is happening over there? He knows I packed him a lunch. He put it in his backpack. Is he trying to swindle his way to pizza instead?
“Well, I packed one for him –”
“Yes, I peeked into his lunchbox. I saw the yogurt and the cheese, and I thought, ‘well, that’s kind of a lunch,’ so I wondered if that’s what you want him to have today.”
That’s “kind of a lunch,” she said. She was so kind about it. She was genuinely checking to see if I deemed such an odds-and-ends lunch acceptable.
He’s a cheese-yogurt-crackers-fruit kind of kid. Anything else? In the garbage.
(If you’re interested, there were also apple dippers and a CapriSun and a Rice Krispy treat. At least there were when I zipped the lunchbox closed.)
I’m thinking of sending a footlong sub sandwich to school with him tomorrow.
He would probably trade it with a classmate. “Here, I’ll give you this for a slice of cheese.”
This is today’s reason why I won’t be nominated for Mother of the Year: I send my child to school with “kind of a lunch.”
P.S. She really wasn’t mean or judgmental. She was truly kind and helpful. The whole conversation was just too bloggable.
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Christina says:
Funny…I honestly had the same thought when I looked at our school’s lunch menu for this month. Mini Corn Dogs….yeah, that’s kind of a lunch :-).
Paula Bolyard (@pbolyard) says:
Call me a rebel, but I would send a lunch box full of candy tomorrow. Kids can eat a variety of things over the course of a day (or a week) that combine to make a healthy diet. Even a day of junk food won’t ruin a kid for life (based on anecdotal studies in my household). I don’t think it’s any of the school’s business unless they have reasonable cause to think the kid is being neglected or malnourished. Really, this is the last thing a good mom should have to fret about. There are a lot more things to worry about in the world than a child who doesn’t have a government-approved sandwich in his lunch box.
jjhil says:
Amen
Sarah says:
I had to laugh over this! My youngest son is the same way – crackers, string cheese, applesauce, & something to drink. Everything else will go into the trash and I am not willing to waste food like that!
Tracey says:
This just cracks me up and is frustrating at the same time! You are the one who knows what your kids will or won’t eat. My youngest doesn’t like bread so I just send the ham in a baggie.. with other side things but they have asked why don’t I send bread.. so she can throw it away?
Meaghan says:
Before I was homeschooled, I went to a public elementary school. I was kind of the same way. Sandwiches were not my favorite, though my mom tried. And she once sent me to school with a moldy lunchable (how were we supposed to know the turkey was covered in fuzz?) without meaning to. Towards the end of my public school existance (I was going once a week for the gifted program), I would eat a can of tuna or cheese and crackers. 🙂 Even now, I choose colby jack cheese and rice crackers over hot dogs and stuff. Don’t feel bad. 🙂
Dodging Acorns says:
This made me giggle because we do ‘mix and match’ meals all the time!!! I can’t believe they called you though!!