School Lunch

Let's talk about school lunch . . . The first few weeks of school I, supermom - seeker of perfection, lovingly packed nutritious and yummy lunches for my little schoolgirl. Her favorite roast beef and pepperoni sandwiches, carefully cut into butterfly, heart or flower shapes; fresh green beans, tomatoes and carrots with ranch for dipping.; yogurt, dried strawberries, blackberries, plums, grapes, 100% juice - juice boxes . . . all packed nicely in her little lunchbox with two napkins and a note she could read like You Rock Sarah! Or I Love You, xoxox Mommy.

By the end of the second week of school our future rock star was asking if she could bring lunchables like Sy and Alexia. Then Monday she came home raving about the school lunch. "Oh mom, they had Pizza Dippers . . . Beth shared some with me - they were so good . . . I also notice the Pizza they have every Friday . . . Mom, can I buy lunch on Friday . . . ? . . . Oh but Mom, you have to pack me a juice because they only have milk . . .!!!" Here we go, another milestone - buying lunch. The mommy panic set in - what if she has trouble carrying her tray. What if she trips and falls and spills her lunch. What if she forgets to bring her juice to the lunchroom? What if she doesn't like it???

One thing about Sarah is that she likes fresh food and red meat. She does not care much for normal kid food. She'll eat any kind of berry - black, blue, raz, straw. She loves Plums, Pomegranates, Apples, Peaches, Grapes, lightly steamed but still crunchy green beans, grape tomatoes - heck the kid will eat a whole tomato like an apple - celery, zucchini, carrots. She prefers fruit to cakes and cookies; so although she'll tell you she likes pizza, she really just likes to eat the cheese off the top.

After proper reflection on her question - being the supermom that I am, I welcomed the break. "Of course you can buy lunch!!" I said. Sarah and I checked out the lunch menu they sent home at orientation. Thursday's menu offered Pepperoni Pizza or Cheeseburgers. She was very excited, so Tuesday I sent a check to her teacher to buy some lunch tickets with a note that Sarah planned to BUY lunch on Thursday and Friday.

After much anticipation, Thursday finally came and Sarah was ready . . . I packed her a juice box and an extra big snack, just in case. I was first in line to pick her up at 2:45. She jumped in the car, took off her backpack, buckled her seat belt and put away her hand sanitizer. I was anxious to hear about lunch but I've learned that she tells me a lot more if it's her idea - so I waited. The first thing she says is "Mom, I'm really hungry . . . I need a snack." "You got it, I replied, what sounds good?" "Chicken nuggets from Wendy's; I like their nuggets. I could eat like 8 of them . . . they're so crunchy and delicious." Now this is funny to me. One because Sarah HATES Wendy's'. And two, I'm always encouraging the girls to order chicken if we go to fast food - Kate normally will, but Sarah is a cheeseburger girl. Her regular fast food order is Cheeseburger, Fries, Lemonade and a toy. (of which she eats the meat and about 7 fries) But today, she just wanted those nuggets. By this time it's 3:00 and I'm thinking eating a bunch of chicken nuggets would ruin her dinner. After some discussion I understand that she is indeed starving.

The pizza she said "was gross - it was like a rectangle, not a triangle like normal pizza - and the pepperoni was like little ugggy (a real word in our house) chunks. And Mrs. Bush was yelling at us (Sarah and Beth) saying we couldn't eat our bananas until we ate our pizza." What!?! Mrs. Bush is the same lady who put Ketchup on Sarah's sandwich the other day . . . I'm not sure what's up with her but in our house we don't put Ketchup on our sandwiches. Poor little Sarah, hungry, wasn't allowed to eat her banana until she choked down ugggy school pizza with chewy chunks of spiced meat. So we took a detour to Wendy's.

As she filled her little tummy with nuggets and some black berries she told her dad all about the ugggy pizza and pepperoni bits. We were both having flashbacks of elementary school. When she was done eating she said "Mom, can I be a packer tomorrow? I don't really want that pizza again . . . I don't think I really want to be a buyer any more - except maybe on sausage and waffle day . . . when is that one Mom???"

So we're back to packing - and supermom is back to spending 30 minutes every night making shaped sandwiches and steaming green beans. Oh well, it's worth it to know that my little princess will have a full tummy at school - except maybe on Waffle and Sausage day.

P.S. What happened to Sarah's extra big sack you might wonder; she shared it with some boys in her class. But that's an adventure for another day . . .