Did I ever thank you for all of the great suggestions for school lunches? Well, thank you, Interwebs! I appreciate each and every one of them from the bottom of my heart. Unfortunately, the rest of me hasn’t yet caught up with my heart, because as of yet The Boy is still getting a sandwich, fruit and crackers or chips
Lately, the preschool's hot lunch has been quite the subject of discussion on the daily ride home. The hot-lunch option costs $3.50 a day and, according to the menu that was sent home in September, it's pretty standard kid-friendly fare. Chicken nuggets, pizza, lasagna, fruit cups, you know, school lunch. At The Boy’s school, you have to pre-pay for the hot lunch a month ahead. So, for instance, if your kid is going to be getting some hot lunches in December, you need to look over the menu in November, decide which ones he’ll be getting on which days, and book them in advance. Which, unfortunately, would have involved a whole lot more presence of mind than either his father or I was able to muster in September, what with all of the changes going on, not to mention the State Fair and all of its attendant huzzah-ing. But tell that to The Boy.
“I wish I got hot lunch,” he said wistfully when asked about school on the way home yesterday. “Today they had pizza for hot lunch. I wish I had pizza for lunch.”
“Except we had pizza for supper last night, and you wouldn’t eat any,” Tad reminded him. “After specifically asking for pizza for supper. I’m not paying $3.50 for pizza at school so you can smile at it.”
“Well, I would eat it at school,” he insisted.
“I don’t know, man, you have yet to ever finish your lunch at school. No matter what I pack you, I end up picking up at least half of it at the end of the day. And it’s all stuff you eat and like when you’re at home. Why aren’t you eating your lunch?”
“Because it smells funny when it’s at school,” The Boy grumbled. I have to say, I can sympathize. It’s been a few decades, but I can still recall the funky aroma of my bologna and cheese sandwich after it had sat until noon in my Lidsville lunchbox. It just smelled ... smelly. And not like something you would want to eat, really.
“Did you eat your lunch today?” Tad asked. If I recall correctly, today Tad packed him yogurt raisins, Chex Mix, and almond butter and jam on whole wheat. A lunch I would be thrilled to unpack if I were him.
“No, mostly I just talked to Isaiah.”
“What did you and Isaiah talk about?”
“I told him I would like to get the hot lunch.”
Sigh. I am posting a reminder to myself to actually sit down and deal with the menu when it comes this month. It’s worth a try, right?
