Today was parent’s day at my Little Man’s school… we got to each lunch with our kindergartners!
We were all to be there a little early and in doing so, were able to observe the class during one of their lessons. Naturally, my Little Man was being his usual silly self… acting like he was Spider Man shooting spidey-webs out of his palms and under the table. Of course, most of it was just him being silly and showing off because I was there… he kept turning around and grinning at me. That smile just melts my heart, but I had to be Mama and tell him to turn around and pay attention. They were working on one of their math lessons: counting and comparing pictures, subtracting (finding the difference) and greater-than/less-than. Interesting stuff. Little Man was saying all the answers between shooting his spidey-webs under the table and at the wall. At least he was getting the answers right. Right? lol
So then it was time to go to lunch and my Little Man was line leader today! He grabbed my hand and told me to go to the front with him “Cuz I liiiine leeeeader!” It was so cute watching the kids walk to the lunch room– they have to travel from their building across the campus, outside, to another building. All of them follow one particular crack in the sidewalk… and naturally my little one is the airplane flying recklessly and leading the pack! Still, it was so cute.
I quickly learned that Lil Man did not inherit his daddy’s patience– because he wasn’t very good at waiting in that long long line. But we finally made it into the food area, and that’s where the real silliness began.
Today’s menu was chicken nuggets, broccoli and cheese, mashed potatoes, yeast rolls, and sliced fruit. On the adult menu was turkey and cheese on whole wheat and the salad bar. Lil Man wanted me to eat chicken nuggets because “they’re so so goooooooood” so I followed his lead (he thought he was teaching me something!) and grabbed a chicken nugget tray. Next was the rolls. “You got to get one a those big breads mommy they’re so gooooooood.” He reached up and grabbed himself the biggest one he could get his little hands on then waited for me to grab one for myself. Then we moved on down to the vegetable section. “What is that stuff?” (imagine a wrinkled nose here– it was the broccoli smothered in cheese) “It’s broccoli and cheese. You should try some.” “Ohhhh no, I don’t like that stuff.” So then I pointed out the mashed potatoes and asked if he wanted any. “I don’t want some but you do!” He was so fast it amazed me… he grabbed a bowl and had it on my tray before he even finished answering me. He wanted to make sure his mommy got the good food. lol So then we got a big bowl of sliced apples and oranges, chocolate milk for each of us, and headed for the tables where he proceeded to show me how to get ketchup and sauce for the nuggets. (But not before he grabbed a packet of crackers from the salad bar… when I asked, he said “because I like them.” It was so cute watching him show me around, him being the big boy and teaching mommy how to make her way through the lunch room. And even cuter than that was how proud he was of himself when we got to the table and sat down to eat!
It was so nice sitting down with him in his element and spending part of his day with him. And I have to say, I was very pleased with the lunch menu– the get to choose two vegetables and a fruit, plus fruit juice or milk. It’s much more healthy than when I was in school. The chicken nuggets were baked and were surprisingly good– not at all what I expected of school food. The mashed potatoes were very tasty. I can’t tell you anything about the broccoli because I didn’t get any… to be quite honest, it looked more like a cheese soup with broccoli in it. But another parent who sat across from me said it was surprisingly very good! In fact, all the parents seemed surprised and pleased to know that our kids are being fed foods that taste good, and foods that they like.
When the school year first began, I sent him with a lunch that I prepared every morning. (I felt that the school lunches weren’t good and most likely not very healthy.) After about a week, he begged me to let him eat at school because “they cook good food mama, I saw it.” So I gave in and let him start eating school food. (Plus Miss Priss gave me the skinny on their food also, and that was a pretty good grade.) From what I saw, and ate, today… I feel better about that choice.
When it was time to go, I got a huge neck hug and big kiss on my cheek; and he told me “I love you mommy.” It was sooo sooo sooo sweet. Then he told me he’d see me after while and blew me a kiss as I was leaving. I swear, that kid just melts my heart! I love being his mama!
After getting dressed and making myself a cup of coffee, I decided to grab my book and snuggled under the warm comfort of my bed and read. Not long after, my Lil Man woke up (of course he slept with us last night, again) all smiles, and within a few seconds jumped up and said, “I’m going to get my Bible and read it.”
