Normally I would have just made this little ditty a Facebook status and that would have been that, but ... it was just too good to not make it in to more of a story.
Every morning for the past 2, now 3, years of school, Jacob and I have looked at the menu his teacher sends home every month, so he can see what his options are for lunch that day and then make his decision on whether to buy or pack. It's worked wonders for us EXCEPT the one time I went out of town for a few days and left John at home in charge of getting him to school. I forgot to tell him that one little piece of information, and so he just sent Jacob to school with no lunch assuming he'd buy and that would be that. Wrong! He completely lost it in the lunchroom because he had no clue what was for lunch or what he was supposed to do (keep in mind, he was in Kindergarten at the time). Whoops!! We have never made that mistake again ... until today!
This morning we went through our normal routine. I asked if he wanted to buy or pack and we looked at the menu together. Tacos. He wanted to buy. Okay, no problem! I go and put more money on his card and tell him he's good to go to buy. Then I go about the rest of my morning (because half the morning is gone before these kids go to school! Seriously ... elementary school around here doesn't start until 9:20 AM - they don't get picked up until 9 AM!) and I pack his snack. We have to send a separate snack to school for them because they have lunch so late, so he has one bag specifically for his lunch and one for his snack, so he doesn't get confused and eat the wrong thing. It's getting closer to the time we need to leave the house and naturally I lose track of time and we're running late, so I'm rushing us out the door. I take his backpack from him and put his snack bag in because he was having a hard time getting it and his library books back in it. Little did I know that was because his lunch bag was still in there from Friday - I thought he had taken it out earlier.
Fast forward to when he gets home from school .. we walk in the door and he very calmly and sweetly says "mom, I have a request. Next time can you put more in my lunch?" I stopped dead in my tracks and said "what do you mean? I didn't pack you a lunch today, you said you wanted to buy?!" I came to find out just a little bit later that he saw his lunch bag and thought that's what he was eating, so he took it to the cafeteria. He ate .. doritos and water left over from Friday for his lunch today. :*( My poor, tiny, skinny little baby!!!!! I was soooo mortified when I heard this!! I immediately made him a meal at 4:30 PM! I still feel so terrible about this little mix-up ... This is why I think he needs a cell phone. Lol Now, don't get me wrong, I've been so against kids having them, but really in this day and age they NEED them. Not with a bunch of features, but if he could just text me a quick question "mom, is this all you packed me for lunch?" I could have said "NO! go buy something!" and this never would have happened. I'm sure they have rules in schools as to who can have a phone and when it can be used, but I'm sure in this instance, his teacher would have allowed it. So there .. that's why my 7 year old needs one and will likely be getting one before his 8th birthday. :)
