The 25th Lunch of the week

Today marks the last day of the first week of school!

Obviously someone was excited by this. 

I have heard that moving and the death of a family member rank high on the list of life's most stressful situations, but somebody forgot this one.  We lived the life of a Jimmy Buffett song all summer.    They didn't wear shirts or shoes. Stayed up late playing outside, slept in, had cheeseburgers, margaritas (well I did), and if you look at a list of Jimmy Buffett songs, all the other stuff too.

Although we knew this day was coming for 2 months, it came as a shock to all of us. If I thought trying to put shoes on feet which hadn't worn them all summer was tough,  what was even worse was waking the boys up before 7. At one point I had to check if they were breathing because they would not move.

The first day was filled with excitement. The second day, not so much.  The third day someone puked.  Don't get me wrong, they actually like going to school, but they just don't like the act of getting there.

Several mothers celebrate the return of school. The kids are finally out of the house, but for me it is more work.  After coming home from work, I don't sit down until the last kid kisses me goodnight. But honestly it shouldn't be a goodnight kiss, it should be a see you later kiss because it is only a matter of hours before I see my four year old at the end of our bed.

The boys teachers must have major confidence in my ability because two of them required me to bring snack on the first week of class on the same day.  That was a lot of mini muffins.

One of the tasks that takes up so much of my "spare" time is making lunches.  At first I thought this would be a fun. Using Pinterest as my muse I was ready to shock and amaze.  I consider myself somewhat of a health nut, but by the end of the year I would have no problem sticking a hot pocket in their backpack if I could.   I admire the school having strict dietary guidelines in theory, but sometimes nothing would make me happier than a bag of Doritos. And if you know me, baking and cooking are not things I excel at.  They have made for some pretty funny fail photos however.

I have reusable lunch containers with four compartments and those compartments mock me. Challenge me to fill them up with nutritious food. And after a long day, I can't remember which kid is repulsed by string cheese. Or if any of the food in the compartments intermingle, they are tainted and considered uneatable.

Lunches are like a complex math problem of making different combinations for food each day without repeating one.  It's mentally exhausting.   Our school does have a hot lunch program but if I were to get hot lunch for every child everyday I might as well just hand over my salary.

I also make lunch for my husband.  It is the same lunch I make the boys. Some people may think that is unnecessary, but to me its not. It is the one way I can show him that I love him and care about him when I have forgotten to look at him all week. And, it is great ammunition when I need to one up him in an argument.  For example: "Who makes MY lunch everyday?"   Plus, if I didn't pack his lunch he wouldn't eat.  Then he would come home hungry and be an asshole, so its a win win situation.

As much as I hate it, making the boys lunch each day is a way for me to be part of their day when I can't be.  I have been their source of food since they were born and some how I still feel obligated to keep up with it. And even though I have opened the lunch in the evening to find the very lunch I took such care to make went untouched because I forgot somebody didn't like mustard that week, doesn't discourage me from doing it all over again the next day. Even though the boys don't notice, it is an extension of my love for them.

After a few complaints from the customers about my lunch packing abilities, last year I let Parker pack his own lunch .  It consisted of  pita chips, corn chips and sweet potato chips. That was obviously not acceptable even though it was delicious.

Plus, if I didn't make their lunch what would I have to complain about everyday?  I posted something on Facebook about how I only had a million more lunches to make before they graduated from high school. Then a friend commented how I'm already over half way there. Leave it to a guy to think that way.

When I read it, it hit me.  In less that a decade 2 of my boys will be in college. They will eat dining hall lunches that will be so much better than what I make, and they will love it and forget all the lunches I made for them.  They won't miss them, but I bet I will.

The every mundane tasks are what I'm going to miss most.

So, the next time I am rolling another tortilla into a turkey and cheese wrap, I will remember that this is only temporary.  A decade flew by and now my babies are boys and in a blink of an eye they will be men.  Well fed men at that.

So in order to keep our Jimmy Buffett summer lingering just a bit longer I will quote one of his songs, because even Jimmy had to go back to work.  It's all the way you look at it.

It's those changes in latitudes,

changes in attitudes nothing remains quite the same.

With all of our running and all of our cunning,

If we couldn't  laugh we would all go insane.