The Man and I talked quite a bit about school lunch vs home lunch, we couldn’t decide what would be easier for the Kiddo. Eventually we decided that home lunch was better, and probably cheaper but that we would open a school lunch account so that the Kiddo could have one non home lunch per week. To help him be excited about his home lunches we bought him the very cool bento box mentioned in my previous blog. I pack his lunch with all the usual snacks he eats at home (peanut butter sandwich, fruit snacks, dried prunes, carrots… etc) and I put a cookie in there, or a mini chocolate chip zucchini muffin…
Yesterday when I went to pick the kiddo up from school I asked him what he drank with lunch (his water bottle was still full). He said milk, I thought okay maybe he got milk to go with his home lunch, I’d be okay with that. I dug into his back pack and saw that he hadn’t eaten anything, I asked him why and he said that he forgot that he brought a lunch from home. I was frustrated and yelled at him a little but then realized that I should have expected it. In the end I realized that I can’t and don’t really blame him, it was his first time in all day school and he’s never really experienced an away from home ‘lunchtime’ before. I asked the Kiddo what he thought we should do to help him remember what days he gets to eat school lunch and what days he has home lunch and he said he thought we should ask his teacher to help. I told him that she has a lot of other responsibilities but that we could try it as long as HE was trying to remember himself and she was his help (vs. just remembering for him and letting him off the hook). Here is the letter he helped me write for him to take to school today:
Dear Mrs. H
The Kiddo had trouble remembering that he brought a lunch from home yesterday. His idea to help with this was for me to write you to ask for you to help him remember. I will include a note in his folder that says if he is eating a home lunch or a school lunch that day. He will do his best to remember on his own but will have you as his backup in case he forgets. Would this be okay?
Thank you for your help,
G
Hopefully when I go pick him up he’ll tell me how cool it was to get to eat oreos at lunchtime (two in his lunchbox) and I’ll get a chance to confirm with Mrs. H that she doesn’t mind helping me help him learn to remember lunch.
3 comments:
Nate did that all the time last year. Then he would also forget to bring his lunch bag home. I am trying the from home lunch thing again this year and so far he has done better then last year. I think that including the special hints that they won't get at school (like the Oreos) help them to remember so they have something to be excited about. Also, like for Nate, if it's a peer pressure thing (he was the only one with a from home lunch) they will like that the other kids are facinated by the fact that they get a special treat.
how's he get school lunch? does he have money or something? i figure the 'need' for something to eat would clue him in.
i suppose i don't really understand.
T, we got him an account so that every now and then he can eat hot lunch. I gather they use his name or something and then charge the lunch to the account (so we don't have to worry about him having 'lunch money'). I should probably find out exactly how hot lunch works so that he does it correctly the next time we opt for school lunch rather then home.
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