A Big, HUGE Day and Some Other Non-Numbered Things, Ten Things of Thankful Week 85

I am not a mother who enjoys packing lunches for my offspring. I very much encourage them to buy their lunches.  It would be one thing if lunch consisted of tater tots and hot dogs, but our school has good, mostly healthy food.

Turken is not a fan of buying lunch. And by "not a fan" I mean he would rather go up against a rabid dog who wants to do nothing but tear him to shreds than buy his lunch. In kindergarten, there were four days in which the half day kids stayed all day. He lost his ever-lovin' mind when it came to buying just a  carton of milk. He started crying before school even started in the morning. He cried on Buttercup's shoulder so badly that the preschool teacher stopped to make sure everything was OK. When she heard about the problem, she told him she would come down at his lunch time and walk him through the line. She had to do it more than once.

Fast forward to first grade. I have packed a lunch for him every single school day. At conferences 10 weeks ago, I told his teacher about the situation, and she agreed to help me out. Whenever hot lunch was something he would like (I gave her a list.) she would ask him if he would like to buy that day. I made sure she knew I was perfectly fine if he brought a still-full lunch box home if it meant he would buy his lunch.

The teacher and I have not spoken of it again since that day 10 weeks ago.

On Wednesday, I told Turken to get his lunch box out of his backpack. He replied, "It's full. I'll just take the food back and eat it tomorrow.'"

My first reaction was worry. "You didn't eat lunch?"
He answered, "I ate a cheeseburger."

Ya'll, you cannot imagine my joy.

I asked how it all came about, and eventually I got the story. His teacher has been asking him for TEN WEEKS if he wants to buy his lunch. For TEN WEEKS he answered no. Until today. School day one hundred three. She walked him to lunch, through the line, and helped him check out at the cashier.

When I heard this, I immediately called the rest of the kids down. They had also been working on him, letting him know how good the lunches are. They came down to see me doing one serious happy dance. They joined me in the dancing and the praising, shocked that he had actually been brave enough to try it.

This week, I am delighted that my kids have fantastic teachers who really do care about the entire child and not just how well he does on a math test.

Sure, I'll still be packing his lunch every day, but he said he would buy again on the next hamburger day.

Be still my heart. Progress, People. Even when the progress is taken in minuscule snail-like steps, progress is a happenin'

That's worth a few thankfuls right there.

UPDATE: Turken didn't even have me pack a lunch today (Friday). He wanted to try the stuffed-crust pizza at school.

Soccer practices have started up again this week, and the scheduling gurus were good to us. Each team gets two practices each week, plus Star's keeper training. Star and Buttercup have practice at the same time on Tueaday, and Giant and Buttercup have the same practice time on Wednesday.  I don't know if you can understand how huge this is. It is an indoor field where only two teams can practice at a time.  And there are 18 teams that practice there. What are the chances?!?! (Rhetorical question.)

I am writing this post on my iPad while in my car in the parking lot of the high school at 8:00 Wednesday night. It was supposed to be Bryan's turn to take Phoenix to practice, but work came up. I was a bit perturbed at first, but thankfully, the school has wifi in the parking lot. I can actually be productive without going to a Starbucks or Dairy Queen for their wifi and an unnecessary treat.

Why am I writing on Wednesday night, you ask?  Good question.

It's another thankful.

We have no games or practices or camps or anything scheduled for this weekend. That means I can head to Ohio and help my grandma pack her things and get them situated at the independent living facility. The moving truck moves the furniture on Monday, so there is a lot to be done. I will always be grateful that I not only have the time to go, but a family that encourages me to go.

Ok, that sounded more saintly on there part than it really is. When my family found out I wouldn't be back in time to watch the Super Bowl, as is our tradition, they all, including Bryan, cheered. Loudly. Apparently they prefer Dad's frozen pizza bites and spray cheese and all other nasty food to my healthier versions. Bryan and Cuckoo have even talked about having a spray cheese cake. We'll see who's cheering when they are all vomiting from ingesting too much disgusting non-food,

What it means for the blog, though, is that I won't be hopping around much, if at all, this weekend. I'll be packing and unloading and playing cards and laughing and probably crying a bit with my grandma and dad and aunt. Pretty sure I'll be doing most of the heavy lifting, seeing as how the next youngest person to me is 65 years old.

Thank you for reading even when I can't reciprocate.

And thank you, Lizzi, for getting the code written early for me.

Your turn. Link up your ten thankfuls or tell me in the comments.

Have a lovely day!

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