Last week we went as a family to have lunch with Ryan at his school. Lemmetellya, if you have not had cafeteria food in awhile, do not feel bad. It really is the same as it ever was except now, instead of putting the food directly on to the tray they put it in disposable containers which then go on to the tray. But even after eating what I'm hoping was a rib sandwich, we had a lovely time. And Ryan was thrilled to see us. Although I don't think he particularly enjoyed me hovering over him reminding him to "chew and swallow', "eat your cantaloupe" and then wiping his mouth... Really, the boy is almost 6and has been successfully eating lunch on his own at school for 3 months. But as soon as I sat down next to him to eat another side of me just took over. Even as I was pointing to his food saying "one more bite" or "finish your chocolate milk" I knew deep down that I just needed to leave the boy alone and let him eat in peace. But the mothering part of me simply would not allow it. It was like I turned into some kind of pestering mother robot from cafeteria hell. A switch was turned on and it could not be turned off until I was lead safely out of the building. In fact I was close to telling the children across from us to use their napkins... Well, I've learned my lesson on 2 counts: If we do that again I will (1) bring my own lunch and I will (2) not sit next to Ryan...
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Lunch Buddies
Last week we went as a family to have lunch with Ryan at his school. Lemmetellya, if you have not had cafeteria food in awhile, do not feel bad. It really is the same as it ever was except now, instead of putting the food directly on to the tray they put it in disposable containers which then go on to the tray. But even after eating what I'm hoping was a rib sandwich, we had a lovely time. And Ryan was thrilled to see us. Although I don't think he particularly enjoyed me hovering over him reminding him to "chew and swallow', "eat your cantaloupe" and then wiping his mouth... Really, the boy is almost 6and has been successfully eating lunch on his own at school for 3 months. But as soon as I sat down next to him to eat another side of me just took over. Even as I was pointing to his food saying "one more bite" or "finish your chocolate milk" I knew deep down that I just needed to leave the boy alone and let him eat in peace. But the mothering part of me simply would not allow it. It was like I turned into some kind of pestering mother robot from cafeteria hell. A switch was turned on and it could not be turned off until I was lead safely out of the building. In fact I was close to telling the children across from us to use their napkins... Well, I've learned my lesson on 2 counts: If we do that again I will (1) bring my own lunch and I will (2) not sit next to Ryan...
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2 comments:
I think it is impossible to turn off the "mothering" switch. I think my poor Caleb is thrilled to run away to preschool for a couple of hours a day to get away from me. It's good to know that I'm not the only one out there that is a little aggressive at the dinner table.
Every time I check your blog I zoom into the pictures, trying to get a glimpse at Ryan's finger. How is it??
I actually love cafeteria food. Same with hospital food! YUM. It must be so good to me because I didn't have to make it and I don't have to clean up afterwards. :)
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