I feel like my last few blog posts have all been bitchy or winy.
It's a new world that we're in now, and some days I don't know what to make of it. In Charlotte it was easy to just be us. We did what we wanted, how we wanted, when we wanted, with mine and my husband's work hours being our only restrictions. We had a few friends through IKEA but we weren't involved members of our local community, so there were never any standards to live up to, no crowds to follow... really just no one else involved in our lives. Not knowing anyone is actually very liberating. You never have to explain anything.
Today the school counselor called to ask if everything was OK at home. She said that my daughter had told her teacher that she didn't have enough food. The counselor then offered me the reduced lunch program. I was humiliated. I asked my daughter about it when I picked her up. She claimed that the faculty said her lunch "wasn't a good lunch" and that "It needed a sandwich". This is all just what she said. I don't really know what happened so my husband is calling tomorrow. I was taking it too personally and getting emotional so it's best that he do the talking and figure all this out.
Her lunch today wasn't awesome by any means, just a big bag of gluten free pretzels and an orange that I peeled and sliced. My only goal with her lunch is to pack something I know she will eat (although that list seems to change daily) and that is not packed full of chemicals, fat and sugar. I sometimes let her buy her lunch but it's rare. She had a school lunch on the day that I volunteered in the cafeteria and I noticed that most of it went into the trash. She just likes the act of going through the line and purchasing her meal. Basically, her lunch is a filler and she gets more substantial stuff when we're together. Like the quinoa zuchinni lasagna we had for dinner.
I hate thinking about what anyone else thinks about any aspect of my life and it seems like I've been doing that more and more lately. Someone mentioned how scary it was to run in town after dark the other night. Um, I live in town... after dark. I'm starting to think that there is some sort of stigma attached to being a townie (<that's what I'm going to start calling myself). I'm pretty sure most people think we don't own a car since we walk to and from school most days (and because 3 people have stopped to offer us a ride). And now every time I pack a lunch, I'll have to think about someone else's opinion of it.
It's hard to believe that I was raised in this area, because so often it feels like I don't belong. It is getting better though. We just ran a 5k last weekend. All five of us, Brad with the double jogger and me with the single, and it felt like we were getting back to just being us. Next on the agenda: A camping trip. I just want to be sitting around a fire with my best guy while our kids are konked out in the tent after a long day of tromping through leaves. When we hit these rough patches in Charlotte we would always take a day for some "mountain therapy", and it always worked. The bare elements of earth are always able to clear the mind and put life in perspective.
-Hugh Jass
Wow, that sounds really annoying about the school calling you. My daughter barely eats what we put in her lunch, and if we put a sandwich in there she wouldn't eat it. I mean it's good they are checking, but yes humliating, and yes I would hate someone in my business.
ReplyDeleteI think a camping trip sounds great! A way to just get out of town...you townie! :)
We've discussed this before; do NOT let this get to you! Keep in mind we are a "fat" society, whose public school system allows their joke of a food program to be dictacted by the almighty food pyramid.
ReplyDelete(dont make me hit you with a copy of Skinny Bitch!)
You guys are great parents who are raising your kids healthy; nothing wrong with that. A big reason this is even an issue is because there are parents out there not doing the right thing for their kids, and thats why it has come to this. CHIN UP GIRLFRIEND!
It's pretty rare that I would suggest that someone misses charlotte, I'm always glad when I get to leave there. But this makes a lot of sense to me.
ReplyDeleteIt's like when people ask me how do vegetarians get any protein? or How can you afford all of that fruit? i spend that much on pop tarts and bread alone.
When you are surrounded by dumbasses, everyone knows that you should promptly start acting like a dumbass. It's only appropriate. I bet the lunch lady who said that to your daughter was obese and had McDonalds for dinner that night. She wouldn't know an appropriate portion size if it ate her for a snack.