At Sam’s school parents can volunteer to help out with lunch. The entire kindergarten, all six classes, eat lunch at the same time. That’s a heck of a lot of hungry five and six-year-olds in one place. Kids raise their hands if they need help with anything, very politely might I add. Last month I had done it and heard the cutest comments.
As I opened juice boxes, puddings, and yogurts galore, there were the basic “Who are you?” and “Are you Sam’s mom?” kind of questions. Of course there were a few, “My mom forgot to pack my spoon!” and “I need a straw for my chocolate milk!” requests, too. The best part was that Sam was so excited, announcing to anyone who could hear over the din of the cafeteria, “My mom’s here! My mom’s here!” I’ll need to savor that memory when he hits middle school and doesn’t want to admit he knows me.
The sweet daughter of my good friend raised her hand, so I headed over to her. Once I got there, she looked up with her doe eyes and said, “I don’t need any help. I just wanted to say hi!” As I smiled to myself over that one, the next kid took one look at his opened juice box and scolded me, “You opened it WRONG!” Oopsy! So do it yourself next time, kid! I guess my law degree didn’t prepare me for opening a Capri Sun properly. Jeez Louise, though, some of those “ready pack” containers for kids are not only kid-proof but adult-proof as well. That’s why on my second visit I used scissors to end the debate.
I picked Halloween to have an excuse to dress up my overgrown child self. Sam wanted me to be a witch because it is so “Halloweeny.” Why, yes it is! So I was a witch with a big tall black hat, lots of eye makeup, black lipstick and fingernails. It was hard to miss the witchiness of the ensemble. The kids just stared in awe.
They just weren’t quite sure who I was, if I was really a witch, or quite what to make of it. They were hungry, though, and wanted to get their apple sauce opened, so there were plenty of arms flung in the air. As I made the rounds, the kids asked, “Are you a real witch or are you someone’s mom?” I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders. Some kids yelled, “You’re a WITCH!” (They’re the gifted ones.) As I approached Sam’s table, he pointing at me, yelling, “Look, here comes my mom! She’s a witch!”
The little girl across the table looked over at me and asked, “So what are you going to be for Halloween?”
