Hot Lunch

Julia started Kindergarten this September. Because I couldn't stand the thought of her spending time in before school care, school itself and after school care while I sat in traffic for 2 hours a day, I found a job in Seattle. Closer to home. I'm now teaching with the nuns (actually, only former nuns remain on staff) at our parish Catholic school. After I accepted the position, we quickly enrolled Julia so she and I could go to school together. Our school is one mile from home. We can walk. No kidding. After 13 years of commuting across Lake Washington to work, I now count travel time in seconds.

Julia is doing so well in Kindergarten. Her August birthday gave us pause when it came time to register her but her outstanding pre-school teacher calmed our fears and said she thought Julia was ready. So off she went. She's a smart cookie but has seemed reticent on the social scene. Plus there is the whole clingy attachment thing. We are delighted to report that Julia has made many new friends and it turns out the clingy attachment thing is mostly my problem. Julia skips off to her class with a song in her heart and only the skimpiest of waves and blown kisses in my direction every morning.

There have been many firsts in our life with all these recent changes. Today brought just such another. Yesterday, Julia declared she wanted to buy Hot Lunch. She has never expressed the slightest interest before and is mostly happy eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but yesterday she was adamant about seeking a new culinary adventure: Hot Lunch. She was so excited about the prospect she had trouble sleeping last night. She woke up singing a song she made up about the topic. On the way to school, she shared that she had dreamed about hot lunch and how delicious it would taste.

I picked her up from school and noticed an uncharacteristic stain on her pristine white uniform shirt. I asked how Hot Lunch was and she said it was good. I asked if she wanted Hot Lunch again tomorrow and she said, "No Thanks." I don't know if it was the messy stain on her shirt, the fact that it turned out to be not the stuff of dreams, or whether one adventure a week is enough at this point. It doesn't matter. We are just so proud of her for embracing life as a Kindergartener, Hot Lunch and all.