Mystery Meat

Usually Margot brings her lunch to school. I prefer this because I know exactly what she is eating (I don't think she has the concept of 'lunch-trading' just yet), and this way I know she isn't having too much processed junk. Four days out of five she eats peanut butter on wheat bread, apple sauce (or some other fruit), and milk, but, occasionally, she'll ask for soup or pasta or mac and cheese to bring.

In my effort to stay organized, I usually prepare her lunch the night before because it's just too hectic to make lunch in the morning. Sometimes, though, I am too _____ [fill in the blank with lazy, tired, or absentminded].

Last Friday was one of those days. I woke up late and realized that I hadn't made M's lunch the night before. Margot had been asking to buy hot lunch at school, so I decided Friday was the day. I tried to look up the school lunch menu online, but the link wasn't working. So I packed her off with $1.20 in her backpack (love those subsidized school lunch prices!) that would cover hot lunch and milk and assumed they wouldn't let her go hungry.

I forgot to ask her about how hot lunch was until Sunday evening. After dinner, Brodie and I asked her how she liked 'hot lunch' on Friday.

"I didn't like it!" she declared. "There was white rice and peas, and so I ate all of that, but there was also some kind of meat that I didn't eat. I don't know what it was."

Brodie and I laughed and laughed.

M continued. "It [the meat] looked like one of Portia's treats. You know, with the lines on it?"

Portia's dog treats have those fake grill marks on them. Apparently, so does the meat in DCPS.

I laughed so hard I got a stomach ache. That description was priceless.

I think we'll only buy hot lunch on pizza day from here on out.