Time for a Feast! (or two)

Cooper's grade level usually eats lunch at 10:30, but since today was going to be chaotic with lots of parents coming up to eat with their children and slowing the lunch line down, they started 15 minutes earlier. So I am eating turkey at 10:15 in the morning. That felt a little odd. That meant that the trypotophan lethargy could hit me before 11, not so good for the kind of day it was going to be. I sat with Cooper and ate my miniscule slice of white meat, potatoes and stuffing, while Cooper helped himself to my cookie and roll. Nice. Cooper's lunch consisted of 2 cookies, 2 rolls, 2 chocolate milks and 1 bite of everything else on his tray. I'm sure I will get the Mom of the Year award for letting him get away with that.

After his class was dismissed, I donned my blonde hair net, washed my hands like a surgeon, and set to serving. For the first shift I handed out utensils. Yes, I know it may sound a bit unnecessary, but you just would not believe how many kids (and adults) almost bypassed me without taking any. (!) One the second shift, I had the honor of passing out orange sprinkled cookies that were different shapes. At first I assumed (I know, I should never assume anything) that every child would want a cookie. Nope, that is not the case. I bet 15 kids turned the cookie down. After one lovely child took the cookie off his tray and gave it back to me, I realized that I needed to ask them if they wanted a cookie before placing it precariously on their already overfilled little tray. These kids were so polite. Most of them said yes, please and thank you. Some even threw in a ma'am for good measure. That really got me because I love it when kids say ma'am. I grew up saying it and will still say it to my mom and older people. OK, back to the cookies: some kids did not want a cookie. One little girl said that she is allergic to sugar. Hmm, how about that!

After I served my 300+ cookies, I removed my hairnet, peeled off the gloves and set out for Natalie and Luke's preschool. I went there to work 'cleanup'. It was impressive how 12 volunteers cleaned and broke down over 10 tables, folded and stacked the 90+ chairs and got everything looking like there was never a feast for 100 kids in that space. It is amazing what people can accomplish when they work together for a common goal. Way to go volunteers!