Lunch Lady Dad

Nothing to do with food, just two kids and a cat

When I was in the 5th grade, I ate an onion sandwich every day for lunch.  I don't know why.  I never had one prior to the 5th grade, and, I'm pretty sure, I've never tried one since.  Also, that was the year that I wanted to start talking to girls, but they'd always run away.  That's gotta be a coincidence, right?  I guess 5th grade is just a wonderful age for food discovery.  And bad breath.

Generally, I get the kinds organized in the mornings.  Aside from peeling kiwis and french braiding hair, I also get their lunches ready.  Grady's easy.  Remember, grades K - 4 don't really give a rip what's in their lunch.  Food is just something that gets in the way before they can run out to the playground.  As a gluten-free kid, Grady's surprisingly easy.  I just toss some deli meat, cheese, fruit, and chips into his lunch box, and BAM! Done.

Dylan in her happy place.

Dylan, of course, is more complex.  It used to be easy making her lunch.  I'd made her a sandwich every day since kindergarten. But once she hit the 5th grade, her palate changed.  Now, I'm more like her personal yacht-chef, minus the cooking skills.  Luckily, she asks for either A) some sort of leftover combination, or B) cookies.  I oblige the former, and generally cave in to the latter.

Here's a good example.  Today's lunch included shredded sirloin over couscous with a chimichurri sauce.  If I made up a pu pu platter her lunch would have included all three of the most fun-to-say foods.  Some days she'll get onigiri, others she'll have wild game over rice, and when it's chilly, she'll get hot pumpkin curry soup.  It's like a little Blue Apron meal order kit, but for kids.  Regina does most of the heavy-lifting in getting the meals prepared; I just toss leftovers into a Tupperware and call myself chef.  I know my mom could have whipped up pretty similar lunches (although we didn't eat much wild game, and couscous was twenty years away from Scott Valley), which makes me wonder, why in the hell did I choose to eat onion sandwiches every single day?  Who was I so mad at?

I like that our kids will, at least, try any new food and they like just about everything.  Puddings give Grady the jeebies, and Dylan insists she doesn't like onions (despite the copious amounts in the chimichurri I put in her lunch).  At least I'm off the hook for making those boring sandwiches.  As long as I can put together leftovers in some sort of favorable combination, I'll be fine.  If I can't, we always have cookies.