Thursday, May 29, 2008

Lunchrooms, and ninjas and bears... oh my!

I have taken this week off from work because I had some vacation to burn before July 1. We can only carry over five days and I never seem to use all of mine up even though I usually hike the Trail every year and we take a family vacation every year. I know, terrible problem to have, right? Anyway, since I was home all week, Rachel asked me to join her for lunch at school. I figure I should take advantage of these opportunities since as she gets older it will no longer be cool to have Dad visit school. I arrived and sat in between Rachel and her friend Grace. Next to Rachel was her other friend, Madeline. I quickly made friends with Madeline by complimenting her on her earrings. (Which I may regret later should Rachel decide she needs earrings now instead of when she's 16 which is Daddy's opinion of how these things should go.) I asked about Grace's lunch and she chatted happily about her potato chips and applesauce and sandwich (no crusts).

Across the table from us were three boys who ignored Rachel and her friends just as Rachel and her friends ignored them. Boys never change no matter what year they were born. I asked these boys what they liked about the Fall Fun Fair last year (I was one of the organizers) to get some feedback on what we should do next year. One boy told he didn't like any of it. The other boy told me he didn't go, but that I should have X-Box available next year. He also wanted an AK-47 shooting range. Basically, if it involved shooting something, it was okay with them. They were very chatty with me once they starting dropping names like Deadpool and I could talk intelligently about him. Then they started telling tall tales. One boy was a thousand years old. The other boy was a ninja. I asked him if he had throwing stars and nun-chuks. He countered with his superior knowledge of sais. Rachel and Madeline were giggling as I discussed all things boy with the boys.

The girls had better opinions about the Fall Fun Fair, making it clear which inflatables they liked best. And Rachel bragged to her friends that I was in charge of it.

After lunch is recess and it was a beautiful day so I was surprised to find that they were going to have indoor recess. I asked why, but Rachel didn't know. Madeline suggested that some workmen were outside working. One of the boys said confidently that it was because there was a dirty man outside who was looking in windows and they were keeping the kids inside to stay away from him. That was a little freaky, but I think he actually meant "dirty" as in "hasn't bathed recently".

The lunchroom was very loud and the teachers had to come around and say "Team 2! Too loud, Team 2! Team 2!" The teachers seemed way more annoyed with the noise level than I thought they should be. It is lunch after all. But then it's nearly the end of the year and I am sure both teachers and students are counting the days.

I walked with Rachel to her room, said goodbye and headed home. I didn't see any suspicious men hanging around the school. When I got home, there was a message from the Principal stating that there had been bear sightings in the area and as a precaution, they were keeping the kids inside. Bears! Well, that's better than that boy's story.

1 comment:

Me said...

Make her wait for the earrings, at least until her teens. Then she'll want them badly enough she'll sit still despite the loud snap and the pain. I worked in one of those mall places in college piercing ears, and young kids shouldn't be put through that. They think they want their ears pierced, they think they're ready. Then the pain hits, they flinch on the second one, and it goes in all crooked. You've got to take the dang thing out, hurting them in the process, and wait for it to heal up before starting again. Ouch, ouch, ouch.