Yesterday Katie had quite a day at school. Even though she is in excellent physical condition and built like a cute little gymnast (that sounds much better than “a brick house” for my now-11-year-old), Katie despises sports. Carl and I can’t figure it out. The 5th grade class played whiffle ball in P.E., during which Katie caught the whiffle ball with her left eye. She succeeded, with much effort, to NOT cry (I’m sure that’s sudden death in 5th grade) and the class proceeded to lunch.
Being the “food nazi,” I pack the girls’ lunch every day. That day I packed their favorite: whole grain macaroni with homemade cheddar cheese sauce and a spinach salad topped with grated cheddar cheese. They’ve taken it before and have handled the “EWWW, what’s THAT???” question already about the funky-looking mac-n-cheese, but evidently the spinach leaves were the target at the table yesterday. “What’s that??? You look like you’re eating LEAVES! Katie’s eating LEAVES!!!” As I understand, the whole table chimed in...maybe even the entire lunch room. OK, I’m really exaggerating there. Katie struggled AGAIN not to cry, but the principal noticed and asked Katie what was wrong. Katie ducked her head behind her lunch box (at least she DOES have a “cool” lunch box to duck behind) and said what all 11-year-olds are masters at saying: “Nothing.” She picked up her cool lunch box and went over to sit with her sister.
Later the lead teasing girl approached Katie and said, “Am I the one that made you cry?” Katie hesitated, but then said no. The little girl apologized right then and told Katie she didn’t mean to make her cry. All ended well. I had previously made arrangements to have a friend of theirs, Jenna, come home with them after school, a ride during which I got to hear the whole story from 3 juvenile perspectives. Jenna told us that one other little girl said, “At least Katie Solomon will never be FAT!” Hmmm, is that because most children would rather starve than eat the weird stuff Katie brings for lunch, or because the food is healthy??? I asked, “Someone stuck up for Katie?” Jenna responded, “I would have stuck up for her if I would have been there!!!”
Ah youth, when your worst problem is being accused of eating leaves. That very same day I spoke with a lady who had lost an inch from her waist because she had no money and hence no food. Literally. So, in the grand scheme of things, being teased for your food doesn’t rank very high on the “problem” scale next to having NO food. Surprisingly, the girls agreed.
Well, it’s 6:24 a.m. Saturday and I’ve promised the girls I would take them to the city-wide garage sales this morning. It’s raining. What was I thinking???
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