Kindergarten lunch - Nathan Meyer style

I don't recall my mom or dad ever having lunch with me at school. I don't recall any ones parents eating lunch at school. While writing this post I asked my mom about it. She said she ate with me when I was in 1st grade. I don't remember it at all. I don't remember much about my life before my parents divorce. Trauma does funny things to your brain, but that's a whole different post.

A few years ago, one of our friends found himself in the middle of a divorce. It hit home. He had a daughter who was the very same age I was when my parents divorced. The circumstances of his divorce were the same as my parents. I felt very strongly about helping this child through it as much as I could. I took her swimming and school clothes shopping. I did all I felt I could. She asked me to go to her school to have lunch with her and I did. I've never forgotten the experience.

Yesterday, I had lunch with Nathan at his school. He couldn't have been happier that I was coming. Yesterday morning while he was brushing his teeth, he warned me that it would be loud in the lunch room. "I just want to warn you about that" he said. I was excited to go to see how he acted with the other children. I remembered from my past experience that all the children around me want to talk to me as well. When I went with the little girl that I mentioned before, the topic of discussion was very funny. This little girl is Native American. We were sitting with another child who was also Native American. However, that little girl told me that she was an Indian while the girl I was eating with was a Native American. Funny!

Yesterday I waited in the lunch area for Nathan. The kindergarten kids are the second class to eat. I'm not sure who the older kids were, but I got to watch them file in, get their trays, and sit down before the kindergarten class came in. I got to watch these older kids bicker back and forth, raise their hands to tell on each other, while dodging the task at hand - eating.

Nathan came around the corner and was so excited. He quickly went from excited to all business. He said "Follow me and I'll show you were to go". This was serious, people. He kept telling me "Just do what I do". He grabbed a fork and watched to make sure I followed suit. We got our tray and headed over to the milk. He said "You can grab some milk, mom." Thankfully I had a bottle of water in the van that I brought with me. I passed on the milk. We got to where I was supposed to pay and the elderly lunch lady was so sweet. She said "Welcome! We're so glad to have you here." Nathan was still watching where I was and what I was doing. He was all business.

We got to our table which filled up quickly. Nathan was struggling to open his milk. I asked if he needed help. He didn't. He wanted to show me that he could do it on his own. Finally he got it open. He was proud. The little girl across the table asked if he could open hers. He couldn't. He was serious as a heart attack when he said "I can't do that for you. You have to learn to do it on your own." Well, not today. I said "Sweetie, I can open it for you? Would that be ok?" I did and it didn't seem to bother Nathan much.

Nathan was on my right and a little boy with dirt on the end of his nose was on my left. Across from him was Nathan's friend, Sean. Sean told me that he didn't know Nathan when he lived in Sioux Falls, but he's very happy that Nathan is his friend now. =) Sitting across from me was a little girl with bangs who'd obviously been cut by someone other than a professional. After opening her milk I said "Did you cut your own bangs?" She said "No, ______ did." I didn't understand who she said it was, but my guess is that _______ might also be a child.

We looked around the room and saw many kids from daycare and previous years of preschool. I got to see Dawson and wave to him. There is a little girl in Nathan's class who seems very fond of him. She's such a little cutie, but also a handful. When she sees Nathan, she likes to hug him and lift him off the ground. It makes me laugh. Nathan saw her and said "There's _____ Mom." I turned to look. She's just so cute! Sean said "Oh goodness, ______ loves me tooOOOooo much." HA! That was some funny stuff!

I made sure to speak to all the kids around me. There was a boy sitting by Sean that seemed to want to say something but maybe was a bit too shy. Finally he said "I ate all of my sloppy joe." I said "You sure did. Good job buddy." His face lit up.

We were done eating and Natey got back into 'serious - learn from me while I teach you' mode. He said "Stand behind me and do what I do". I noticed the child behind me taking that a little too serious. If I moved, he moved. Ha! We got our dishes where they were supposed to go. Nathan hugged me and walked me to the door. He said "Mom, thank you so much for spending the day with me. It was really special." It was so 'melt your heart sweet' that it took my breath away. It was a lot of fun. I hope to do it often!