Lost and Found

In the first three days of school, Mary lost a napkin, a small food container and a spoon. Things are improving, yesterday she came home with with all things intact and, in addition, a nasty plastic wrapper, buried at the bottom of her lunchbox. One sniff and I knew, Little Debbie Nutty Bars (we ate them in college, I blame my roommate, she of the late night hot donut love). This was not native, it was not nestled amongst the hummus and carrots and wormy peaches that filled the lunchbox in the morning. She insisted she had not eaten the offensive treat, and I might believe her although her blueberry box was empty, she had given them all to Adrianna who had never had a blueberry before. Was this a culinary exploration themed swap?

Packing the lunchbox every morning makes me feel like the consummate mother. The challenge of assembling a well balanced and nutritious lunch that can easily be consumed in 15 minutes is invigorating, and exhausting. My own mother has never packed a lunchbox, she could barely get herself out of bed before school started, leaving me in the lunch line while all my friends dug into Fluffernutter sandwiches and bologna and Doritos. All I wanted in the world was a Carl Buding chicken sandwich and Pringles, that was my idea of lunchroom heaven. Instead I faced canned green beans and chicken pieces with mushy apple stuff and warm milk.

The real joy is unpacking the remains at the end of the day. Mary transfers food from one container to the other, leaving most of it uneaten. One day she ate only applesauce, although there are the telltale nibble marks in everything. Yesterday I tried pureed black beans with spinach and garlic, and a smidgen of cream cheese for smoothness, spread on a tortilla and rolled. There was no trace of the tortilla in Kate's box, I had found a winner, or maybe not, "that thing? I threw that in the garbage", although Mary had eaten at least half of hers, perhaps she liked it. Or possibly Adrianna had never had pureed beans and spinach on a tortilla; what Mary got in return is the real question.