Wednesday, February 27, 2013

waving the white flag

Lunch?

This week, we don't NEED no stinkin' lunch.

We are all sick. We've had a mercifully healthy winter, all things considered - runny noses of course, but nothing really significant. It took a strong, vicious, take-no-prisoners kind of virus to bring us down... and that virus broke through on Sunday.

The past two days have been a haze of vomit, popsicles, Gravol, more vomit, and laundrylaundrylaundry.

I packed a lunch for 7yo yesterday, but I honestly don't remember what was in it.

Other than that, I haven't packed a single lunch. Even those of us that are over the worst of it aren't actually able to eat much of anything - a couple of us are hungry, but no food looks at all appealing except for buttered toast.

Today though was 4yo's turn to provide snack at preschool.

Preschool snack day, we hates it, precious.

We need to provide a healthy snack comprising at least two food groups, for eighteen kids. Plus drinks. (Milk, chocolate milk, or juice. Water? Only on request for individual kids. Sigh.)

Usually when our turn comes around I bake a couple batches of muffins with Secret Vegetable Ingredients - sweet potato are very popular with that crowd, ditto carrot & pineapple. They also like blueberry.

But this time, I just don't care. I don't have it in me to bake two dozen muffins. And they'd be crawling with plague anyway.

I got my husband to pick up a giant fruit tray on the way home from work. Yes, I paid a premium because someone else cleaned and chopped it all. This week, it was worth it. I had a bunch of cheese that I bought on sale so I cut some of that up into cubes. I did - in deference to the teachers - put the fruit on skewers so it was all portioned out ahead of time for them. (Fruit kebabs! Kids love 'em. When something is on a stick it is automatically 20% more delicious. That's SCIENCE.)

Sorry, preschool. Playing the competi-mommy snack game is not high on my priority list, this week.

11 comments:

  1. I think you deserve a medal for not opting out altogether. Lots of parents would, in your shoes. It's not like they NEED a snack for a two-hour-long program, anyway... :P

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    1. I KNOW. They are there from 9AM until noon. They eat at 10:30. Some moms send a LOT of food (one sends sandwiches! every time!)

      I actually don't know what the procedure is if your child is sick when it's your turn. You're probably expected to bring food anyway.

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  2. Do not - do NOT - even get me started on how much I hated preschool snack. I loved when I switched Jake to pre-K at the elementary school and it was individual snack.

    Glad you're starting to feel better!

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    1. Isn't it the WORST? I didn't even get in to how much it enrages me when R comes home full of stories about the processed garbage he ate mid-morning - stuff I don't normally allow him to have, and then as a 'treat', not as 'healthy snack'.

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  3. UGH Thank the tiny baby Jesus that my daughter's daycare provides the snacks. I swear if I had to deal with making even one more thing to eat for anyone in our family, I'd go over the edge. And I'm not sick.

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    1. It's the one thing about our preschool that I really dislike. It's such a great program otherwise, but that shared-snack thing drives me nuts. And our turn only comes up every six weeks! But it's still annoying!

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  4. It IS science. Food on sticks is WAY more delicious. Nothing but truth there.
    Are you guys feeling better? We have had such a wretched, sickly winter. Thank goodness it's almost March.
    - Beck

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    1. We are all feeling much better, thank you. Appetites are still wobbly - perhaps I should figure out a way to put dinner on sticks?

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  5. I hate it when I'm too sick to enjoy food. I love food soooo much.I love loving food.

    My kid's preschool says: no juice. Only water. Bring your own snack. (No peanuts.) One of many reasons I have stuck with it these many years.

    May your immune systems, now superpowered, propel you through the dregs of winter to SPRING!

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  6. Your kid's preschool has got the right idea. I really, really wish ours would do that.

    Thanks for the healthy wishes! We're almost there... come on, Spring!

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  7. I never had to do preschool snack, thank goodness. I hope you're all feeling better!

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