Picky eater? I don’t think so!

So, after the first week or so of attending school, Rebecca was issued a student ID card. The ID’s are used in the cafeteria to speed up the purchasing of lunches and they make life easier for parents because you don’t have to find $1.80 every day. You can write a check to put money on your child’s account and they just whittle it away… a debit card. Even though I knew it would make my life easier, I was a little hesitant to “load” Rebecca’s account. She’s never had the experience of carrying and spending money herself, so I looked at buying lunch as a learning experience. I also realize, from knowing people who worked in school food service, that elementary school students are not the most efficient at checking out and paying for their lunches, so it is a time saving effort for the cafeteria staff. (I later learned that even if the kids take their money each day they don’t actually pay for lunch when they go to the cafeteria. It is collected by their teacher and processed before they arrive.) To make what’s becoming a long story short, I sent in a check. Rebecca and I go through the school lunch menu at the beginning of each month and we talk about what is being served. Then she decides if she wants to buy or pack her lunch for each day and we write it on her personal calendar. I counted out all the days she was buying lunch and calculated that if we paid for 20 lunches it would take her through the end of March with one to spare. Perfect!

It turns out it wasn’t exactly perfect. Earlier this week Rebecca started telling me she needed money. The conversation went something like this…

Rebecca: Mama, need money.
Me: Why do you need money, Rebecca?
Rebecca: Ummm, Mrs. Schad.
Me: Why does Mrs. Schad need money?
Rebecca: Buy ice cream.
Me: Mrs. Schad wants to buy ice cream?
Rebecca: Da.
Me: Are you sure?
Rebecca: Buy lunch
Me: You want to buy lunch for Mrs. Schad?
Rebecca: No, Mama. Buy lunch.
Me: You want to buy lunch for you?
Rebecca: Yes!
Me: You have plenty of lunch money.
Rebecca: Mrs. Schad… ummm, letter.
Me: Mrs. Schad gave you a letter?
Rebecca: Da

Well, when we went through her backpack that night, there was no letter from Mrs. Schad. I had Rebecca bring me her personal calendar and I double checked the date I had written the check against how many days she had bought her lunch. I even counted it twice! Nope, we’re still good… shouldn’t’ need lunch money till after spring break. Just to be certain I sent her teacher a note and asked about it. Well, after a few days of checking, Mrs. Schad has solved the lunch money mystery. It seems that even on the days that Rebecca takes her lunch, she ALSO goes through the cafeteria line. Some days she gets a side dish, some days an extra entrée, etc. Mrs. Schad asked the girl who sits next to Rebecca at lunch if Rebecca eats all the food and she said, “yes.” Wow!

I guess the good news is Rebecca definitely likes American food. But, now what do we do about lunch? I certainly don’t want her to be hungry and she’s in NO danger of being overweight, but she also has to understand the food is not free and limitless. (I have visions of future credit card debt swirling in my head!) Oh yes, and Rebecca has a negative balance on her lunch account right now…