domestic dilettante, humorless feminist shrew

I was going to make a post about my lovely weekend (we had a weekend, it was lovely, my beloved Emily was here, there was a wonderful bugler and a horrible choir of bagpipes in the cemetery, and we had friends in for bubble tea and several hours of karaoke on Sunday, because that’s how we roll around here,) but then I got distracted, and then something far less lovely happened.

Yes. My kitchen was invaded by adorable lunch food.

By which I mean that my baby ate lunch at school for the very first time.

We only have half-day kindy here, so the kids leave at quarter of twelve and go home for lunch. This week, we were told that they would eat at school one day, allegedly to prepare them for next year. If I’m honest, I’m convinced that they did it mostly to cause those of us who are maybe not yet entirely adjusted to the idea of child instead of baby to have nervous breakdowns.

My breakdown was channeled into lunch. Maura, sweet child that she is, told me that all the kids and teachers were jealous because her lunch was so cute. Surprisingly, she also ate the whole thing!

There were two rice balls (one panda, made with nori, and one a ketchup-dyed (ew) flower with a cheese center), a pile of cucumber slices, an orange pepper heart, red pepper leaves and heart, a few chickpeas, a few pieces of pasta left from last night’s supper, hard-boiled egg, dried cranberries and raisins, a few tiny cookies, and grapes. There are pepper scraps supporting both the rice balls and the pasta. There’s also a chocolate-strawberry flavored Hello Kitty pick that’s only half in the frame–apparently that’s what I get for taking photos at nearly midnight.

It went well, and I have to say that I’m relieved. Part of the reason that I got so into this is because school lunches with a beverage are something like three dollars–and that’s for food that’s overprocessed and gross. Corndogs, pizza, chicken nuggets… We sent this and a Capri Sun cooler, spent a lot less than three bucks (I’m thinking closer to about a dollar), and she ate healthier than most of her classmates. Score.