finally, success!

Yay! Something good has finally sunk in!

I sent Boy #1 to summer school today armed with a dollar bill to buy some sort of snack from the cafeteria during brunch time. (Mainly because he was complaining he felt awkward when all the other kids were buying snacks and all he had was a water bottle and a box of organic raisins. And yes, awkward was the word he used. Not making that part up.)

Boo hoo is what I felt like telling him, but I sucked it back in. "When I was your age..." almost came out too, but I for once caught myself before turning into that cliché.

I kind of figured I was being a pretty good mom even managing to have water bottles and something remotely resembling a snack on hand for him to even bring along. Usually all we're able to scrounge up is stale crackers and an overripe banana. Much better than what I had when I was his age...

I'm sure he's plenty hungry after an hour of swimming lessons and an hour of tennis. (Summer school's a bit different than you were initially thinking, isn't it?) And he probably needs some sustenance before heading to guitar lessons because that will burn off so many calories.

At any rate, I gave him a dollar and told him to spend it wisely, knowing full well that the offerings would be things like fruit snacks, doritos, juice boxes and plenty of other sugar-laden, prepackaged, processed crap with nary a fresh fruit in sight. I didn't tell him that though. I told him he could get whatever he wanted and to be sure to drink his water.

After picking the boys up, he asked if we could hurry home. Okay, a bit of an odd request, so I bit.

"What's the rush?"

"Mom, I'm just starving. I want to get home to eat lunch."

"Didn't you have a snack?"

"No. All it was was a bunch of junk, so I didn't buy anything."

Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus - my kid has finally learned something more useful than perimeters, cursive handwriting and how to use a dictionary. He recognizes what junk food is - AND HE CAN RESIST!!!!

It was a shining moment for motherhood. I'm still beaming with pride.