Hairnets & Chef's Surprise

This week I was granted the privilege of subbing for the lunch monitor. A privilege you ask? Well, just hear me out. I must admit, I wasn't really looking forward to it; however, it wasn't near the smelly rag-toting, hairnet-wearing job I imagined. The lunchroom is like it's own world...rules & expectations go out the window. The kids get to be kids: silly, care-free, happy kids. I remember being one of them not so long ago. Racing in to see who I could sit with, wondering if my boyfriend of the moment would respond to the oh-so-important note I had passed him in class, searching for my mom's note in my lunch box (pretending not to be disappointed if I didn't get one that day). When I'm in the classroom, I always marvel at how different the kids are today...but, being in the lunchroom, I realized that they really aren't that different at all. They still love to hear that their dress/jeans/shirt/wheelies (oh, don't get me started on those things!) are really cool. Their eyes still light up when they see their mom or dad waiting to eat lunch with them. And they still love to hear that "yes" they can get a cookie since they ate more than 3 bites of the Chef's Surprise! I so enjoyed sitting with some of them and talking about "life things", not "school things". Even if "life things" for a 3rd grader is whether or not they got Dance Dance Revolution for Christmas or not. It was nice not having to tell them to stay on task, to correct their spelling, or to stop throwing things at their neighbor :) I liked seeing them be kind to one another because they wanted to be, not because it was a "rule". I liked watching the pressures lift off their tiny shoulders for that brief 30 minutes. It was sweet, and yes, it was a privilege.