Table for One
posted Tuesday January 6th, 2015
Sophie headed off to school yesterday with a new lunch bag, a Hanukkah gift. By the time I got home — it was only 6:30 — she was passed out on the couch. It was a big day, the first day back after the holiday, she had cheer practice, and she’s just getting over the flu, so I wasn’t surprised to find her asleep.
After I made dinner for the rest of us, I sat on the couch next to Sophie, stealing some of her blanket and handing her a Carnation Instant Breakfast shake, her favorite. She leaned in for a cuddle.
“Hey, how was school?” I asked.
“Good.”
Unsatisfied, I went to my standby, the question that always elicits SOMETHING from either of my kids.
“Who’d you eat lunch with?”
“No one,” she mumbled around the straw.
“What?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
And so we didn’t (okay, I might have pried a bit more, to no avail).
There you had it, my biggest fear for Sophie in junior high — my biggest fear for any kid, including my past self. No one to sit with at lunch.
This morning I packed the new lunch bag again, and dropped Sophie at school. She dragged her super-heavy rolling backpack out of the car herself, a new thing we’re trying to encourage independence.
I’ll be thinking of her at lunch time.
Oh UGH. I’ll be thinking of her (& you) at lunchtime too …
also sending good lunchtime vibes to Sophie and her mom…xo
I’m having a flashback.
And sending much love your way.