As a kid going to school, I always had a problem with lunch time. Most of the reasons have escaped from me due to the passage of time. However, I remember that the lunches that were prepared for me at home were given minimal care and when I complained I was told unapologetically to make my own dang lunch. Given that we really didn't have all that much, I just said to heck with it and went without eating lunch for many years. When it came to my own daughter, I made the decision to make her lunch a priority. I wanted her to know how much I loved her every time that she opened her lunchbox. For a time, she regularly told me how yummy things were and that she was thankful. Today though, it is very rare when she acknowledges my effort. There have been countless times when I have snuck in a special goodie, and when I ask her later how she enjoyed her lunch, she has no memory of any of it. She just scarfed it down without much thought. She has become inured to my efforts. Well, at least for the most part.
It was 12:45 p.m. the other day and I was in my office doing my thing when my daughter called me. That morning I had put a piece of her favorite strawberry/watermelon bubble gum in her lunchbox. For some reason that got her attention. When I asked her why she called, she said that she just wanted to thank me for the gum. Oh, and she had to get going because she was in the middle of something. Love you, bye (click) ... My smile took over my face for the rest of the afternoon.
