"Trading at Lunch..."

If there is one job I loathe in the morning, it's making lunches.  Cause all three of my kids like different things: one has to have NO crusts, one has to have only lunch meat in rolls, one has to have everything I give her cut into bite size portions.  It's just too much for my brain at 7am.

I try to start the night before...but I have to leave the sandwich (main) part for the morning...and it's enough to send me over the loony edge.

I know I read about Moms and how they "make lunches with love" and then put in a napkin with crayon on it saying "I (heart) U."  They are supermoms.  I am not.

Recently I started giving my kids those mini-carrot packets (refusing requests from the bite-size-kid to have me cut them) as well I'd put in a small candy treat (why not, right?)

Later I was shocked to hear my son say, "Thanks Mom, that candy is great to trade."

"Trade?"

"Yeah, trading is so cool....I can leverage what I want with the cool candy you give me."

Did my kid really say leverage?  "Really? What do you get when you trade?"  I asked unsure how I felt about him trading my hard work, my hard 7am struggles, for some random food another mom nicely packed for her kid?


My oldest answered excitedly, "Well if I trade the bottle caps or the sours, I can get a whole apple or a bag of chips...."

Then I thought about it.  He's trading for an apple?  An apple?  That's a wise trade.  Trading for what he wants and considers valuable.  Hmm...  What a cool idea.  Maybe "apple mom" wouldn't like it, but here is my child at school learning how to 'work,' trading like you do in the real world.  Okay, it's a lesson and he's learning.

"Ever do a bad trade?"

My son says, "Yeah, one time this bag of chips I traded for had like nothing in it.  It wasn't the kid's fault.  The people that make those chips are CHEAP."

I smiled.  Okay, he's ten and he's learning a lesson at lunch they don't really ever teach in school.

Well done.