No such thing as a free lunch

M and D go to a charter school, which is kind of a hybrid public/provate school. They have their own Board of Education, set their own cirriculum and yet still get state money, so it's free. The downside is that breakfast and lunch are not cheap in comparison to public school. $2.60 per day for lunch. I will give them credit that the lunches at this school are much better quality taste-wise and nutritionally than at the public school we used to attend. Background done.

So, on the first day of my freedom school, I handed each child two, crisp $20 bills to put on their lunch accounts. I actually SAW my daughter hand the money to her teacher and tell her it was lunch money.

M is a pretty picky eater and I was pretty sure this was just a pipe dream. And so it was. I have made her lunch every morning except that first day an one other day that I convinced her that a chicken patty on bun would be DIVINE! So by my calculations, she should still have $34.80 in her lunch account. Imagine my surprise when I got a post-it pote attached to her homework that she had a -$18.20 lunch balance. Hmph. I showed it to her teacher and he agreed it was a mistake and that I should call the Lunch Lady.

I think Lunch Lady is probably a very nice person, but so far our relationship is not going so well. I did call her last Tuesday and left a message. I called her Wednesday and left another message with my work number. Nothing. And then. AND THEN! Friday, I get an offical looking letter that M has a -$20.80 balance! She's been charged for ANOTHER lunch she hasn't eaten! It also threatens that until the negative blance has been paid she will get only a *cheese sandwich and water* for lunch or *crackers and water* for breakfast (tough love, apparently). And if I have any questions, I should call Lunch Lady at 555-5555. I think my head exploded at that exact moment.

The final kicker, they attached a Free & Reduced lunch application to the letter. Because obviously, the problem must be that I can't afford a $2.60 lunch.

September - come and gone

My ONE reader of this blog (hi Sis!) requested an update, so here I am.

This past month just kicked my b-u-t-t (as M would say - it was the first word she ever wrote. I found a piece of paper where she had written "butt" about twenty times. Because it was a "bad word". Rebel that she is. More on that below)

M is finally getting the hang of school, though if you ask her how school is, she continues to reply, "HORRIBLE!". I think some of my friends get a kick our of asking her, just to hear her say it. The first thing out of mouth every morning is still, "do I have to go to school today?". And then the whine that follow 5/7th of the time. But she has made some friends. One of them is a boy named Pablo and he is a bit of a handful. Let me tell you that M gravitated to him like a bee to honey. The very first day of school she came home with Tales of Things Pablo Did at School and every day since then, I get a detailed report of Pablo's behavior. "Pablo had to go to the Buddy Room. Pablo had to go to Recovery today". I think that she knows his behavior is not appropriate, but she admires him for it at the same time. I can see that this will only lead to hanging out with Bad Boys in High School, riding motorcycles and maybe tattoos.

The other thing that has kept me busy this month is TWO events for our adoption support group. Normally, we're not so stoopid to schedule things this way, but our first event was a nationally known speaker and with her, you take what date you can get. She can be very polarizing in the adoption community - it seems people either hate her or love her. I was looking forward to the event to hear what she had to say. It was a *really* good presentation and her comments on racism/bullying due to race and how children feel growing up adopted were eye opening. One thing that struck home is how we need to have all kinds/colors of people in our lives. We can attend Chinese festivals and say we're not racist and we embrace other cultures, but our kids notice what kinds of friends come in to our homes. It must have struck home with some other parents because one mom organized a discussion group and invited everyone to come dissect the presentation. I have to admit that maybe I was a little smug over some of the suburban families because there is a lot of diversity around us. Not in our close neighborhood, but certainly at our grocery store, Target and orthodontist. We live close to a university and see students of all types. But I can't say that I have Asian friends that come over for a drink. Not that I wouldn't like them, but how do I get them? And will it seem shallow to seek out friendships seemingly just to fill a quota?