The Boy Who Cried..."No Lunch"

We all know how the story about the boy who cried wolf. We have been reminded over the past two weeks of this little fable. It actually has come to light in our own home. Every evening as we finish up dinner, I ask each one of the boys if they want to pack their lunch from home or if they want to buy. I am always quite certain that JWP wants to pack..not a fan of school lunches(can you blame him). CEP on the other hand enjoys having his id card in hand as he purchases a delish assortment of foods. One evening I asked them, "pack or buy". I heard one pack and one buy. The next morning, breakfast was served and we rushed to get out the door to meet the bus. As we get to the bus stop, CEP starts whining that he changed his mind and wants to pack. "Uhh, too late buddy," I exclaimed. The two staggered on the bus and with that, they were whisked off to school. About an hour later I received a call from Mrs H. from the school. This is how the conversation went:

Mrs H. "Good morning, Mrs. Perry. I have the cutest little red-head here who has a note from his teacher. He says that you forgot to pack his lunch and that you didn't let him eat breakfast, so he is really hungry. He wants to know if you can bring his in".
Me: "Are you kidding me? I fed him this morning and he had the option for lunch. Please tell him that I will bring in lunch if I have time before my meeting."
Mrs. H: "Okay, I'll let him know".

So, I debated what to do. Do I let him learn a lesson and make him buy lunch? Or, do I just take it to him. I didn't have time to even make a sandwich, so I reached in and grabbed a bologna lunchable from the very back of the fridge.(I must be honest and say I have no idea how long it had been in there). To make it worse, I also threw in a tub of cottage cheese with pineapple. The look on the face of Mrs.H when she looked into the lunchbox made me feel like I was the worst mom ever. How could I feed my child this..it wasn't payback, I just needed to make a point. That evening I discussed with CEP that he had to listen to the options so this didn't happen again. Immediately following, he ran to the bathroom and got sick. Now the guilt really set in.

Yesterday, the phone rang about an hour after the boys got on the bus. "Hi, Eden. It's Mrs H and Mrs S and we have a little red-head here again saying he forgot his lunch again". "Please put him on the phone", I said. "CEP, you decided last night you wanted to buy, did you forget our conversation"? He replied, "ummmm....ohhh, yeah I forgot. Ok, mom I got it". He has been warned not to bother his teacher or the front office with his lunch antics.

Moral of the story...
1) kids will say anything, even if its not the truth (i don't feed them breakfast)
2) Get to know everyone at your childrens school. They will become an ally.
3) Never serve kids food from the back of the fridge. Especially expired nitrates.
4) Having red hair, freckles and an adorable smile can't get you out of everything.
Just most things!