Like mother, like son.

Ben is in the afterschool program at his school. It runs until 6 pm daily and includes homework session, outside play, media center and computer lab time, and organized games.  I would love to say I'm not in the last wave of parents squealing into the parking lot each day at pick up, but I am.  With traffic and picking up Ian at daycare first I normally get Ben around 5:30 each day.

Part of the monthly fee includes a afterschool snack.  The other day Ben opened up his backpack to reveal 11 bags of animal crackers that he took. Ben told me he was getting them for him and Ian for the ride home. I have found that these days my car is a rolling grocery in the amount of food I have to keep for two hungry boys. After months of being worried about his weight it is almost funny that eating too much is even an issue. I asked Ben if he had asked if he asked one of the teachers in charge  if he could take all the bags.  Yes, he had.

When I picked him up the next day he had 6 bags of goldfish and was in the process of handing out extras to the other straggler children waiting to go home.  I asked the director if it was ok that Ben had taken all the animal crackers and pointed to his armful of goldfish bags.

She also said yes and mentioned that each day due to some crazy bureaucratic county rule that they have to toss any opened food, even if it is still in sealed bags and containers at the end of the school day.

The next day the kids had yogurt, the same exact brand we eat at home by the cartload. Take a wild guess who at 5 mins until 6 on a super late pick up day took home 23 cups?

Me.