Lunchbox notes

Today when we were walking home from the park, Rachel was skipping along beside me, swinging her lunchbox.

"Mom?"

"Yes."

"Why don't you ever leave me notes in my lunchbox?"

"What?"

"All the other kids at school get notes in their lunch and I never do. Like Cole and Ezra and Corbin and...everybody. They all get surprise notes from their moms in their lunch and I just never do. Can you do that for me one day? Just send me a note to school in my lunch as a surprise?"

"Sure. I can do that."

"It's just hard to never get a note from your mom when everyone else does, you know?"

"I didn't know everyone else was getting notes from their mom. But do you know what? They can't be surprised by a note every day! If it happens all the time then it isn't a real surprise, is it? So I'll surprise you with a note one of these days, but not every day or you'll expect it and then it won't be a surprise anymore."

"You mean it will be a better surprise than what the other kids get because it will be a real surprise that I don't know about?"

"Exactly."

"Hooray!"

I turned my status around from Worst Mom to Best Mom in one short conversation. Not bad.

Now I have to remember to send occasional notes to my children in their lunch boxes though. I suppose it isn't a bad tradition to have...upon occasion...but I don't think it's something my children will learn to expect daily. Also, I don't think all the kids get notes with their lunch (which is technically only a snack) everyday because I happen to know at least one of the preschool mothers rather well and she is just as scatterbrained and frazzled as I am. I know she doesn't send notes in her kids' lunches because there have been times when she's sent her kids to my house with lunches packed and there have been no notes in them.

So, after chatting with Andrew this evening, because I wasn't quite ready for bed, I wrote a simple acrostic for my beautiful Rachel so I can stick it in her lunchbox on Tuesday. Or on Thursday if I forget to do it on Tuesday, which is a real possibility.

Responsible
Antic
Clever
Helpful
Energetic
Loveable

Then I just said, "I love you! Have a good day! Love, Mom."

I've never sent a note to school in a lunchbox before; nor have I ever received one (and I truthfully don't think any less of my mother for it). Is that an acceptable note? I'm really not too worried about it; it's only a sporadic, surprise thing and I think it will make her really happy.