I have been waiting to go eat lunch with Brody until I thought he'd be able to handle me visiting and then leaving again in the middle of the day. We're through the first 6 weeks of school now and Brody is finally at the point where he can give me a hug and walk into school without crying.
This morning I told him that Barrett and I were going to come up to school and bring him Chick-fil-a for lunch. He was super excited. Monday was Parent Teacher Conference day and before I left I asked Brody's teacher what time they went to lunch. She told me, "11:40, but you want to get here by 11:35 so you can sign in at the office and get back to the cafeteria in time."
Barrett and I went to the gym this morning, then to the grocery store, then home to unload groceries, and then finally to Chick-fil-a. We got to the school really early (11:15) so we just sat in the parking lot talking and waiting until 11:30. Then we walked into the office and talked to the admin in the office for a few minutes. Next we stopped at the fish tank to look at the fish. We were trying to waste a little bit of time so that we weren't sitting back in the hall by the cafeteria waiting for a long time.
When we got back to the cafeteria area we sat on the bench in the hall to wait. I peaked into the cafeteria after a minute or so and thought, "Hmmm. Those kids don't look like they're almost done eating. I wonder if I have the time wrong?" Then I noticed Kade (one of Brody's friends) waving frantically at me to come in. I decided we could go in and sit at the parent table until Brody's class arrived. When we walked in Kade pointed towards the front table and there I saw Brody. He was sobbing and there was a teacher (a substitute teacher no less) hovering over him. I walked over there confused and the sub said, "We had to buy him a school lunch since you didn't show...so now your account is negative." (Brody doesn't ever buy his lunch so we don't have any money in the account). I was a little taken aback and said, "Did y'all get to lunch early today? It's only 11:36! I thought your lunch wasn't until 11:40!" She curtly replied, "Nope. Their lunch is at 11:20."
Oh. My. Goodness! Here Barrett and I had been sitting in the parking lot since 11:15 just waiting for lunch time....and Brody had been in the cafeteria crying because his momma "forgot" about eating lunch with him! By the time he sat down at the parent table with me and Barrett, he had about 5 minutes to eat before the teachers started telling the classes to clean up and line up. Later I talked to Audria and she told me that I should've just checked Brody out, gone to the parking lot so he could eat, and then bring him back. Seeing as this is our first time doing this...I didn't even know that was an option. Not only did he only get a few bites of lunch (he tells me he never talks at lunch because he's so hungry and wants to eat all his food....so this wasn't good for his day!), but he also started crying again when they said it was time to go back to class. Here I'd been waiting until I thought I could come and go without him crying and I do something stupid like this! I should've double checked the schedule on the school's website...but I didn't. You can tell in the picture that he had been crying...and it's all my fault! Seriously! I know it's only October, but they might as well give out the Worst Mom of the Year award now. I deserve it!
Mike suggested taking the boys for ice cream after school to make up for the mishap. Brody also had his good friend and baseball teammate, Logan, over to play and spend the night. I think Logan and chocolate chip cookie dough milkshakes from Braum's made everything ok ;)
