Lunchbox Notes

This is the first time in 5 years that our children have not homeschooled, and I've had to deal with packing lunches. One thing I felt was important--as much to me as to them--was that I include a little note. After the first week, "I love you" and "Have a great day" got tiresome, so I started writing pithy quotes--funny, profound or Biblical.

Yesterday, Steven, my 8th grader, asked me to stop including noted in his lunches. It seemed one kid had made a sport of snatching them out and reading them aloud. (You can guess the tone he was using if it made my usually oblivious child embarrassed.)
This started quite a discussion on lunch box notes. I didn’t want to stop writing them--it was my way to let them know during the school day that I loved them, and I found that is very important to me. Amber said her friends often pass them around and have told her she's lucky to have a mom who packs her lunches and gives her notes. Alex told me he saves his to he can re-read them. Rob, my husband, wanted to know why Steven wasn't defending his lunchbox better.

In the end, we came up with a better alternative. The next day, I packed his lunch with this note:

Eavesdroppers are seldom admired, but people who steal lunch box notes to read aloud are especially pitiful! Merry Christmas from Steven's Mom

Of course, Steven, somehow not getting the concept to the Gotcha! Factor, warned him and the kid has decided to lay off lunchbox notes. In the meantime, one of Amber's friends whote "HI MOM!" on one of Amber's notes.

Guess I've got another person to write for.