Custom paper bag lunches

When Michael started kindergarten, we
were surprised to discover at the orientation before he started that day
that the school does not want the kindergarteners to bring in
backpacks or lunch boxes because they don’t have room to store them. Um,
thanks for letting us know….after every single parent bought their
kid a backpack and a lunch box for the first day of school. I mean, they
could have told us when we enrolled our kids to not participate in what
has become a rite of passage for kids starting elementary school every
fall. I don’t know if this is an LAUSD thing or just Michael’s school.
At any rate, he had to leave his backpack (and instead carry a Ziploc
gallon baggie with yarn tied to it) and lunch box with us, and that
weekend, we had to go buy some brown paper bags that he could bring his
snacks in.

What I didn’t realize is that Trinity, who now
handles drop-off, began drawing cartoons and Michael’s name on the bags,
as a way to make up for the fact that he can’t bring his brand new,
unused Power Rangers lunchbox that his auntie bought for him. He didn’t
start sending me pictures of his drawings until about two weeks after
school started. And some of the drawings have turned out really nicely.