working mom :(

i started a job as a lunch lady with the school and i thought i would write a few of my likes and dislikes about the job.

i love all the kids!!!!! my own especially, but really all of them, there is such a positive energy that i find so energizing. when i work the serving line, the kids will shake their heads yes if they want what you are serving and no if they don't and i sort of just love to see their faces when they don't want what you have...they look terrified of what you will put on their tray-it cracks me up. (brooke did not want the attention of having her picture taken)
i also like the smell of the mop cleaner-it smells like orange tic tacs...however, i do not like mops or mop buckets: they actually totally disgust me, i don't get how you can have a clean floor if you put the dirty mop back in the bucket and keep mopping with the same water? yuck...
i also love this cleaner we use, i asked them what it was and it's some heavy duty oven cleaner...it cleans everything-we call it "chuck norris" because it totally gives anything the kung-POW!
i also love getting the salad bar ready (my daily job)...all those fresh fruits and vegtables: the colors, the smells, the textures...they uplift me:)
whenever i have to use the big pots to make something, i am reminded of the 'stir the soup' dance move and i just giggle.
every utensil you use in the kitchen is like giant ogre size...i love to show the kids when i'm washing them, they always think it's so cool and i remind them to be thankful they only have to wash little dishes.
my favorite food at the school is their grapes...they are so yummy and they come in these cute crates that say lunch bunch on them...they come all ready in serving size little clusters and i always wonder who has spent the time snipping all these grapes in perfect portion size groups. (thank you to whoever it is!)
3 days out of the week i am in the wash room and most people don't like dish duty but i don't mind: i like when the kids drop their trays off...they love to say hi and tell me cute details of their lives, it also gives me time to think as i spray off trays. the giant dish washer has trays at the bottom that you have to take out and clean every once in awhile- when i stick my head in to reach them i always think of hansel and gretel, when they push the mean witch in the oven.
for the most part it's such a nice job to have. i only work 3 hours a day, i get out on the same days as my kids, it's a great environment, brooke comes and visits me, it is a no stress job...i can totally leave my work at work- i really shouldn't complain but like the title or not i still am a working mom. i cringe when my kids tell people my mom works: i tend to feel the need to justify that it's only a short time and i still am with them most of the time...i haven't quite figured out how to embrace working--- i feel selfish when someone asks me to help them and i can't because i am working. i have a hard time finding time for myself also, i didn't work out the whole time i was working because i felt like i couldn't leave koy anymore than i already was. i worry if it is okay with my kids that i work...like when i opened brooke's backpack and this is the book she checked out at the library...
or when koy breaks out in tears and says "you work everyday!" it has made me really appreciate that all this time i have been able to be home with my kids, i have been soooooo blessed. i am looking forward to summer and all that time to be home again...maybe catch up on all the church news and crossword puzzles that are piling up-