Nic

Rocking what so many facebook friends have called:
The Kevin Bacon Look

Nic started Kindergarten a few weeks ago.  He had some apprehension about meeting a new teacher and new friends but is now loving school.


His favorite things about school vary from day to day.  Sometimes it is recess.  Sometimes it is circle time.  Sometimes it is morning work time.  But this week he added a new experience to his "favorite" list: buying school lunch. 
Matt's Kindergarten year we made a deal that he could pick a school lunch per week to buy.  We have kept this up and encouraged him to try new things (although somehow chicken nuggets, corn dogs, and cheeseburgers are usually picks for the week).  Nic was very excited that he was going to get to pick out school lunch this year, too.

This past week the boys both picked tacos.  And Nic was absolutely impressed at the whole process.  He got to pick his shell type, his special sauce AND he got to have chocolate milk.  Which was, I am pretty sure, the best part of his day that day.  So much so, that he bought himself a chocolate milk the next day at lunch (even though his lunch box had a juice box in it).  I was surprised to hear he had just gone on his own and bought a milk.  Matt, in two years of buying lunch, had never bought a milk on his own outside of the day he picked to buy his whole lunch.  I don't think it ever occurred to him he could.  He never asked.

But then there is Nic, making his own way, just happy as can be buying chocolate milks at lunch everyday now.  We had to have a conversation about letting me know when he planned to buy milk and/or lunch outside of our planned days because I didn't want them to run out of lunch money in their accounts and not be able to buy anything.  The conversation went a little like this:
Me: Dude, you have to give me a heads up when you buy extra stuff like chocolate milk at school.  Otherwise there won't be any money on your card.
Nic: Well, the lunch lady said it was fine.
Me: I get that, because there was plenty in your account, but if I don't know you buy milk everyday, I can't put money into your account to keep up.  Just let me know, ok?
Nic:  ok, mom, here's a heads-up.  I am totally going to buy chocolate milk tomorrow.  And probably every day.
So, I have put extra money in both boy's lunch accounts to cover the extra .50 per day so they can choose to buy milk if they like.  And let Matt know if he chooses to buy a chocolate milk, that is completely alright.
It just make me smile and shake my head to see Nic becoming his own person, making choices and owning them "like a boss."


And now, a word from the little dude himself:
I love this art we did at school that is a little me.  I get to show momma this egg beetle but I can only do it at school.  I hope you want to see my art when I bring it home and have mom take a picture because I really do like art.  And one more thing, about the new house:  I made a sub picture I play with and launch pretend torpedoes and I have this little map that if we hit or not it says and I really hope you all can come visit and play with us.