Professional Lunch Lady

"Professional Lunch Lady"

For years my kids would Google my name and laugh when “Lunch Lady” popped up on the screen. 

With my two boys and then my two girls all in private school my schedule revolved around the kids, drop offs, pickups, school events, school projects and playdates. I am sure most moms can relate. It became easier at one point to just park near the school after the last drop off in the morning and stay put, if you have ever driven in Brooklyn, New York you understand.

Volunteering in the lunchroom on Tuesdays, aka “meat day”, became my thing. It turned out to be the best thing I ever did. I met the best group of friends, till today we celebrate our families' milestones together, they are my “Sisters” from different “Misters”. I was also lucky enough to meet my partner, but I will save that story for another time. 

Volunteering in the lunchroom probably cost me a small fortune over the years, but it was great seeing my kids, their friends and their teachers. Of course, once my kids became teenagers, they would avoid me at all cost! Eventually I started volunteering twice a week, joined the PTA and coordinated the lunch volunteer program. 

Ten years after joining the PTA, I was offered a position in the PTA office, for the next five years my primary responsibilities were the lunch program and the after-school program. Everyone at the school called me the Lunch Lady, I even dressed up one holiday as a 1960’s Lunch Lady and walked around with a ladle asking the kids if they wanted “1 lump or 2” ... the older crowd thought it was hysterical, the younger crowd thought my red cat-eye glasses were the coolest. Every “Lunch Lady” out there has thousands of stories they can share, some funny, some not so funny, but looking back they bring a smile to my face. Every once in a while, someone will approach me and say, “Weren’t you my Lunch Lady back in elementary school”?