Lunchtime

I've been making a lot of bentos lately.  Bentos are the official lunch of Japan.  The whole concept of bentos is having small bits of a wide variety of foods.  Each day the bento is a little different based on the ingredients I have on hand.  Chicken, fish, tofu, cooked and raw veggies, and some fruit as well.  Ninety percent of the time rice is in the bento as well.

Since my son started school, I have to make him a bento 4 days a week.  (The school releases early once a week, so kids don't bring a lunch that day.)  My husband is so happy because that means I make bentos for him as well.  Each day my son comes home to report his satisfaction and that he ate his entire bento.  I've received thank you texts a couple times from my husband, which really encouraged me on this new endeavor.  It's actually fun to assemble the box for my boys.

Yakiudon with vegetables, potato salad, sweetened walnuts with fish,

cherry tomatoes, and strawberries.

Rice, soybeans, peas, ume, seaweed salad, cherry tomatoes,

sweetened walnuts with fish, and gyoza (potsticker).

Yakisoba with ham and vegetables, fish cake, cheese,

almonds, and strawberries.

Two types of fishcake, pickled bamboo, rice mixed with fish and soybeans,

raw carrots, root vegetable salad, and cherry tomatoes.

Sesame noodles topped with ham, peas, egg,

cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes.

Broccoli, cherry tomatoes, grilled steak, rice with sesame seeds,

peas, fish cake, and seaweed salad.

Last week we were notified that I needed to come to the school for a "lunchtime observation."  The whole concept made me laugh.  Why do I need to watch my son eat his lunch?  There are a lot of meetings and things that require attendance of a parent for schools in Japan.  This is just one of those things.  I don't pretend to understand, but I show up.

This morning, I made my son's bento and took him to school like usual.  Two hours later, I returned with other parents to watch the kids eat their lunch.  It sounded like such a strange thing to do.  There we were, standing around the edges of the room, watching the kids eat. 

My son was proud to show me how he gets all set up for lunch by washing his hands, laying down his placemat, and putting out his bento box.  After the teacher served everyone tea, the kids shouted "Itadakimasu" and dug in.  My son turned around to let me know he always eats his fruit first.  He kept eating until a little girl came up to him and handed him her onigiri.  He kindly unwrapped her onigiri and handed the rice ball back to her.  He then told me he does this for her every day.  My heart melted a bit when he told me this.

When the kids were done eating, they cleaned up their place.  Then they played with toys until the other kids were done.  At that point, all the parents went to a nutrition presentation in the gym while the kids continued on with their day. 

Before I attended I thought the reason for the meeting was a bit hokey, but afterwards, I appreciated the glimpse into my son's daily life at school.