Lunch Bunch

Jack goes to preschool five mornings a week; Natalie is there M-W-F.  A normal school day is from 9:00 to 11:30 but for an additional $6 per child per day, they can stay from 11:30 to 1:00 on Mondays and Wednesdays.  (They stay for lunch every Friday to take part in an afterschool music class but that cost is covered in the activity fee.)  When Jack was in the 3 year old class, he stayed for 2 lunch bunches  -- lunch with Santa and the end of year picnic.  Once in a while, he stayed for lunch bunch last year if Natalie or I had a doctor's appointment and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pick him up on time.  The past couple of months, though, he has gone every Monday and Wednesday as has she.

Why?  Purely selfish reasons.  Mama is grabbing all the time to herself that she can before Sheemee hits the scene.  While they are safely in good hands at school with their friends, I shop, I clean, I chill in the recliner and listen to music, once in a while I even nap if the night before was particularly bad, all without interruptions or requests.  It's been glorious.  Do I feel guilty about sending them when I'm home?  Yes, a little.  It could be considered a waste of money but the same could be said of preschool in general since I'm here and could teach them everything they need to know aside from peer interaction skills.  So, I push the guilt aside and enjoy my time to myself.  It's certainly no worse than working parents who take a whole day off for "mental health reasons" and send their kids to daycare anyway, right?  I'm only stealing an extra 1.5 hours to myself; it's not like I'm dumping them all day.  And I'm justifying, aren't I?  *sigh*  I've devoted my life to my children and yet I still feel bad when I do something for myself even though they love staying for lunch.  Guilt, undeserved though it may be, and motherhood go hand-in-hand. 

There are 3 more lunch bunch sessions before I have the baby.  Friday's music class and then regular old "go to the playground/play in the gym and then eat" sessions next Monday and Wednesday.  Friday's doesn't really count as I have an OB appointment smack in the middle of the morning and with the normal wait time, I'll barely get back to pick them up by 1:00.  The tickets for next week, though, have already been purchased to ensure that our spots are saved (lunch bunch fills up quickly when the weather is bad or if we've had a cold spell.  I guess I'm not the only one who dumps her kids, lol.)  What will I do with my free time?  Aaaaah, the limitless possibilities.  I'm my own version of "Girls Gone Wild:  The Mommy Edition."  Shopping!  Lunch in a Restaurant!  Library Browsing!  Wooooohoooooo!!!  I don't flash my boobs or drink alcohol but I'm sure I look just as slap-happy as those debauched gals on the video as I race around with my to-do list of errands, happy to accomplish my missions which would take 3x's as long with The Dynamic Duo along for the ride.