Some of my strongest high school memories revolve around lunch time. And why wouldn’t they? As a teenager I only cared about remembering the school-based things for as long as I needed them until an exam was done and then I could file it away. Lunch time though, well that was a whole hour to socialize!

I remember the funny things like the occasional food fight or when someone would drop their fully loaded tray in the middle of the cafeteria (which is only funny when it’s not you and thank goodness I never did it). I remember sad moments like fights with friends (god we were all so dramatic back then; hell hath no fury like a drama queen teen scorned) or crying because so-and-so liked some other girl and never even looked my way.

And I remember the occasional embarrassing moment.

I remember I really liked this one guy – whose name I won’t mention because I don’t need him Googling his way here! Let’s just call him Jerry for the sake of a name – and it was a classic case of him being well-liked, very cute, and very smart. Meanwhile, he thought I was nice enough and we were friendly but not friends, and I was incredibly geeky and dorky and awkward looking so there was definitely only a one way spark. I was happy to crush away for awhile from afar, but eventually I lamented at the lunch table with my friends that this guy would never be interested in me.

My friend Cindy told me that maybe he just didn’t know I liked him and that she had a plan. I told her to just back off and I thought she agreed.

Cue the next day, lunch time again. On this particular day about six of us were buying lunch so we stood in line. Crush Guy was about five people ahead of us with HIS friends. Cindy spotted him and said, “okay! Here’s my plan!” Before I knew what was happening, she shouted, “Hey! Jerry! Did you know Sherry really likes you? REALLY likes you!”

I wanted to die. We were in grade seven so we were right at that age where everything in the world is embarrassing. Having one of your friends shout an announcement about you liking some guy up ahead in line in front of all the kids in higher grades was enough to make me wish I had a shovel – either to dig a hole to hide in or to smack Cindy in the back of the head, either would have worked.

The worst part was that Jerry thought she was joking because he was one of those oblivious guys. He was laughing it off but I was so mortified so I didn’t even notice because I was too busy grabbing her arm and loudly hissing at her to “SHUT UP! SHUT! UP!” My reaction was what clued him in to the fact that, alas, she was not kidding.

He looked at me, turned eight shades of red, and turned around to face the front while his friends elbowed him in delight. I collapsed against the wall and wondered if three months into the school year was a bad time to transfer to a new school.

Cindy later apologized. Jerry avoided all eye contact and verbal contact for about two days, much to my chagrin. Eventually he got past it and we were able to work together in class or talk at our desks but I still felt like a total loser every time I thought about it. And when you’re a teenager, you think about shit like that ALL the time.

At least the pizza was good that day.

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Not that pizza is the healthiest thing to eat, at least not when it’s greasy and questionable. As parents we can’t help our kids survive the embarrassment of school life, but at least we can guide them towards good food choices.

Check out School Menu and its parental counterpart Family Everyday, two sites that work together with School Food Services Directors to provide and promote healthy eating and physical fitness for kids and their parents.

Hayley’s school has a strict nutritional guideline to follow and there’s a long list of stuff that we aren’t allowed to send for her lunches. Due to allergies you can’t send peanut butter sandwiches and she’s not sure what else she likes as far as transportable lunches are concerned. These sites are fantastic for trying to think of healthy and kid-acceptable food choices. I’m going to check out the newsletter and see if I can get some good ideas set before she starts school in the Fall so I don’t have to send her off with plain bread and a few apples. If you’re ready to send your kid off to school too and you don’t know what to stick in the lunch box, you will probably find it really useful!