this disposable straw belongs to quentin

last week, we got an email from daycare reminding us of the rules about labeling your children's personal belongings.  i immediately dismissed it, knowing i am a super-star of labeling, having spent a bunch of dollars on semi-permanent sticky labels and such for all their lunch containers, sippy cups, etc. (i refuse to comply with the labeling of clothes both out of laziness and thriftiness – can't resell clothes if they've got Q's name sharpied on them!)  but then, when we arrived at school friday, miss diana audited Q's lunch box and clarified that everything needs to be labeled, not just Tupperware.  everything – yogurt cup, string cheese, applesauce cup, box of raisins… all need labels.  first and last name.  it was still early and my brain-filter wasn't exactly turned on yet.  I may have said, "are you f-ing kidding me? That's so fricking obnoxious."

 

because it is.  i guess it is to help the teachers ensure that the kids are only eating their own food and not sharing amongst each other, food allergies, blah blah blah.  not sure why i am so fired up about it, but it is really pissing me off.  don't i pay enough money to send my kids here already?  so not only do i have to pack my kids' lunch (when many similarly-priced and even lower-priced daycares PROVIDE meals) now i have to waste even more money and time labeling everything??  if the place wasn't so damn conveniently-located, i would be looking elsewhere.

 

it took me 16 labels to make the two kids' lunches today.  that's 80 labels a week.  they each had a whole, unpeeled clementine in their lunch box today.  i stuck a label on them too, as an expression of my feelings about this absurd policy.  too bad they probably won't get the joke.