In the Name of Fairness

I was reading back through my posts on this new blog, and I realized that poor Thomas is almost completely unrepresented. Since he has been boarding at school, I have no stories to tell about him, and no photos to share except for the odd soccer game pic, and they all look the same anyway. My action photo skills are somewhat lacking. Thank goodness for the photographer who shows up at the games with the giant white "I-am-a-professional" lens, who will kindly sell me a 4x6 of my son that is neither blurry nor shot from 50 yards away, all for the bargain price of $7.85 including shipping.

Several people have asked how Thomas is doing, and the answer is that he seems to be thriving. The boarders are required to write home every Monday, and I suspect he is cutting and pasting the previous week's letter, changing a sentence, and printing it out. I can tell you off the top of my head, because he has repeated it every week for the last seven, that:
* He is getting along great with his roommate
* His RI (residential instructor) is very cool
* Classes are going great
* Can he please bring his PlayStation 2 back to the dorm with him?

Given that he expected dorm life to be a 24/7 slumber party, Thomas has been a bit surprised at the amount of responsibility the boarders have. He has told me that he has even less time for TV/video games/computer than he did back at the gulag at home, AND can you believe they have to change their own sheets?!? Every. week. When I pointed out how glad I was that he knew how to perform that skill now, he looked concerned that maybe he had overshared with his mom.

He has also told me that in effect, the students are kept so busy that there is no time for misbehavior. Thomas has never done well with unstructured time, and I am far too lazy to provide constant activities to keep him occupied. He is in the perfect situation in that regard at school. It's interesting how receptive he is to concepts that his parents tried to introduce for years; for example, an old-fashioned notion known as "playing outside." I have to concede that it probably does look more appealing when it comes with a bunch of friends and a 400-acre campus.

Our boy has always been an extremely picky eater, and my only real concern is whether he is getting enough to eat. In the past the school has used a food service contractor who served typical borderline junky kid food, much to Thomas' delight. This year they let the contractor go and hired an in-house chef who is also an RN with a nutrition background and a passion for locally grown organic whole foods, which sounds awesome and healthy, but practically guarantees that my son is subsisting on a diet of rolls and saltines. And only if the rolls are white. With none of those seeds on top. Every Friday we receive the menu for the upcoming week and I laugh until Ron has to whack me on the back.

Here's what's on the menu for tomorrow's lunch: Watermelon, Feta and Black Olive Salad, Shrimp and Veggie Risotto, Tortellini Aioli, Tuna Salad, Spinach Salad, Garlic Roasted Hummus, Warm Onion Dip with Sliced apples and pumpernickel bread. And Tuesday's dinner: Black Beans and Rice with Andouille Sausage, Wilted Spinach, Roasted Vegetables, Snowflake Rolls, Banana Bread. Personally, my mouth is watering just retyping it, but my child refuses to eat corn. And apples. Wilted spinach? Get real. I just hope they have plenty of snowflake rolls.