Perhaps not my finest parenting moment...

We are thrilled with Evan's preschool program. We like the facility and the caring teachers and staff. We thought three things set it apart from other programs we considered. First, they have a solid learning curriculum. Second, they take the children on field trips regularly. Third, they offer sports and swimming classes during the day. As I said, we're thrilled with the program.

But, if there is a downside to such a well run program, it is that we constantly have a list of things to remember for the school. Have I paid for the field trip? Is today Spirit Friday? Does Evan have swimming lessons today? Is today Water Friday? I'm not complaining, this is simply context.

So, a few weeks ago the theme for his class was cereal. Each child was supposed to bring in a box of their favorite cereal. Honestly, Evan doesn't really each much cereal and he doesn't really have a favorite yet. As we were walking out the door in the morning, I remembered that Evan needed to bring in the box of cereal. I checked our pantry and there was one lone box of cereal on the shelf. All Bran. Evan reminded me that we needed cereal and I told him we only had All Bran. He said "All Bran? I LOVE All Bran!" Now he's never had All Bran. He has no idea whether he loves it or not. I offered that I could pick up another box and drop it off at lunch, but he insisted that he LOVED All Bran. So, I grabbed the box and we left.

When we got to school, he marched into his classroom, gleaming, carrying his box of All Bran. I was a little embarassed, but I was glad to have one less item on my to-do list. As the week went by, we got updates about cereal week....

Show and Tell: "I just wuv All Bran. It's de-li-cious. It's brown.. and crunchy... I wuv All Bran!"

Art Project: Crushed All Bran glued to construction paper. Want to guess what crushed All Bran looks like on construction paper? Not pretty.

Cereal Party: All of the children in the class got to try Evan's FAVORITE cereal. According to the teachers it was one of the more popular cereals at the party. Well, that, or they knew I was swamped and wanted me to feel better about my maternal shortcomings.

So, here's the kicker. A few weeks after cereal week, I saw the special cereal week craft project on display outside of the classroom. All along the wall were pictures of the children on the cover of their favorite cereal boxes. Froot Loops, Cheerios, Fruity Pebbles, Wheaties, Apple Jacks... And then there was this:

My son on a box of All Bran. The maternal misstep that JUST WON'T DIE. I doubt he will forgive me for this if he finds this blog post in 10 years. I would like to be a perfect mother. But honestly, I am more likely the mother who sends her son to school with a box of All Bran. And when I saw this, I laughed. Hard.