I have to confess that the one thing I found so strange about our new school district is the one thing that I adore most about it.

Back in August when I was registering the kiddos for school I found it weird that many children went home for lunch. I remember thinking "Kids went home for lunch? What an inconvenience for parents!" especially since you had to pay extra school fees for children to eat their packed lunches at school, to cover the cost of supervision. "That's insane!" Although our district does offer free hot lunches with no fees for those who qualify - a lot of students walk home for lunch at least once a week. School buses are nearly obsolete in our neighborhood schools.

I've spent all of September watching children walk to school after their lunches as I was dropping my kindergartner off to her pm class. They all had an extra spring in their step as they sashayed up the school steps for an afternoon of learning. So after seven weeks of eating in school, making new friends and connections (both crucial when starting a new school), I twisted some arms and begged for my kiddos to come home for lunch on my day off from work.

You guys? It was awesome!

I'm sure the novelty will wear off next month when they grow bored of me; but, having the kiddos walk home for lunch to a warm meal was nothing short of the best.thing.ever. Another confession: I might have chased them around, after our lunch, squeezing kissing hugging cuddling them like they were babies and we all giggled at this new found freedom of being together in the middle of our work week.

"This is SO WEIRD!" they happily exclaimed. "to be at home when we should be at school, Mama."

I know. I know that it's completely outrageous for most parents to be home during lunchtime to offer this type of luxury but I'm so thankful that something I found so strange turned out to be something that I will treasure for (hopefully) many more years to come. The Europeans have been doing "siestas" for years. I'm glad that I gave it a chance in my jammed-packed schedule. Turns out that there's nothing sweeter than watching your children bounce back to school after lunch with full bellies and even fuller hearts. Gawd, when did I become such a sappy soul? Probably when I realized that such a simple thing as eating lunch at home was the best.thing.ever in my childrens' eyes. It's now a tradition - "Thursday Siesta with Mama". Pinch me!