Lunchbox Love Letters

I have a confession to make: my son does not love school. He was having a particularly rough time in first grade about a month ago, so I started putting little notes in his lunchbox to remind him that I love him and give him a “pick-me-up” mid-day.  I didn’t realize how much he enjoys them until I forgot to put a note in one day.

“Why didn’t you write me a note?” he asked when we were emptying his backpack after school.

“Oh, I totally forgot!  Do you like getting notes in your lunch?”

“Yes!” he exclaimed. “Sometimes I have to ask one of my friends to help me with some of the words.  I liked the picture you drew last time.  Tomorrow will you write ‘You are my sunshine’ and draw me a picture of the sun?”

“Sure!” I agreed.  Then a thought came to me.  “What do you do with the notes?”  I hadn’t seen any in his lunchbox at night.

“I put them in the little front pocket of my lunchbox,” he said matter-of-factly.

Uh-oh, I thought.  This past weekend I threw his lunchbox in the washing machine with the laundry.  What happened to all those notes?

Later that evening after my son was tucked into bed dreaming, I started my nightly routine of packing lunches for the next day.  Before I began, though, I peeked into the little pocket on the front of the lunchbox, expecting to see a mess of once-soggy paper.  But instead I found a neat stack of little square papers covered in my handwriting and doodles.  It didn’t look like they had gone through the wash at all.  I spread them out across the counter, imagining my son’s face as he eagerly opened his lunchbox to find his note.

I hope these little notes remind my son how much I love him.  I hope they help him through the rough days.  I hope they make the good days even better.  And I hope I don’t forget one again!