Mea loved first grade.
She was at school all day.
She had four times the friends to play with than she had in Kindergarten.
She switched classes to be able to have each of the other first grade teachers for guided reading at some point throughout the year.
She loved it!
She also loved going to the cafeteria to get a second breakfast, because I didn’t think to send in a note to say that she shouldn’t eat a second breakfast.
I didn’t even think this was something I needed to share.
Mea went because 1) she could; 2) it was a place where she could socialize and not have to get her morning work done.
She only started going around December.
I’m sure the thought got into her head somehow like this:
Friend: You should come to breakfast.
Mea: Okay.
I was visiting classrooms one morning, just poking my head into Mea’s classroom, more than observing.
Me: Where’s Mea? (Having just put her on the bus an hour ago.)
Kids: Breakfast.
Maybe you can imagine the look on her face when I walked down to the cafeteria – busted!
At home, we explained how she already had a good breakfast each morning before she went to school, and how her choice in the cafeteria (sugary cereal), was a bad one for her teeth. We made sure to give her a little bit more to eat in the morning.
I also had to share with her teacher and the cafeteria aide that she was not to go to breakfast anymore.
It was one of a series of things that happened in first grade that let us know we needed to provide her with clear guidelines and boundaries, as she wasn’t ready to maintain them on her own.
She was just a first grader, after all.
aileenhower's Blog 
I think this is true for many of our kids and I often wonder about that! How sad is that, that school breakfast is full of sugar and not healthy. This is so darn common, more common than not. We need to change this. All kids deserve a healthy school breakfast and lunch. Thank you for sharing. Hope Mia has a good year this year.
Thanks!
You are so right, students, children, all need to know what their boundaries are. For that matter, so do we adults. Pushing those boundaries, however, is exciting.
Yes, I can imagine her face 🙂
Oh, Aileen, what a sweetheart she is. I love first graders, and Mea seems to be a typical one. Play and visiting are important for all of them, and she just seems to realize it better than some. All the best to her and you!
Denise
Sometimes it amazes me how explicit I need to be with my own child. Then again, I think explicitness is what so many of our kids need (and crave… just like routines).