Green grass.

Kids are insane. This is a story about the Oldest Kidlet, but I’ve heard from other parents that I’m not alone.

Last year, the Oldest Kidlet begged me to let him buy lunch now and then. I figured there was no harm in it, and even the remote possibility that he might try something new. While he hasn’t gone beyond chicken nuggets and hamburgers, it’s broken up the monotony and made him happy.

This year, I started to hear a different tune. “Mom, LittleGeekGirl always brings her lunch. She never buys it. I don’t want to buy lunch anymore.”

But the grass-is-greener mentality didn’t stop there. As you all know, I’m a stay at home mom. TheBoy and I came to that decision so that I could help support the kidlet’s education and make sure that they got everything out of it that they could.

So take a guess how this conversation left me feeling:

“Mom, I wish I could do the after school program.” (That’s the program for kids with parents who can’t make the 2:30 pickup time have somewhere to go- they do homework, sometimes play)

“But you have a mom who can pick you up when school gets out.”

“But I wish I could be in it.”

Feeling gutted, I didn’t say anything to him as we walked to the car. But I did come to the conclusion that the Oldest Kidlet has to believe that the kids in the after school program get to learn something that the other kids don’t. Because I’m not sure why he’d want to have less time at home with his brother and their collective gadgets.

Other than the obvious. That the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.