One last bite: Get to eat it, or have to eat it?

As our second get-together with my new mentees A and M through Hope and Home, we had the brothers over for a playdate and dinner on Sunday. A is a six-year-old kindergartener with shiny eyes and a friendly smile. M is a quiet four-year-old who is curious and gentle. Their mother is a single-mother with six children. As a mentor to them for at least the next two years, this is a new exciting, inspiring, and sobering family activity for all four of us.

Paul was the first to notice during our last zoo visit that A seemed stunted. He's extremely thin and very short--about the same height as Ben who's only four. He tells us that he eats cereal and sometimes beans for lunch and dinner everyday. When he goes to school during the week, he gets fed breakfast and lunch. Though a sad description, I didn't think too much about it, until the brothers came over.

I offered some freshly baked banana bread shortly after they ran around the house checking out stuff. I asked A to help put some plates on the table. He took the plates to the living room floor and told everyone that there's food. (I realized that they hadn't eaten on a table since there's none at their apartment). As soon as the slice of banana bread touched their plates, they ate it up instantly. I brought out some pineapples and honeydew. They licked the plates clean after getting second and third servings. Little M didn't seem to want to leave the table, holding his fork looking thoughtful.

We played with toys--they had a hard time in the toy closet as everything looked so fun! A commented to Paul, "Mr. Paul, your house so posh!" Paul noticed the interesting vocabulary there :) Then came dinner time. I have to say, I have never seen my food being appreciated to this dramatic extent. Totally simple stuff like white rice, sauteed broccoli, chicken sausage, and cheese sticks. They devoured everything! They got for seconds, thirds, fourths, they just kept on eating. A said something to the effect that this was a great meal. M held onto his fork after his plate was clean, looking at the broccoli and sausage as if in a trance. I felt a deep joy and sadness at the same time.

On the other hand, our kids were asking, "How many bites do I have to eat until I am done?" "Two more bites?" At that moment, I really did not know how to respond to Ben.

On our way back to their place, they told me that they didn't get to go to school on Friday because they didn't find clean socks (mommy needed to do laundry but haven't been feeling well). How would you react to hearing that the lack of clean clothes means no decent breakfast for these precious little guys? I sensed anger in my heart, but I didn't know what to say to them, except that I'll see them in two weeks and we'll have fun together again.