I am the first to admit that sometimes I get lazy when it comes to meals and that I don't always enforce strict "healthy" eating rules. My kids get Subway or McDonald's about once a week, and Kraft macaroni & cheese on a regular basis. They get treats. Ice cream on a warm Saturday afternoon, a Popsicle after dinner, a donut at the grocery store. That said, I also see to it that they get a variety of good foods every day. Low fat milk, fresh fruits and vegetables from the farmer's market, baked chicken and homemade turkey meatballs.
Additionally, while the kids watch an average of 30 minutes of television a day, they are extremely active. We play outside, visit the parks, ride bikes and just run. Have you seen my kids? Zack's pediatrician actually described him as "ripped" at his five year physical.
I believe that our approach to diet with the boys is balanced and healthy. Fat and sugar are not the enemy if they are an appropriate part of your weekly meal plan.
I admit that I am more than a little bit peeved about the lunch "policy" in Zachary's classroom. Actually, I am down-right hot and bothered.
I do not believe that the "policy" is an official one, at least not one that has been communicated to us parents. I have discovered the rules over time. Chocolate chip granola bars returned at the end of the day, unwrapped. A homemade cookie now smashed to pieces in a Ziploc bag. Apparently no "sweets" allowed.
Zachary and Evan are leaving on vacation on Tuesday with Daddy, so at the grocery store I suggested that get Lunchables for their Monday school lunch. I didn't want to stock up on a bunch of groceries that would go to waste while the kids were away. Lunchables are a special treat and Zack in particular loves them, thus I was very surprised when Zack told me he did not want to bring one to school. Why? I asked. He responded that he was not allowed to eat the dessert part of his boxed lunch at school. "Not even pudding?" I asked. "No, only applesauce."
The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I got. Isn't it my job to decide what my kids can and cannot eat? I understand the rules about peanuts, but pudding? Who are his teachers to say that a low fat pudding cup is an inappropriate choice for my son? It's not as if he is bringing potato chips and Ding-Dongs to school every day. As far as I am concerned as long as I am not a) starving my child b) feeding him spoiled food or c) packing crack in his lunchbox, it is really none of any one's business what he eats!
I realize that some families may have different rules about food. Some kids may not be allowed to eat sugar or processed foods of any kind. That is their choice and their business. Their children are going to be confronted with lunch box differences for the rest of their lives. The first grader who is vegan, the high school kid who brings leftover Kentucky Fried Chicken every day and the coworker who survives on vending machine meals. So I apologize if my child's lunch offends others but it seems to me that it's my choice.
What do you think? Honest opinions only please!
that is crazy, just totally crazy. i can't believe a kid can't eat a granola bar or cookie along with his lunch. that is a parent's prerogative to decide, not a teacher's. you should definitely complain, and definitely ask for a written policy if there is one. maybe this is just one teacher being way too controlling that needs to be reigned in??
ReplyDeleteYou are kidding! No Little Debbie snack cakes? I put them in your lunch box. Does that make me a bad mother? There was lots of butter and sugar in the hammentaschen if I remember correctly?
ReplyDeleteI admit, I am a lazy lunch maker for my kids. We're talking slap a piece of deli meat between 2 pieces of bread, spread on some mayo or mustard, and voila! LUNCH! Then I toss in whatever easy packaged stuff we have--cereal bars, fig newtons, chips, etc. and that's about it. Occasionally I'll peel an apple or throw in some leftover fruit. BAD MOMMY, I know!
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with the school deciding what can and can't be brought in for lunch. I guess snack's--ours want healthy ones only--but even that I don't think gets enforced a whole lot. Bah humbug--you can't go through childhood lunches without sharing a bag of doritoes or a chocolate chip cookie!!
or trading a healthful peanut butter and honey sandwich on whole wheat bread for a Twinkie. Remember Rachel? I think you and Erica threw away your healthful lunches.
ReplyDeleteMom, peanut butter is not allowed at schools anymore anyways.... it would have to be soynut butter-which quite honestly sucks.
ReplyDeleteWow, I think that is really ridiculous. I agree that you should have some say. The peanut thing is understandable, but a granola bar?! I think this is especially happening in the Bay Area, so I fear how strict it will be once my kids are in school.
ReplyDeleteI'm the Mom who packs a fruit and a veggie with my daughter's lunch...I save giving her sweets for when I can monitor (force) veggie and fruit intake before the sweet is given....but my girl is a DESSERT FIEND! She would eat the sweets first and leave the healthy stuff for last, if at all...
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter to me what other Moms pack in their kid's lunches. I believe it is their choice and their knowledge of their own children that dictate what goes in there....and when Maggie asks why she can't have a twinkie in her lunch like so and so...I just say that I save the treats so we can have them together :)
I only have so many years that this will work before she's having soda and cheetos for lunch...just trying to get the good stuff in before the balance of food (and power) shifts :)
This is getting to be like a scary government takeover. Are they going to start knocking on our doors and examining our refrigerators? I totally understand that kids are becoming obese and there is good reason to eliminate sweets from the SCHOOL lunch menu. But what you send your kid to school with is your business. People need to realize that it's important to allow kids to enjoy everything in moderation-- otherwise, they'll get their hands on it one day and go crazy. It's important to teach kids self control and you can't do that by hiding everything from them and not letting them be exposed. Geesh!
ReplyDeleteWow, ridiculous... I thought the purpose of school was to educate our kids, not police their eating habits. I feel bad for kids like yours, who do the right thing by eating well, but are still punished with the "no sweets" rule.
ReplyDeleteThe school should focus on enforcing the policy regarding the pick up/drop off circle before sweets in lunch. It's like they're waiting for a kid to get run over. But that might just be our school. [We are "peanut free" due to allergies and if you accidently bring something with peanut in it you have to sit on the opposite side of the lunchroom by yourself. Some lunchables have peanut butter cups, said the teary-eyed, traumatized 9-yr old social outcast who begged a teacher to just be able to throw it away but the teacher insisted "you brought it, you eat it." Obviously, I have my own school issues to big for this comment space.]
ReplyDeleteMy monkeys go to a Jewish school and we are not even allowed to bring ANY food into the school- they get served kosher lunches and snacks- so I have completely relinquished my power over what they eat at school-and I don't keep kosher at home so it is different from what they usually get- having said that the school only serves healthy food and no processed foods- which I don't feed my kids either-
ReplyDeleteHeres the kind of parent (pain in the A** to teachers) I am - If it isnt a district policy I would be letting the teacher know that she is not to keep my child from eating WHAT I pac k for them. We dont have restrictions on PB or anything else here, but there is a rule that chlidren may not share or trade food at all. Makes sense to me. My Kinder is the only one I pack a "snack" for - the others eat school lunch (easier for all of us! I know they get a nutritious hot meal for cheap, and I dont have to make it! - so worth $2 a day!). He usually takes cheez-its or cut up fruit, but sometimes he gets a sugary snack like a pack of hostess mini donutes. Bad mom of the year? Im afraid not. That teacher needs to lay off!
ReplyDeleteI don't think they are dictating what you choose to feed but they are dictating what comes to school.If I had to guess this is probably a reactive policy related to some of the really crappy processed "lunches" that I've seen kids bring that are completely void of any nutrition. So maybe the school just blanketly says "no sweets" in order to prevent a lunch box full of all sweets. The other thing that happens is parents who are conscientious about packing good foods have kids who see the kids around them with all their process yummy-ness and they then feel pressured to buy junk b/c that is what all of their friends have or the kids trade their nutritious food out for the junk. If you get enough parents complaining then a school has to listen and I think it is much easier to focus on keeping it out which allows teachers to focus on teaching rather than policing trades... not to mention that it's teachers who have to try and teach kids who are lifeless after lunch when they have their sugar crash. Personally I don't mind schools taking a stand on this although I'm sorry that it wasn't communicated to you and that you had to find out this way.
ReplyDeleteSame deal over here - no sweets allowed in lunches. Not even YOGURT. And no meat (kashrut reasons.) We were shocked. All the kids here have a sandwich (peanut butter, hummus or cottage cheese) cut up veggies (peppers or cucumbers) and perhaps some cheese. Luckily, fruit is acceptable - we usually send a pear, apple, or strawberries. We sent a yogurt once, and it got sent back, unopened. Maya told us she's not allowed. You gotta be kidding.
ReplyDelete