Snacks at school pick-up?

[MyCatSnoresTooLoudly]

Do people at your school do this? DC2 is in reception and it seems most parents bring a snack for them to eat the minute they leave the classroom, often sugary. No judgement, whatever makes your day easier - but it means DC2 whines and moans for one as well.

We’re only ten minutes walk from school and he has something as soon as he gets back, I’m not anti-snacks per se, but I’m getting a bit irritated with having to constantly say no and feel like the bad guy because I don’t turn up with chocolate biscuits to be eaten standing outside the classroom door!

Is this a thing? Am I being mean not bringing something?

Why is it a good decision? Why is taking a snack to school a bad one?

Some children don’t eat well during the school day for personal reasons. Some children, we struggle to get enough calories into them and despair at every weigh in.

If it isn’t your child, don’t comment on their food.

The school dinners here are TINY they invited us all into lunch one day. It was pathetic.
DD got given a cheese spread roll and a tablespoon of sweetcorn. So maybe a maximum if 300 calories? Oh and a crappy sugar free jelly at 10 cals.
They all get so hungry that the school fund an additional snack for them in the afternoon. But that's just things like plain crackers and any left over fruit/veg from morning snack.

She's 9. Not 4 a bit different.

A lot do at my dd’s school she has her lunch break at 11:30 and comes out at 16:30 (not UK) the school doesn’t give a piece of fruit in the afternoon as it “encourages snacking” so a lot of parents turn up with either a piece of fruit or something from the bakery for the way home. I usually wait until we are home as we live close but if my one year old has needed a banana to get her to sit in the pram I will take one for DD.

Goodness me. Thank heavens we aren’t all this sanctimonious. Who made you the judge of parenting?

This is awful, where is the nutrition? My dd has an early lunch break so often needs a snack after school but is always provided a nutritious 3 course lunch (France not UK)

My DD will sometimes be given a diddy pack of haribo or a freddo or similar after school.
Can't lose sleep over that when she will be eating a chicken, mushroom and spinach curry with brown rice and broccoli, followed by greek yoghurt and blueberries, having had a sourdough toast with avocado, boiled egg, and a few slices of melon for breakfast.

Yes school lunches these days are like the ‘meals’ people get on short flights.

Snacks - no problem if going on to an activity
chocolate and sweets (which is what OP’s kid is whinging for) - very much a problem

Oh don't get me started. They claim to be a "healthy food" school, but every day she gets given jelly, cake or biscuits for after lunch. Plain crackers for second snack.

I just make sure she has decent food around it, and the odd day when the lunch is dire, she gets a packed lunch. Which actually has enough food in for her to not be hungry and proper nutrition!

School dinners here are notoriously small and beige. It does make me laugh (cry…!?) I asked my son if he had any fruit with his school dinner once and he said no because he chose the cake option and you are allowed one or the other - not BOTH cake and fruit 🤦🏼‍♀️

I’m very envious that your daughter will eat these things (my autistic dd has ARFID).

You don't allow yourself to give food to a hungry child?? .... Well...done?

So it’s about what the snack is rather than snacks at pick up in general? So if it was a cheese sandwich, whether doing onto an activity or not, that would be fine?

Well said 😂

My eldest I never did, but she never wanted a snack. My youngest I do, simply because he’s always hungry when he leaves. I don’t take him sugary snacks though, usually a piece of fruit and he’s happy with that.

I never did for my DDs and they were fine. DS1 was always starving when he came out so I started to.

My 4DC all have completely different tastes when it comes to food, so I appreciate that they have different appetites too.

food yes, but not crap.
This is getting boring

We are just lucky. She's always eaten most things - there's a few things she won't eat that most kids will, which can actually be a bit of a pain when eating out/at people's houses. She's "reverse fussy".
She won't eat tomato sauce based pasta (which 99% of kids love!), she hates chicken nuggets and ham, chips are not popular, and she won't touch pears, onions or carrots. Small fry, i know.

I didn't when they were in Reception to Year 2 but when they moved to Junior School as it was further away and a slightly later finish so DC don't have time to go home before their activities anymore, so I started bringing snacks, usually malt loaf or cheese string to eat on the walk to activities.

I admit that I find it quite difficult when other parents offer my eldest snacks of sweets or chocolate on pick up from pre-school. Personally, I can’t understand why anyone would give those things to a 3yo, but I have to try and come up with a random excuse to decline. I don’t want to be rude when they are trying to be kind.

I give my three year old a sandwich after nursery. He is one of the youngest, not four till August. School lunch is at 11.30, the portions are tiny and he is very active. Doesn't interfere with his dinner.

I bring DC a snack but we have a 30-40 minute drive home and snack is fruit, veg sticks, dried seaweed, peanut butter on crackers etc. and I buy the boring kind of peanut butter with 2 ingredients (peanuts and salt). DC gets a treat Fridays, usually a small piece of chocolate (like chocolate coin sized).

I used to give DS1 a snack after school in reception even though we were only 5mins from school as otherwise he'd be so hangry that he'd fight with his little brother the whole way home or just really teary. A small snack picked him up and we'd have a happy walk and late afternoon.
He's Y6 now and can still be grumpy on the way home. Snack of choice these days is a cream cheese sandwich, some fruit or cucumber and a Jaffa cake.