pre school 'lunch club' rules

[JjandtheBeanlovesUnicorns]

well its been a while since ive posted on here due to chaos at home but this has harrassed me so very much i need you opinions.

Ds is 3yrs 8mnths due to alot going on at home he only recently started preschool, he loves it, that aside, it is a preschool i worked in before having him and i know well.

Now he asked, no begged to join lunch club, fine its an extra hour per session and he really enjoys it.

in his lunch box he has, sandwich, pot of salad (tomatoe, cucumber, pepper) some cheese, fruit of some variety, yogurt and what i class as a treat, hes had yogurt covered raisins, a cereal bar, some organix crisps and one day because im a shit mum apparently 2 mini jammie dodgers.

the day i dare place the jammie dodgers in dp was greeted by the leader saying they were unacceptable, fair enough. the next day he has a mini cereal bar (those ak ones with mickey on) again, not allowed,

Today he had half a pack of organix crisp things, he tells me 'play leader' had removed them and he wasnt allowed them, i said ok you can have a few in the car. he continues to say shed taken away his dunker the previous session, bread sticks and philli whats wrong with that?? and also his raisins!

i have been given NO intructions to say these things are not allowed, we'd been given a prospectus that stated no jam/peanut butter and no chocolate.

DP asked politely if we could have a copy of the rules, and the response he got was, 'well a healthy balanced diet'. does that not include an occasional yogurt covered raisin? some 'crisps' the odd biscuit?

im very carefull what i feed him, he has a balanced diet!

AIBU with what i feed him? Are they BU removing his food??

this is really bothering me and i know it shouldnt!

I hate all this food policing gone mad! Luckily the schools that my children go to haven't got caught up in it all and trust us all to feed our own children as we see fit.

I would query them each time they've removed and item and demand said item back to take home with you, just on principle really.

Well correct me if I'm wrong but if someone takes something from someone else and doesn't give it back then that's stealing surely?

I think you should demand the return of your food items immediately and request an explanation in writing of what specific items are unacceptable and why.

Ask to talk to whoever is in charge of the preschool and explain that you understand that a healthy diet is important, but that does mean a balanced diet and you are ensuring your child eats food from all food groups. Say that if certain things absolutely are forbidden then you need to have a list of those things so that you don't send them accidentally, and that if food your child brings is not on that list then you will expect him to be allowed to eat it. A lot of these 'healthy lunchbox' rules really annoy me and I'm a teacher!

BTW, YANBU, ive done lunch club in several different play groups and nurseries and the lunch you are sending is more than acceptable imo. I have seen some awful things, but what you are sending is well balanced I think, nothing wrong with a treat, and organix crisps or dunkers are absolutely a completely standard part of a childs lunch!

sorry i should have said, the food is placed back in his lunch bag, when theyve eaten the leaders ut there lunch bags on their pegs while they have story etc so im assuming it goes back then, dp is fuming and wanting to remove ds, not an option hes happy and settled. should i confront and ask for CLEAR rules and instructions or say leave his food alone!!!

We have this at DSs pre school - no raisins (too much sugar) no crisps etc...........the one I queried was..............no grapes!!!
Apparently, a small child may choke on a whole grape and they were not allowed to cut them up
The same with dunkers, not allowed.
I have resorted to sending in a banana with his name written on in pen.

YANBU I am dreading having to make my DD a packed lunch for school when she starts- it all sounds so strict! None of what you say you gave your DS as treats sounds awful at all or even unhealthy.

Personally I think it's unreasonable for them to confiscate any of the stuff you mentioned- none of it has officially been banned by them and none is actually unhealthy unless you ate stacks of it. The rate the food police are going we're going to havea generation of kids with serious food issues. Right now we're obsessed with fatties but tbh I have no idea what's worse- fat kids or kids obsessed with their weight. Both very unhealthy imo.

Blimey..is it the same play leader everytime?? sounds like a bit of a bully to me. Raisins and bread sticks taken away why on earth would they do that? I would be having a words tbh. Hope you got them back. Sounds very extreme.

And this is the only reason I am dreading our return to England. The school that DD will attend is a healthy eating acadamy or some such bullshit. She doesn't eat terribly well (nowhere near as healthily as the OPs) and I understand that certain things aren't allowed.
The only other option is a school lunch without any choices - ie one dinner for everyone.
OP, YANB in the slightest way U.

Perhaps team leader should show you and example of healthy lunch, i.e hers . Lets see how healthy she is ?

A child where my friend works has a sausage roll and a penguin biscuit every day. (that is it, nothing else) . The child is 3 afaik.

Overall what you are giving sounds fine. I also have issues with schools/pre-schools over controlling lunchboxes. All it seems to do is irritate those who are doing ok anyway. Those who choose/want to send the children in with nutritionally worthless food will continue to do so (imo)

Sorry x typed I see you have got the food back

Having seen some of the lunchboxes that children bring into school, I can see some need for sensible outlines, but two mini jammie dodgers at the end of an otherwise reasonable lunch?? Madness.

(The worst lunchbox I have ever seen was a Pepperami stick, a packet of pork scratchings and a chocolate mousse for an 8 yr old .)

I don't think YABU. It's the sort of lunch I have sent in with both my DSs and I have seen worse when I've helped out at lunchtime at our Playgroup.

I think that if the Supervisor has a problem then she should put in proper guidelines. For instance we are a nut-free zone and state that children shouldn't bring 'hidden' nuts in things like pesto or praline and we say so, both in our literature and a little note which sometimes goes in the lunch boxes as a reminder sometimes.

However, a little biscuit or yoghurt covered raisins should be fine - sometimes I want a little something after my healthy lunch and it might be a bit of cake or a biscuit so why shouldn't the children.

I think she's got a a bit of a problem knowing what's suitable!

the woman running it is clearly a bit dim
or else just powercrazy
i would Have A Word

I would be outraged. I really would. What fecking right do these people have to tell you what you can give your own child to eat. Even if the child was having a sausage roll and a kitkat, it is none of their business. That kid could be having a perfectly balanced diet at home.

Fair enough if the lunchbox contained a can of stella but other than that, sorry, it should not be anyone elses business what a parent feeds a child.

so glad ianbu!

ds is adamant his friend has hula hoops, not sure if this is a 3yr old tactic so going to ask friends mum, im hoping im not being targeted as i used to work there and should know the rules, 4yrs ago they had hula hoops, chocolate mouse etc.

team will try and reach TSA this phone mumsnetting is not so easy, should be back online friday though

@shockers lol at 8 yr old lunchbox

I'm loling at the idea of sticking a can of stella in!

I'm loling at the idea of sticking a can of stella in!

they are NOT allowed to take food off them. they are allowed to disapprove of it, and moan to you, but they are NOT allowed to take away a parentally provided food.

Apart from anything else, it's stealing. Whack them with this, they are being fucking ridiculous.

No one ever comments about the food my DS has in his lunchbox. I've seen children with pombears there so I guess they don't mind. Actually I saw the pre-school manager's DD wandering around with a pack of mini Maltesers the other day :o

Honestly - that's absurd, I would be really pissed off if I were you, especially as they didn't tell you in advance. And the lunchbox sounds a lot healthier than anything my DS would eat

YANBU

They are supposed to help teach children to be able to make healthy food choices. Ask them how they expect to do that if the children are forbidden anything they could remotely be considered unhealthy. They should be able to come up with a good answer. I work in a preschool too, at lunch clubs we insist that children eat their sandwiches and healthy things before their treats if they have them, there is no need for them to do any more than that.