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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think Hula Hoops in a Friday packed lunch is ok...

76 replies

MerryMarigold · 25/03/2011 16:27

OK. So ds1 went on packed lunches this week. He's had healthy lunches all week. Today he had a sandwich (2 slices of thick sliced wholemeal bread), 3 cherry tomatoes, raisins and [shock, horror] a packet of ready salted Hula Hoops as a treat 'cos it's Friday and wanted to give him a little treat at the end of the week.

So, they confiscated his crisps!

This was part of his packed lunch. No replacement given so he just had to not have part of his lunch. No-one has told me that you can't have crisps. One boy has chocolate spread sarnies and a pepperami every day. And this ok. School dinner on fridays is Fish & Chips.

OK, so I know you'll say I need to get over myself. But is this common in schools? Are Hula Hoops really damaging to children?

OP posts:

Ooopsadaisy · 25/03/2011 17:36

geordieminx - so if a child turns up with a Mars Bar in their lunch, what do you do?

Is there a code of conduct that parents sign up to that tells them that this is school rules and that there are consequences for stealing, smoking, carrying illegal drugs, knives, alcohol, hob nobs and werthers?

fedupofnamechanging · 25/03/2011 17:38

I would go mad if the school confiscated my children's food. I am the parent and what I feed my DC is my business and absolutely none of theirs.

I am quite lucky with my DC's school though. Eggs and peanut butter are not allowed because there are children with serious allergies, but no one criticises anything else. My DC eat very well at home, so I don't see the harm in giving them some treats for school.

ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts · 25/03/2011 17:46

The thing is though, that this is not a new thing. This has gone on for many years. Even when I was at primary school (I am now 23) we were not allowed crisps or biscuits or cakes or sweets and if we were found to have them, by the dinner ladies that wandered round aimlessly, they were taken away, and not replaced with 'healthier' substitutes.

Back then, my primary school did not provide hot school dinners. They do now, and the options are stodgy pastas, heavy puddings, chips, and very small portions of vegetables. I know this because my younger brother attends the same school I did.

IMO, there is nothing wrong with the odd pack of crisps and children should be able to eat these in moderation, alongside the healthy stuff too.

LifeIsButtercream · 25/03/2011 17:52

I used to work in a holiday club and have seen some of the scariest lunch boxes ever -one 4yr old was sent in with 2 Tesco value sausage rolls (big ones), pack of crisps and 3 cans of diet Coke....... another one had a Pot Noodle, and an apple (which went in the bin). This was before the days of the lunchbox inspectors, all we were allowed to do was encourage children to eat their lunch, and distribute water and chopped up apples and oranges to children who were still hungry or had taken exception to their lunchbox contents.

I think YANBU as crisps once a week is completely fine - as is the occasional homemade cake or small treat. After some of the lunches I've seen I can see why the schools feel the pressure to police lunches but I think they take it a leeeetle bit far and should work more on an 80/20 principle, or mostly healthy with a small treat. I bet its not an easy task though!

I totally get the nut allergy thing though - we had a little girl at the holiday club who was so allergic that the smell of peanut butter in the room would leave her breathless and tight-throated. Before we put a no-nut policy in place she had to sit at a seperate table outside of the lunch room, with 2-3 of her friends who had had their lunches checked for nuts, but they were still isolated and away from everyone else.

When DD goes to school I will send her with packed lunches that meet my standards (and according to my friends I'm already a food nazi health nut when it comes to DD's meals!) and heaven help them if they take anything out!

MrsRyanReynolds · 25/03/2011 17:53

As a child, I used to have Hula Hoops in my packed lunch every day along with a chocolate biscuit.

But I had a salad sandwich, an apple and a carton of juice too.

Every single friend of mine had the same.

We were all slim and healthy as we ran around a lot.

What is the world coming to...

geordieminx · 25/03/2011 17:57

I think they just send it back home?

Ds isn't quite 4 yet, and is in nursery 8 till 5. IMO children of that ages, that are running round like loons all day need some sugar, and a homemade muffin or flapjack is far more nutritious than a bloody fruit winder.

The nursey is just about perfect in every other sense so I chose to accept it and just bite my tongue. Pick your battles and all that.

Oblomov · 25/03/2011 17:58

I love hoola hoops. God, I love them. I eat them all the time. And I have a very balanced diet. Or so they have told me, every three months , for the last 30 odd years, when I attend diabetic clinic.
Most people don't seem to know what a balanced diet IS.

MrsH75 · 25/03/2011 18:01

Sounds a bit stupid. My daughter's school just has a no chocolate, no nuts rule. Mainly as the chocolate melts and gets sticky in summer as there is no refrigerated storage. Even when I didn't realise and put it in they didn't confiscate it though. Surely they should get the crisps back at the end of the day at least?

MrsRyanReynolds · 25/03/2011 18:03

I also think this whole "lunchbox inspection" thing will end up making children neurotic about food.

Original poster

MerryMarigold · 25/03/2011 18:21

Hi Oblomov [wave]. I love Hula Hoops too and seem to have passed this down in my genes .

I have asked ds. It was the dinner lady who removed it. I guess they have a standard list of what kids aren't allowed and can't make exceptions because the rest of his lunch was ok, but this list definitely needs to be adjusted! In her favour, she did let a homemade flapjack with a few choc chips in it go by. I can understand choc bars are full of sugar and maybe some kids go mental after them, but surely most kids don't react badly to a pack of crisps. They are only allowed to bring water to drink too, which is fine. But it just seems like the 'food police' have gone too far when they're not allowed crisps one day a week.

OP posts:

Ryoko · 25/03/2011 18:40

It's none of there fucking business what you feed your kids fucking nazi's I wouldn't put up with anyone dictating what I should feed my kids.

Ooopsadaisy · 25/03/2011 18:46

I'm sorry but I still don't understand.

Who is going through 2000 lunch boxes every lunchtime?

Don't the children just hide the Mars Bars under their clothes like cigarettes/knives etc?

Oblomov · 25/03/2011 18:49

Hi MerryM

madhairday · 25/03/2011 18:55

This makes me so cross too.

DD took in some home made chocolate cake on her birthday. The dinner supervisor berated her about her unhealthy lunch and said she couldn't eat the cake

DD stared her in the eye and asked her why, in that case, were the school dinners children having processed chocolate sponge and custard for their pudding, following pizza and chips?

Dinner supervisor let her eat the cake.

madhairday · 25/03/2011 18:57

PS my dc have Hula Hoops on a Friday too, which appears to be frowned upon, but I couldn't care an awful lot less if I could be bothered to try. I have recently helped rewrite the packed lunch policy and it is rather less dictatorial prescriptive than before.

MrsGuyOfGisbourne · 25/03/2011 18:59

Completely unacceptable they remove part of a child's lunch. If they don't approve they could write you a note - should not be depriving him of his food.

TinaSpoon · 25/03/2011 19:16

Not read the rest of the thread, sorry but just wanted to say YADNBU. If he's going to school all week with a healthy lunchbox, one packet of crisps shouldn't be a problem, I would be going straight to school if anything got confiscated out of my ds' lunchbox (also on packed lunches!)
He actually DID go to school with a packet of Hula Hoops today incidentally, as I let him have a packet of crisps in his lunchbox on a Friday as treat.
His pack ups consist of sandwiched such as ham and cucumber, tuna, or grated cheese and tomato, always fruit,(today was pot of blueberries and an apple) homemade flapjack or biscuit, yoghurt. something like that. So if they took out the one a week packet of crisps I would definitely have something to say.
I think it's bad enough that they impose rules and assume you can't feed your child properly without being told what to give them without confiscating stuff too. Our school, incidentally, says no chocolate of any kind, then in the next breath give chocolate pudding or cake every day to the people on school dinners!

catchmeifyoucan · 25/03/2011 20:05

This is absolutely the worst kind of Nanny-Stateism - and must be fairly recent as it never happened to my dc who's packed lunch was always a good balance of a bit of everything and a treat/crisps/whatever.

If any over-zealous dinner lady had removed anything from his lunchbox I would have called the bloody police and had her charged with theft. I would only take one such case to knock this bullshit on the head once and for all.

The sooner we stop swallowing all this interference the sooner it will be understood that we don't need bloody controlling by government ffs. Makes my piss boil, so it does!

thenightsky · 25/03/2011 20:07

Foodzillas

Original poster

MerryMarigold · 25/03/2011 20:09

at Foodzillas. Think this may be an issue for the governors!

OP posts:

UniS · 25/03/2011 20:15

maybe check WHO confiscated his crisps?? just in case it was another child.... some kids DO pickle about at lunch and snatch other childrens packets of this and that and staff have no real way of knowing who is telling truth.

If a pack of crisps has been thrown across the room it 'll be confiscated regardless of who it belongs to and how scanty the rest of their lunch is.

Don't know what year your DS is but some Year 1 , 2 & 3 kids seem to pour more crisps on the floor than they ever eat.

Original poster

MerryMarigold · 25/03/2011 20:17

It was the dinner lady. They were not even open.

OP posts:

berylmuspratt · 25/03/2011 21:45

This is so annoying. I work at my son's school, so see what the daily menu is. He has a healthy packed lunch every day with plenty of fruit, yoghurts, cheese etc.

The school menu has a stodgy pudding and something like pizza, fish fingers or chicken nuggets and chips every day with healthy options, which usually end up in the bin.

I can understand that some children might be sent to school with rubbish to eat but I think it's so patronising to say that all school dinners are highly nutritious and all packed lunches are poor.

23balloons · 25/03/2011 21:49

not like this at dss' school at all they have sandwhiches, fruit & either choc or crisps most days & it has never been confiscated. Ds1 has also taken peanut butter sandwhiches since reception (now yr 5) & has never had them taken.

candleshoe · 25/03/2011 21:56

Write and complain and ask for a copy of their food policy. Mention words like 'theft' and 'abuse of power' to get their attention - this is disgusting high-handed behaviour. Your children are yours to feed - not the government's! It is like being in a police state FFS! They can advise only - and personally I object to that interference too! GGGRRRRR

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