To tell my foreign students they can't have two packets of crisps in their lunch?

[EricNorthmansMistressOfPotions]

Well I said they could but that I wouldn't go shopping again before weds so if they run out they won't have any more...

two rolls with cheese and ham, a packet of crisps, piece of fruit, juice carton and a chocolate biscuit bar is plenty, surely? I already went shopping yesterday to buy extra biscuits as they didn't like the ones I had, and enough crisps to last til shopping day. This might be a petty one but I'm not sure what is fair, not having teenagers. If it's two packets today then it will be two packets every day til they leave...they have pocket money too if they get hungry during the day and eat all their lunch...

Should be fine then. If they really are still hungry, which I doubt they'd be better off having an apple or something than a second packet of crisps.

Good Lord, 13 ,they are children ,and clearly need a bit more looking after than an older teenager.We had a 13 year old french boy and I felt very responsible for his wellbeing ,I would have been horrified if he was hungry.
Remember that other cultures can be more direct as well ,and also they may not mean to sound rude they just may not have the language skills to be more subtle.
You could try the crusty rolls that take longer to chew ,have you asked them what they would like in their packed lunches or what their friends are getting.Continental yoghurts tend to be more sweetened as well

God I remember when I was 13 or so and I had a Saturday job...all I did was eat! I used to take a lt of lunch with me daily, 4 slices of bread with ham and salad, crisps, banana, yoghurt and then I would have a cake from the bakery...I used to faint if I didnt eat a lot. I was a skinny minnie too. It wasn't a healtthy lunch but it flled me up....would your students like a cold pasta salad? That's very filing and healthy....and cheap too!

Doesnt sound very filling for a teenager, they eat loads, especially teenage boys. what about a mini baguet each using different fillings each day: cheese and ham, tuna, salami. A packet of crisps is not like it used to be in my day, its mostly air and a few crisps. Why not do a filled baguet, fruit, yogurt (you can buy cheapy ones from the supermarket), crisps, a cereal bar (instead of chocolate). Fruit can be really filling espcially bananas.

With the lunch you could put some (mini scotch eggs, mini sausages, mini pasties) they do offeres of picnic food at supermarkets

I too have students and although i dont have a problem with the lunches ,its bloody annoying when you have cooked them a good evening meal and they cant eat much of it because two hours ago " we had a Mcdonalds " ! why they do this when they know we are cooking for them is beyond me.You then go into their room the next day to empty their bins etc and there are biscuit and choc wrappers and sometimes even German sausage that they have bought over with them.We are told to give them sandwiches ,crisps,fruit,cake and a bicuit of some sort,and a drink.

I think either you go and buy all the food for them at Lidl or you are going to make a loss. While you might not want to give them cheap cheese, it might be the only way to make a profit.

And if they won't eat sandwiches nor bananas, then it's hardly your fault if they're hungry

Eric... Sorry if my post sounded as if you were money-grabbing, I didn't mean it quite like that. I think if I were doing this, I'd do what I do making packed lunches all through the week... make a load of rolls/sandwiches, but without cutting tomatoes and cucumbers into them, put them all in 'basket' in the fridge along with foil or plastic bag packs of cherry tomatoes, cucumber wedges, celery sticks, hummous, cheese, etc. and let them take the amount they want. What about some hard-boiled eggs?

I agree with you on the crisps but really, it is up to them to police themselves and if they want two bags crisps a day, let them have them - maybe some nuts.

Go food shopping with them and ask them what they'd pick for their lunches, maybe?

That lunch sounds fine to me. I have a student at the moment and he gets two ham and coleslaw sambos,a packet of crisps, and a bar/yogurt and fruit.

mumblingragdoll that is way too much food to be eating at lunchtime!! When I was a teen, I would have had one sandwich,a yogurt and a biscuit bar for my lunch (same as I have now). I wouldn't be encouraging my children to eat that much food in one sitting.

I don't think they were rude to ask! They have told me what meals they like and don't like and I've accommodated that, I'd rather they said. I don't want them to be hungry either so thanks for your suggestions everyone. Looks like I was NU to say no more crisps but that I should fill them up a bit more!

BoysRuss Lunch should be bigger than dinner....meals should decrease in size throughout the day...and as a working teen....very skinny and active, I certainly needed it.

I'm still slim and healthy. Never hurt me.

I think you would be wise to boil up a whole load of pasta, pasata or value chopped tomatoes if cheaper with herbs tonight for dinner, serve with strong cheese and side salad.

Keep the left overs for their lunch tomorrow and the next day, add some value sweetcorn, some strong cheese, cucumber and tomatoe. You could put the pasta aside before adding the sause and add mayo instead and add that to the lunch tomorrow, it won't cost too much or be much additional work, especially if they don't eat all of the side salad you serve with dinner tonight which you can recycle into the pasta salad.

I think it sounds fine. Don't give them two bags of crisps. Offer more fruit or veg (tomates, celery sticks etc) or yougarts

Also (nosy) how much do you get for taking in foreign students as we have a local school of English who are advertising for host families.

Op do your students each have their own room?

I agree tranquility I do that for my DDs sometimes and they like it...it's filling too.

I have language students too and I think what Eric is providing sounds fine and is well within the guidelines that the schools give you which is: sandwich, crisps, fruit, cake/biscuit, drink. If they want more crisps they should buy them themselves. FWIW I take a packed lunch to work with me every day and only eat a sandwich and a banana and I'm a strapping great woman!

Most of the language students I have eat virtually nothing but crisps and chocolate. The bins in their bedroom are full of wrappers from junk food and empty coke cans. As mummylin says it's bloody annoying when they then 'aren't hungry' at dinner time when you've shopped and cooked a lovely big home-made meal.

For those who are saying 'well in Italy they probably have this or that...' in my experience all the teenagers - with the possible exception of the Far East and Middle East - want to eat Macdonalds at every opportunity. I usually ask my students if there's anything they particularly don't like, or would prefer not to eat, and often get a 'list'. My last Italians (two 14 yo girls) wouldn't eat cheese, vegetables of any kind, eggs, fish, or any kind of fruit. It makes cooking a meal very difficult. When I asked what they WOULD like to eat they said steak and potato or steak and pasta. When I asked my Japanese student what she would typically eat for breakfast and dinner in Japan she said cornflakes and pizza. The last Spanish student I had (12 yo) said 'I don't like that' before dinner had even hit the table - every night for four weeks. The list of food she wouldn't eat was endless and included all vegetables and any kind of cheese. She asked for Nutella sandwiches for lunch because she didn't like any other sandwich filling, drank a massive bowl of chocolate milk for breakfast (refused toast, cereal, etc.) and had the usual binful of choccie wrappers on departure. My current Russian student is a blessed relief after that...

Stick to your guns Eric!

I do think we should try to accommodate language students up to a point as they are, after all, paying guests. However, we are not hotels and I don't think the whole household should revolve around them and their preferences. As someone else said, when you add up the cost of food, hot water, phone chargers/laptops left on day and night etc., the rewards are small, and it isn't feasible to provide them each with a tenner's worth of food every day (I'm thinking of my steak and potato girls here...:))

Nearlyspring - down here on the south coast it depends on the language school. One pays £11/night and one pays £15/night. Both include all meals. You are expected to do a certain amount of ferrying around and obviously have extra laundry etc. TBH I wouldn't do it for £11/night because it wouldn't be worth the headache.

Your sheets and towels will get ruined with fake tan, menstrual blood (sorry), etc., and you may find your broadband allowance being exceeded, which can be costly. On Sunday night I have a student coming whose flight arrives Heathrow at 11.30 so she'll arrive here about 1.30 - 2.00 a.m. so I will obviously have to wait up for her. I have attended hospital with a 14 yo Spanish girl who had alcohol poisoning and frequently get 12-13 year olds breaking their 9 p.m. curfew and coming home a couple of hours late, which is very worrying...

'Young learners' (under 16s) tend to share rooms so the money is better if you have 2 students in your spare room, but I would always prefer to take older students and have single occupancy as they're far less responsibility and you tend not to get quite so many 'fussiness' issues

I've had a single 'long stay' student for 3 weeks who was £14.50 a night, she made her own way to pick up and drop off point so not much driving except on arrival and departure. She was lovely and very tidy :) The short stays tend to be younger and have to be two to a room, so although they pay less at £12.50pp it's £25 per night for thw two, and I have to drive 2 miles each way twice a day. I've had DS in my room to pack them in which has made it financially viable - although if I had had the lovely spanish on her own it wouldn't have been a great deal of cash but would have been pleasant and easy. The younger ones are messier, more work and less moeny but they have still been lovely kids. I also somehow had a lovely 18yo french boy in amongst the 13yos and he was adorable, and looked all through my book collection and talked to me about literature :)

Thanks for the pointers woolly!

I wouldnt give crisps at all actually, they are unhealthy and not filling, and actually we never have them in the house.

If they are getting hungry, I would swap the choc biscuit for a cake/muffin/teacake/hotcrossbun instead - more filling and inexpensive
and swap the crisps for a yoghurt.

I used to eat almost constantly at that age! Sounds like you provide a decent lunch.

Well I popped into aldi
and bought fruity cake bars and a bag of apples so they can have one and extra fruit. And if that's not enough they aren't normal!

sounds good to me!

Trebles all round!

OP your lunch sounds fine.

Don't remember having to eat loads and loads when I was a teen as many others are suggesting!

I would do pasta/rice/cous cous salad, a bread roll, cold meat/cheese, bag of crisps, homemade flapjack/fairy cake, piece of fruit/refillable bottle of water.

Agree about the 2 bags of crisps - NO NEED!

Proudfoot - I agree. I have a 14 yo DD and she doesn't eat anything like the amount suggested here!