Done to death, I know! Dinner Lady AIBU

[GingerWrath]

Apologies in advance.

5 yo DD takes packed lunches to school everyday. I try to vary the contents so she doesn't get bored.

DD is a fairly normal height and weight, if anything she is a bit on the skinny side. Once a month or so I pack her half a small pizza, knowing that pizza sometimes features on the school dinner menu.

The other day her pack up consisted of:

Half a ham and cheese pizza cut into 3 slices
A small bag of slightly salted popcorn
Mixed berries (eaten at play time)
Cucumber sticks
Yoghurt
2 squares of chocolate

As soon as I picked her up at home time she was telling me she was hungry. Her pizza and popcorn were still in her lunch bag and I assumed that she was in a hurry to go out to play and rushed her lunch. No.

Later in the evening she informed me that the dinner lady told her that popcorn and pizza weren't allowed in packed lunches and she couldn't eat them. So basically DD had cucumber, yoghurt and 2 bits of chocolate for her lunch.

Here is the AIBU bit.

a. AIBU to be annoyed that DD was made to go hungry?
b. AIBU to think that popcorn isn't that bad for you?
c. AIBU to think that DD should have been allowed to eat her pack up and that I should be contacted if there is a problem with the contents?

If cheese is considered bad then I give up.

Actually the pizza would be healthier because of the lycopenes in the tomato sauce on it.

Past, obviously.

OP YANBU and the world has gone mad. Thanks though for helping me to decide whether to move back to UK or not. I have been a bit rose-tinted about it recently but your situation would drive me mad.

At my dcs' international school everyone is free to enjoy peanut butter sandwiches, my dcs regularly bring in last night's leftovers to reheat in the school microwave and some lucky kids (not mine) are even given packets of sweets in their lunch boxes. So what?

Seems bizarre (if true) to prevent a child eating a lunch which they have no control over, and thus go hungry.

Pizza is highly processed and will have added fat and salt.

My son has school dinners because the thought of trying to come up with a varied packed lunch every day that had sufficient calories to keep him going through the school day and until snack-time at home, while meeting the ridiculous 'healthy eating' rules that seem to have been drafted by people without any knowledge of an appropriate diet for children would drive me mad.

I hate this idea (keep seeing it on mn) that children should only eat fat free foods to be healthy. They don't need to be on diet!

GeorgiaMay - my DD's school are not like this, whilst they promote healthy eating, if there are rules about packed lunches I haven't been told them and they are not on the website. It's a small school and there must not be any children with nut allergies attending as we can send in peanut butter sandwiches. I asked if I could take the class some sweets in for DD's birthday to share and this was allowed too.

hiddenhome- what are you on about. Pizza is basically a bread base with tomato sauce, cheese and other toppings to suit. Why is that "highly processed"? I'd love you to explain because I think I am missing something. And what is the added fat? Do you mean in the cheese? We do need fat to survive you know? OK, there may be more salt that is optimal but it depends on the brand. And in the context of a balanced diet, would not be a problem.

I will dig deeper and clarify with an adult about what happened but as I said, DD would not willingly turn her nose up at pizza, as it is an occasional treat, in fact she ate it on the walk home from school.

Added fat to pizza? The cheese has fat in it obviously but kids need fat. I doubt they add fat to the dough.

But really its once a month!

DD informs me that they've got a new pet troll at school. It lives under the wooden bridge and eats the slower children. If you're fairly fast across the bridge it only hits you with its thingie. It's a real, living troll, a bit dirty and has bad table manners. DD swears on her tiny 4yo life this is true. He smells of onions and mud. He can't skip but he can play hopscotch. He is a real, living, breathing troll. She would tell you this on oath.

Check the facts first.

Wouldn't be surprised though. Our lunchbox police are weird. You are NOT allowed to send in cake. NO cake. NONE. Not even homemade wholemeal muffins. Cakes are BAD. Chocolate sponge pudding and chocolate sauce on the school lunch menu however...?

There is nothing wrong with pizza once a month as part of a balanced diet.

Cheese is GOOD for a 5 yo, calcium, protein and fats that are essential to brain development!

AGREE poopooinmytoes thank god I am not the only one who thinks that kids should be kids and if have balanced diet exercise etc they will be ok!!! most fat free stuff is loaded with extra sugars anyway. And we will be posting how awful it is young girls are anorexic or obsessed with food we create it [i know not all the time and I do have a dear friend whose DD is anorexic] just a point to let kids enjoy their food all food!! I am starving now ...

Yes, I'm well aware that children need fats, but giving pizza is a bit sloppy and there are better alternatives. The chocolate isn't a good addition either.

I've just looked up the nutritional guidelines for 4-8 year olds and it is recommended that this age group get 25-35% of their daily calorie intake from fat. Yes, FAT. We all seem to be so frightened of fat as adults (and yes, I realise some fats are better than others) but children NEED fat for their brains to develop properly, to grow, to fuel their energy expenditure.

hiddenhome, shop bought white sliced bread is also highly processed and full of additives, so why is sandwich OK but pizza not?

I make my own pizza, I make the dough in the breadmaker and add my own toppings, actually far far healthier than the jam sandwich my dd has some days.

sloppy !! sloppy !!wow I am a shameful mother my poor kids are in for a life of doom we love pizza on a friday night after swimming actually may have it tonight now with garlic bread ...

We make our own pizzas at home and the kids love them! (I realise this is different to shop bought.) The pizza gets our kids eating which is good as they are small, gets them eating tomatoes without realising and has introduced lots of other foods as toppings.

I think people assume pizzas Im general are unhealthy as that used to be the common opinion. At some point it changed when it was realised that actually they contain veg and have healthy topping.

I would love to see a test case on lunchbox nazism as I fail to see how they can legally enforce lunchbox rules like this, especially if they are serving up the same food for school dinners.

It's bloody ridiculous and about time the state education system sorted its priorities out.

White break is not okay. I never said that white bread was to be used for a sandwich. Wholemeal would be a healthier option of course.

But hiddenhome, you're talking bollocks. i can't take you seriously when you talk about pizza having extra fat "added to it". It's nonsense. And nutritionally no different to your cheese sandwich. Why is pizza any sloppier than a cheese sandwich???

bread

hiddenhome you are joking aren't you do your kids really eat just healthy stuff you will have a rebellion !!!