AIBU to be downright p*ssed off at unhealthy parents?

[hannahopes]

I sent my six year old DD off to school this morning with a packed lunch filled with two ham sandwiches, an apple, yoghurtised fruit pieces and a bottle of orange juice. She came home with the remnants of the apple, an empty packet of space invaders and the wrapper of a chocolate bar. I've spoken to DD about and she says another friend 'gave it to her'. I'm partly annoyed at the dinner ladies for not stopping kids from swapping food at lunch (for allergy reasons, if anything) but also at this kid's parents; if I send my child into school with a healthy lunch, I do not expect her to come home with an unhealthy one. It's not the first time this has happened, I've been through the same thing with my older children and although I've ranted to a couple of people about it, I've come to mumsnet to vent my anger a little further. AIBU or just missing something?

I used to swap my packed lunches, too. My mum was ahead of her time with the healthy lunch stuff. She'd send us with fruit and a muesli bar, I'd swap them for someone's kitkat. This was when I was in middle school though, aged 11.

I'm surprised the Lunch Box Police didn't remove the crisps and the chocolate.

yabu

You could always say that if she eats her own lunch and no one else's chocolate/crisps then you'll get her a surprise after school? It may backfire unless she's honest though. I'd complain to the school. Some parents feed their children all sorts of crap.

You need to have words with her teacher...

BTW I'm a dinner lady - we do tell kids not to swap food, however with 4 people policing 400 kids at lunchtime, you are not going to notice a bit of "consensual" swapping going on. You need to tell her not to swap and involve the teacher if you want something done about it.....

YANBU! It's really annoying, at our school we've been told that crisps, biscuitor chocolate is not allowed in packed lunches, but parents are still sending it in with their kids and school seems to do nothing about it.

I'm more annoyed because I have to listen to the "But Jack ALWAYS get's crisp in his lunchbox, why can't I?" etc.

At DS's school they are not allowed to eat anything from anyone else's lunch.

Breathe woman, breathe! Assuming that your daughter doesn't suffer from any food allergies the odd pack of crisps or bit of chocolate won't hurt her!

IMHO you are missing something. A sense of proportion. You're also unreasonable to be pissed off at what other parents feed theirchildren and maybe inaccuate to brand them all unhealthy.

I'm sure that the food which you give your DC on all other occasions more than makes up for the couple of bits of junk here and there, chill. :)

YANBU about the swapping lunches, but you dd's lunch sounds like it is sugar laden. Fruit, yoghurt covered dried fruit and orange juice all have a lot of sugar in them.

Yanbu regarding the swapping. I'd be annoyed they weren't more on the ball about that but then again I guess you'll have to impress on your dd not to do it.

But what other people put in their kids lunchboxes doesn't interest me one bit. It's not the other parent's fault the children swapped their food.

How about having a word with your child about swapping lunches? Maybe telling them not to/they aren't allowed to...

Just a thought...

Presumably they're not force feeding it to your dd. It's her choice to eat it, I'm sure the 'unhealthy' parents wouldn't be best pleased that their food is being given away either.

YABU.

It's none of your business what other parents are feeding their children. Your responsibility lies with feeding your own child. At six, she should understand if you tell her not to swap her food, or at least advise her to put the rubbish in the bin and not bring it home for you to find.

If it was given to her, maybe the other child had pity on the fact that your child was missing out. A chocolate bar, or a packet of crisps does no harm.

ffs she wont die because she has had some space invaders and a bit of choc.

If you dont want her to eat someone elses lunch then it is down to you to sort it. can you not give her something more exciting in hers?

Dum di dum. I sent my kids with a small packet of space invaders in their packed lunches.

They also had ham sandwiches, yoghurt, a piece of cheese, and a piece of fruit, with apple juice.

So really, what's a tiny packet of crisps? Hardly unhealthy IMO, balanced.

You call your DD's lunch healthy? Each to their own, but you might want to look at your own choices before criticising other people. Sugar. Salt.

My Mum used to make lovely sandwiches, really nice ones - I still used to swap them with my friend for her very thin, whitebread, marmite sandwiches

YANBU this instance alone has probably shaved at least 5 years off her life expectancy. Space invaders! We all feel your anguish. I'm gonna hold my children close tonight.

I quite like Oinks rather than Space Invaders.

Takemeout: No, a chocolate bar or packet of crisps does no harm if it's once in a while. But if it's everyday? (Which I'm not sure is the case but anyway...)

You not have to 'balance' a healthy diet with crisps and chocolate.

It's not a big deal OP, just have a word with the dinner ladies to try to prevent in future.

Space Invaders are smaller than the average packet of crisps, innit. Plus I can get twelve packets for 99p.

They get either crisps or a sweet treat in their lunch boxes. Once a day is not going to hurt.