To be angry my question was deleted

[littlesos]

I was a member of a facebook group which is for current parents of my childrens primary school. It isn't run by the school, one of the parents started it. Over the last year the school has run lots of themed meals days, on these days there is a special menu and if you don't send back the letter and money in advance you cannot have a hot dinner that day. I work full-time and on certain days the girls are in school from 8.00 till 5.30, on these days I like them to have a hot dinner, but often they don't like the themed food so I have no choice but to send them with a packed lunch.
I posted a question on the facebook group saying that I was getting fed-up of all these themed dinners as they play havoc with my plans, was anyone else bothered by them. I can't remember the exact words. I know I had a few responses, a couple of people said they were fed-up and another said she quite liked them. I have just found out that the school has ordered that the post be deleted, which it now has. I am really angry about this, what right have they to censor what is on a facebook group page, besides it wasn't an attack on the school it was a question to see if it was just me that was being annoyed.

I do not believe it is a school problem it cannot pander to all the tastes of all its pupils. It really is not a problem-your kids do not like it but like everything on regular menu? What if they do not like that ?

depends - the themed meals that ds's school do seem to be an excuse to serve chips every other day instead of just on fridays , if they were doing that 4 times a term I'd be annoyed to as the schools always harping on about healthy eating.

yes but it would hardly play havoc with my plans, I would be more comcerned about the teaching of my children. On days were I work later the kids can still have a hot meal at the end of the day.

When I work late they aren't collected until 5.45 from school, then we have to travel home. There is no way I can then prepare and then cook a meal and give them time to actually digest it before bed. Even at 30 minutes (prep and cook time) it would be around quarter to 7 before we sat down to eat. I wish I could be like you and russle some lovely hot meal up at the end of my long work day, but I'm just too tired.
Guess not only am I being unreasonable but I'm a terrible mother too!

Not at all I was not saying that but preperation is everything we often do not eat until late when I am not working as clubs/hobbies etc.

littlesos - I fully realise this isn't the answer that you were asking for but have you got a slow-cooker? You could set that to cook a stew or something so that it was ready the minute you walked through the door after picking your children up from school, would solve at least part of your problem.

Although I have to say the idea of themed school dinners would make me anyway - Mexican, Indian, Thai etc. would have had me in real trouble because of the spices. Don't see why they can't also have a normal hot dinner on those days for those who don't want the themed dinner.

Right, to all those who said it's just a normal food day : I've just found lurking in the bottom on DS2 bags another "special menu". It's a seaside special and its, battered fish, chips and mushy peas. No options at all. Vegetarians get a vegetable sausage.

Neither of mine will eat fish so again I have to make packed lunches.
I can't exactly remember the others, but they aren't normal school dinners, with different names, they are limited menus.
They are also no available on the day, they have to be pre-booked.

Couldn't they have the vegetarian sausage? I think that's not an unreasonable menu, And in my books, not eating fish = fussy eater, And school dinners will always be a problem with fussy eaters.

And I think you can buy thermos bowls for hot meals. I hope so because I want to give them to my children in the winter,

I cannot think of many worse ideas than a school FB page. Eeek - hotbed of gossip and moaning springs to mind

Ah, I see Sparklingbrook has already said it.

Fish and chips are the most popular thing on the menu and are every friday just ggigling to myself regarding themes as the theme for jubille was tradiotional fish and chips (on the friday) in ...paper!

What is this thing about hot meals?

YABU for using the schools FB to gauge people's opinions.

I don't understand the problem here, if your dc don't like the hot dinner on offer they can have sandwiches. If you want to give them something hot in the evening try soup, pasta or omelette. It's quick and no too heavy to digest.

TBH I think the OP is getting a bit of a hard time, her question wasn't AIBU to not like school meals, it was AIBU to be annoyed my post was deleted.

I think it's a very grey area if it isn't an 'official' school fb page. I set one up for DS nursery after the parents said they wanted it, nursery didn't want to get involved, so fine, we set it up ourselves and they have nothing to do with it. We put together some fairly simple rules and made it a private group. I don't recall it being used to raise complaints, but as the parents reps we used it to get opinions. I think you should ask to have the posting policy clarified - I mean what's the page for if you can't use it air opinions?

It would irritate the hell out of me to have a post deleted in that manner. Extremely petty.

YABU to try to stir up trouble on facebook. It's not the school's fault that your children don't like themed days...most children enjoy them in my experience. Ours were simple food like America day might be popcorn chicken, sweetcorn etc. Mexican day might be simple fajitas.

As for it messing up your plans, why don't you precook extra the night before and just reheat it. That would take all of about 3 minutes prep not 30.

Just to clear a few things up again.
It is NOT the schools facebook page, it was set up by a parent for current parents of the school.
I was NOT complaining about the food, and I was NOT trying to stir up trouble. I was asking a question of other parents.

My biggest issue with the themed days are that on those days your child cannot have a hot dinner if they have not booked it weeks in advance, this is very different from the day to day running where meals are bought on a daily basis (not weekly), and my children often don't like the food on the themed days.

It's good that some peoples children like the themed days, but how do I know this without asking? All I know is that my girls don't like them, without asking how do I know whether I'm in the minority or majority?

If I had gone up to some parents in the playground and said "I'm getting fed-up with these themed meals, what do you think?" would most of you responded as you have? Would that be stirring up trouble? In my mind I did exactly what I've just described except I can't get to the playground to ask other parents, so I posted a question, a question, not an attack about the themed meals, and it has been removed.

Why are you and many others so obsessed with 'hot' meals? Food does not have to be hot to be nutritious.

My DS has a packed lunch every day at school and most nights he has a quick sandwich meal because he is playing sports matches all over the county - he is clearly very fit, active and healthy and does not have 'hot dinners' .

Also agree that a school FB or any sort of FB is totally ridiculous.

That's always puzzled me, too, ragwort!