to think its a bit tight when parents count a school dinner as THE main meal of the day

[MariahScarey]

all other things being equal (money activities etc)

have a colleague who makes her kids have sandwiches for tea " as they eat at school"

they have money, they can cook - is this laziness?
I know they wont starve or out, but I wouldnt count a tiny school meal that is then burned off as a main meal.

USUAL DISCLAIMERS

Yes there are worse things to worry to about
YEs its none of my business
Yes I am judging

La Queen - re your last paragraph, yy.

I would have given up parenting long ago if those were the requirements.

But but!

Do children actually grow on sandwiches???

Well it's how we were fed growing up an I'm 5ft 11 and my brother is 6ft 4 so I would say yes. They manage to grow just fine

But congas! In this day and age, I meant ...

What is also slightly confusing me on this thread is all the women whose male partners clearly don't cook. Actually this confuses me on MN in general. I'd find cooking far more of a chore if I always had to do it, obviously.

"What is also slightly confusing me on this thread is all the women whose male partners clearly don't cook. Actually this confuses me on MN in general. I'd find cooking far more of a chore if I always had to do it, obviously"

Yes mine can't cook/won't cook- will heat things up. I get fed up of being the one having to think up things for us to eat and then cook them. Recently I've stopped cooking for him in the week as I try and have a hot lunch at work myself, then come home feed/entertain/ kids till bedtime and make a sandwich for myself whilst he heats up a pizza.

Hey ho - I always cook, hubby always cleans out the guinea pigs and walks the dog... jobs I hate....

relationships mean compromises - if he cooked, then I'd have to deal with all the pet poo... only fair - but I'm NOT going to do it - no, no, no, no, no......

I don't have a partner, so it's just as well I enjoy cooking (and slicing bread ).

My XP's idea of cooking was to boil pasta until it had the taste and texture of glue, then serve it with ready made sauce from a jar .

DS (16) loves sandwiches. End of.
He has cereal in the morning, takes a packed lunch, with a cheese,ham or chicken sandwich in. Has cheese and ham salad wraps or cream cheese bagels for a change. If he is busy at school (playing football or basketball at lunch and break) he doesn't eat it and has it in the car on the way home.

Fruit is a no no at secondary (i work in one) so its sandwich and a snack bar plus 2 bottles of water.

If I give him money to buy lunch he ends up with a small slice of pizza/toastie/calzone/ciabatta these are basically the same; bread, cheese, tomato sauce. Also very expensive. On. Friday it tend to be a small bacon roll. Loves it but is hungry straight after.

His favourite dinner is also sandwiches! These tend to consist of home cooked meat; chicken, ham, beef etc. Cheese of some kind also ends up in it. There is always salad inside the sandwich, with a side salad on the plate, the amount of bread compared to protein and veggies is minimal. A fresh mixed fruit salad always accompanies.

So YADBU because a sandwich tea is not always a jam on white affair!

I guess it's not what you do but how you do it.

YY to gilberte and tinsel. DS1 (Reception) is quite a fussy eater and will pretty much pick at most hot meals unless they are pasta. So if I made something like a fish pie or a roast for tea, he would pick at little bits and end up upset and go to bed starving. But if I make him a big plate of sandwiches (eg cheese, egg etc etc) he would wolf the lot, along with a bit of salad, and loads of fruit, yoghurt, nuts. So I let school have the hot meal battle with him (on the basis that it's much less of a battle at school, and he might actually eat some of it), and I feed him what I know he'll eat at home.

First of all, I have not read all the posts. I am an MTA and a TA, our school meals are enormous and varied with a great choice of menu and extras, I don't think an infant would need another hot meal during the day if they ate all their school lunch. I do not know how it works in other schools but in ours children may not have their pudding or leave the table until an MTA says so. Children are expected to try everything, the MTA in charge of dinners knows who eats what. Before I get flamed I would say that no child is forced to eat when they clearly don't want to/are feeling poorly/are clearly upset about anything.

Mine can cook and would be willing to cook, I just prefer my own cooking.

In return he does loads of shitty outdoor jobs that I would hate, along with most of the washing up. Fair deal I reckon.

And totally agree that with sandwich construction possibilities being endless, it's a bit daft to write them off as 'lazy' and 'unnutritious'. If they get good food into the child, they do the job.

I want to work at your school Cuddlyrunner... i'm a mid day supervisor and our lunches are crappy - beige, tasteless, some form of stuff in gloop with something starchy and some boiled to death veg... cucumber/tomato/bare pasta are available as "accompaniments".... 400 kids have to eat in an hour on a rolling lunchbreak (as we get space next class comes in) - 3 of us in the hall to supervise all dinners including reception and packed lunches. ..

we try to see if they have eaten.....

Tight fucks, counting a meal as a bloody meal, outrageous!

I would love to be able to turn up a few times unannouced and look at what my children are eating at school. We have had the parent taster days and the food was good, but would like to check it is always like that. Meanwhile I think i will continue to cook an evening meal, just in case the meals are like ByTheWay describes! Having said that my dds seem to love them and aren't hungry when i pick them up, which is why i have continued with them. they look very good on the menu.