Dd1 is a very fussy eater, and has been since she was a baby, and now at the age of 10 eats a very limited range of foods. She has packed lunches at school, which tend to be the same things each day but they are fairly healthy.
Dd2 is about to start reception. She was BLW and used to be a fantastic eater, but gradually she has got more and more picky about what she'll eat, though she is nowhere near as bad as dd1. For instance she used to eat most meats, but now it's pretty much just ham or chicken. She used to eat pasta with sauces and veg but now it's just literally plain pasta with cheese.
When she was at nursery, she went from being totally happy there to kicking off every morning I had to take her. One day she wanted to take a packed lunch, so I made her one and from then on she was fine about going to nursery, and had a packed lunch every day instead of nursery meals.
Now that she is starting school, I have signed her up for the free school meals. My rationale here was that a) I am skint so free is my favourite price, and b) hopefully as the majority of kids will be eating the school meals, she will crack on and hopefully try some new things and the fussiness may be reversed.
Now that school is looming, I have started to worry about this. I have had no information from the school about what the meals are, or whether they get a choice about what they have. She has only just turned 4 and will be doing whole days from the start, so it's a long day if she doesn't eat anything at lunch. I also worry that she will (rightly) think it's very unfair that her sister gets a packed lunch but she has school meals.
I'm probably being a sap but I worry that school is going to be a huge change for her as it is, and the meals may cause her additional stress. Do you think I should stick to my guns or just let her take a bloody packed lunch? At the moment she doesn't really know that she will be having school dinners, I've just kept quiet about it.