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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Is this packed lunch reasonable?

118 replies

DarkBlueEyes · 28/02/2016 15:04

DD1 went on a school trip last week. She's in Yr 7 of a private school and I selected the packed lunch provided option as she has school lunches and they seem very good.

They were out for the whole day. What she received was...

A sausage roll, a packet of crisps and an apple.

Is this acceptable do you think? I have to admit I was a bit surprised as although personally I love a sausage roll, I wouldn't eat a cold one and had expected them to provide a sandwich, piece of fruit and a biscuit/muffin or something like that (this is what I would have packed and will pack in the future).

I now gather this is totally par for the course from other mums with older DDs at the school, so clearly I won't be selecting that option again. Besides that, the poor girl was ravenous.

What would you think? Would you bother giving them feedback and risking being labelled as "that mother" or just muse at how totally crap that lunch was and leave it? I'm inclined to the second option but then part of me thinks how will things ever change if they don't know how parents feel about it, and, I'm paying for that bloody lunch so why should I have to pack one?

So I will let the collective wisdom of mumsnet decide and prepare to be flamed

OP posts:

timelytess · 28/02/2016 22:11

For those who suggest giving a list of "acceptable", healthy food - get real
21 years teaching in high schools seemed fairly real.

Whenimbored · 29/02/2016 15:44

No yoghurt even!

I'd have to say something though I tend to find when i am out with my young ones and friends they arent as bothered by food as when they are home

Katedotness1963 · 29/02/2016 15:46

It sounds like the kind of lunch school would complain about if it were sent from home...

JapaneseSlipper · 29/02/2016 15:46

It's not a lot, but then neither is the example you gave of what you would have packed either. A sandwich, a biscuit and a piece of fruit? Pretty much the same as a sausage roll, a packet of crisps and a piece of fruit.

EweAreHere · 29/02/2016 15:53

That's not anywhere near enough food for a child that age. Surely they should know that children are growing, burn calories at a higher and faster rate than grown ups, and were on the move during their field trip? Very poor. I'd actually ask for my money back AND complain.

JustDanceAddict · 29/02/2016 16:00

That's not much. I tend to provide at the very least - cheese sandwich, cut vegtables, fruit and 'dessert' ie packet of crsips or biscuit bar type thing with water to drink. I'd expect them to be pretty hungry when they got home too even on that!

PuntCuffin · 29/02/2016 16:13

My not quote 6 year old would need more than that! Y7 is 11/12 year olds so not small children and a actively growing ones too.

A packed lunch is a sandwich, crisps, fruit, yoghurt, cucumber/carrot sticks, maybe humous, and a cereal/chocolate bar or similar for a snack plus water or juice carton. It all gets eaten.

This time of year, I don't get too twitchy about keeping it cold. If the food is fresh, it will still be fine by lunchtime if packed from cold in the morning.

Esspee · 29/02/2016 16:14

I am completely surprised that everyone seems to think that crisps are acceptable in a packed lunch and some even find chocolate acceptable. At the school my children attended any mum sending that kind of packed lunch on more than one occasion would be asked to come in for a chat about nutrition.

Cuttheraisins · 29/02/2016 16:31

In my opinion it's no big deal as a one off, I am sure the kids were hungry for their dinner! I would just mention it for next school trip, just send in a gentle note saying that it wasn't quite enough. DS would have Loved that packed lunch though...

Cuttheraisins · 29/02/2016 16:32

Just saying that some of the packed lunches on here are huge for little children and are more than what I would normally eat for my lunch.

WorraLiberty · 29/02/2016 16:33

It's not a particularly healthy lunch, but it's more than enough food imo, especially if she's eaten breakfast.

My DC are 16 and 13 and they take a sandwich, a piece of fruit, a biscuit and a drink.

Which is pretty much what I took when I was at school.

WorraLiberty · 29/02/2016 16:35

Just saying that some of the packed lunches on here are huge for little children and are more than what I would normally eat for my lunch.

I agree. I remember when I used to help out on school outings when my kids were little and some of their classmates would unpack nothing short of a banquet.

Not good when you've only got 30 minutes to bolt it down and walk round the rest of the zoo

MrsHathaway · 29/02/2016 16:39

What's acceptable for a normal packed lunch (normal school day, optimal storage) and what's acceptable for a trip (complicated logistics, typically needing to be totally disposable) is completely different.

Like what you have for tea at home is different from what you have on a long journey, relying on service stations.

00100001 · 29/02/2016 16:39

Yeah, MNers seems to send HUGE packed lunches for the teeniest child.

Oh my 2 year old would absolutely starve if he only had a sandwich for lunch, a normal lunch for him, served at noon is: five sandwiches, 2 bananas, 3 yoghurts, a bag of crisps, a cereal bar, 4 litres of water, some milk, a pack of cookies, ten cubes of cheese and a salami - and that will last him about 20 minutes before needing a snack.

RhodaBorrocks · 29/02/2016 16:41

My 8 yo DS would be starving on just that! He usually has 2 types of breakfast (ie. Cereal and toast), lunch today was 4 chicken goujons with cherry tomatoes, 2 types of fruit (apple and satsuma, he has 1 at breaktime), flapjack (for break) and a small cake. He will be having high tea now at after school club and will want a full dinner at 6pm! And he's still tiny and underweight - the men in my family have amazing metabolism But not the women, sadly.

This is why I always provide his lunches for trips - I went on too many school trips where breakfast was a croissant and an apple and lunch was a dry sandwich and a banana!

redskytonight · 29/02/2016 16:45

Am I really the only one whose DC eat about half a sandwich and a piece of fruit at lunch time ... because they have better things to do with their lunch break than eating lunch!!

Doesn't seem to have killed them yet (and yes they are starving when they get home, but they prefer that to eating more at school!)

squoosh · 29/02/2016 16:49

I am completely surprised that everyone seems to think that crisps are acceptable in a packed lunch and some even find chocolate acceptable.

You must spend a lot of your life feeling very surprised.

Cuttheraisins · 29/02/2016 16:50

Same here, red sky. My dSs have one sandwich, without the crust (ham, cheese, egg, cream cheese and cucumber - not all together!), one piece of fruit, one biscuit/penguin, a yogurt and water. The sandwiches are usually just half eaten.

Jesabel · 29/02/2016 16:52

Portion sizes is one of the reasons we have a child obesity problem - I often see 4 and 5 year olds with a sandwich (two slices), packet of crisps, yoghurt, biscuit, cheese string, two pieces of fruit. More than I could eat!

WorraLiberty · 29/02/2016 16:52

I think the thing is, it might depend on how much they were fed in one sitting when being weaned.

I remember being surprised at how much some babies/toddlers were fed on a couple of threads I read in the past.

Unless there was an element of trying to 'outdo' the next poster, there were plenty of babies being fed between 4 and 6 Weetabix in a single sitting.

I honestly couldn't eat that amount as an adult, but if I was fed like that to begin with, I suppose I probably could if that makes sense?

k8vincent · 29/02/2016 16:53

Thats really rubbish. No snack?

I would definitely give them feedback - especially since you've paid for the lunch!

00100001 · 29/02/2016 16:54

I do wonder what is going to happen to a whole generation of kids that constantly snack (healthily or otherwise) when they can't eat every few hours at work.

00100001 · 29/02/2016 16:55

You see a lot of young kids given snacks as "something to keep them busy" which is a bit weird imo.

Stillwishihadabs · 29/02/2016 16:58

Yy to red sky DS (yr7) barely eats at school.

Ragwort · 29/02/2016 16:59

Agree, so many mumsnetters are smug about what their children have in their packed lunches - they probably end up swapping or binning half of it . My 14 year old DS took a nutella sandwich and a kit kat for lunch today. - he's sporty, active and not an ounce of spare fat on him.

Delt'a DS sounds as though he is eating a banquet !

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