Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

...to think that this is an appropriate packed lunch for an 8yo

230 replies

sashangel · 27/03/2017 10:14

My DD is is going on a school trip today so have had to put a packed lunch together. She is very tall and thin for her age. She is also very active doing lots of different sports through the week. It consisted of

A ham and coleslaw wholemeal wrap with watercress salad.
A pot of Carrot, cucumber, baby tomatoes and olives
A pot of Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and kiwi
Light Babybel
Mini Pepperami
Pot of ambrosia rice pudding
With water.

I was speaking to another mum who looked completely horrified (not joking) that she didn't have crisps and at least one chocolate bar to go with it and if she had only gave what I had to her DD she would get a telling off.

I thought what I have put together was a healthy and appropriate amount of food for an 8 year old. Is that right or have I completely fucked up and have a very hungry and grumpy DD later.

OP posts:
MrsGB2225 · 27/03/2017 10:15

Sounds nice! Why the light babybell though?

SissySpacekAteMyHamster · 27/03/2017 10:15

The other mother sounds daft. At our school they aren't allowed crisps and chocolate.

TheOnlyColditz · 27/03/2017 10:16

That's plenty! And very nice too!

NoArmaniNoPunani · 27/03/2017 10:16

Looks alright to me. I would have given full fat cheese but other than that would have given the same

HecateAntaia · 27/03/2017 10:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TheMasterNotMargarita · 27/03/2017 10:21

That is much what DD gets everyday but I sometimes put in crisps or a treat.
I'm amazed at what some people think is appropriate.
One school trip I supervised a kid had a whole box of biscuits for snack with a can of fizzy juice.. okay they were those stick chocolate things but a whole box?! Confused

BagittoGo · 27/03/2017 10:21

Well the pepperoni is the salt and fat equivalent of crisps and rice pudding probably has same sugar but more filling properties than a choc bar. Your packed lunch sounds balanced and healthy.

Original poster
sashangel · 27/03/2017 10:23

The only reason it was a light Babybel was cause that is all they had in the shop when we went yesterday.

The only thing they aren't allowed to take on a school trip is packets of sweets and can of pop.

OP posts:
BiddyPop · 27/03/2017 10:26

The most important question is if your DD is happy with it!

Tomorrowillbeachicken · 27/03/2017 10:27

I'm pretty horrified she would allow her daughter to give her a telling off.

Allthebestnamesareused · 27/03/2017 10:27

Why were you telling another Mum what your daughter had anyway? Just wondered.

likewhatevs · 27/03/2017 10:31

Sounds fine. my DS2 would be happy with that (he's 7) - he probably wouldn't eat it all in one go but he'd save the fruit and the pepperami to snack on later. (and wouldn't eat the babybel because he has developed an aversion to anything that doesn't look like cheese strings )

I do give DS1 (10) crisps, since he only has PL twice a week so its a treat. DS2 likes popcorn instead though which I think probably has slightly less sh*t in it.
I also give them flapjacks as a 'pudding' (DS1 has a yoghurt in a tube as well) because it seems to fill them up for a bit longer (and I can't abide the mess that I'm faced with if I give them a pot of anything)

trulybadlydeeply · 27/03/2017 10:32

Sounds fine to me. Presuming she will have had breakfast, and that you will feed her tonight, so it seems loads, and more than enough for what is, effectively one meal. The only thing that needs to concern you is if your DD was happy with what she was taking.

AlexanderHamilton · 27/03/2017 10:33

Depends on the child. DS wouldn't eat the babybell or pepperami but loves crisps though I try & buy him smaller multipack ofcthings like frazzles, baked crisps or chickpea crisps. He only eats spreading cheese, no meat. I'd possibly put in a

Dd hates crisps & ham so would want things like baby Ell

AlexanderHamilton · 27/03/2017 10:34

DD hates crisps, she would want babybell or cheese strings or hummus & breadsticks.

GieryFas · 27/03/2017 10:34

I give my 8yo a roll (tuna mayo / ham and cheese / smoked salmon and cream cheese), a piece of fruit and a squeezy yoghurt tube (that's a treat, they're not something we usually buy) when she has a packed lunch for a school trip. The juice box is also a treat in her eyes, she just has water or milk at home. Possibly also something like a slice of flapjack for a snack mid afternoon, if they're going to be late back.

So that sounds like tons, and much more than I would provide (but dd1 is small for her age and doesn't have a huge appetite). She has told me that everyone else has crisps, and so occasionally I will buy a packet of hula hoops or whatever I can find in a small packet. But that would be literally once a term, out of maybe three or four days when I provide a packed lunch.

BlueDaBaDee · 27/03/2017 10:36

Stealth boast. Did you really expect anyone to say you were a terrible mother as you didn't give your kid junk Hmm

arethereanyleftatall · 27/03/2017 10:38

That's an absolute standard pack lunch. Yanbu.

KateMateDateFateLateBateGate · 27/03/2017 10:39

Sounds like a lovely, healthy and filling lunch, I wish my dc would eat that.

"I was speaking to another mum who looked completely horrified (not joking) that she didn't have crisps and at least one chocolate bar to go with it and if she had only gave what I had to her DD she would get a telling off. "

I don't understand people's obsession with eating crisps for lunch. Confused In my dc's year (Yr3) you can already see the difference in children's weight and it is the dc with overweight mums or those that get processed sweets and treats in their lunch that look fatter for lack of a kinder word.

GieryFas · 27/03/2017 10:40

Blue I think that's a bit unfair, the real question is 'would this cause your 8yo to be teased or look very different to the rest of their class?'. And one reason I've posted is because I've also wondered that. It's useful to know if giving crisps or chocolate bars is really universal, or just in the same category as the usual moan about how everyone elses' mum lets them do such-and-such.

BeaderBird · 27/03/2017 10:41

Are you seriously asking this question? Stealth brag or so you question every sensible decision you make?

EineKleine · 27/03/2017 10:42

17 different ingredients! That is a lot of prep. Do you eat 17 ingredient lunches yourself?

It is way more complex than my kids would get but there's nothing wrong with it. I normally do send some sort of treat on a school trip but the rice pudding would count for that, more or less.

My 8 year old has asked me to put less in his lunch so we are down to sandwich, 2 veg, and fruit or yoghurt but I would send him with more on a school trip.

BeaderBird · 27/03/2017 10:42

*do

golfbuggy · 27/03/2017 10:42

Unless your pots are teeny tiny I'm amazed she eats all that! (my DC request that they only get a couple of items of uncomplicated food as otherwise it's too tricky/time consuming to eat).

Wish my DD would eat any of that Sad

KatyBerry · 27/03/2017 10:45

it's got plenty of junk food in it just in different format that's more filling.