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:
Dancergirl · 28/03/2017 17:49

Where's the OP? Grin

carefreeeee · 28/03/2017 17:50

sounds a bit excessive. why are all those different fruits and veggies necessary? Just give her an apple and a banana and a big cheese butty for goodness sake!

Jaxhog · 28/03/2017 17:52

Your lunchbox sounds perfectly fine to me. Healthy, varied and plenty to eat.

eatpuddingdrinkwine · 28/03/2017 17:59

I have given a similar lunch for a school trip and my DD was raging when she got home .Apparently school trip pack lunch should be more of a picnic in her opinion and include crisps as an essential,it is not to be confused with a normal school day pack lunch .That was me told !

expatinscotland · 28/03/2017 18:03

'I've been making packed lunches on and off for nearly 20 years anf I have NEVER discussed the contents in RL ever

Me neither. It sounds a very boring topic of conversation apart from anything else.'

Me, three. Of course, I give my children Red Bull and fags in their lunch. Fags are great, no sugar or fat. Red Bull gives you wings. For pudding, they prefer a wrap of Spice.

allegretto · 28/03/2017 18:03

Sounds nice but a lot of it. Mine would bring half of that back. And then ask for crisps. Grin

expatinscotland · 28/03/2017 18:07

DD2 is so tall and thin and sportive she's already a model - Elite said they just couldn't wait for her to go through puberty to sign her up. It might put her space in the 2020 Olympics in jeopardy, but there's always Korea in 2018 if she hasn't won an Oscar by then, of course.

TheHiphopopotamus · 28/03/2017 18:07

Me, three. Of course, I give my children Red Bull and fags in their lunch. Fags are great, no sugar or fat. Red Bull gives you wings. For pudding, they prefer a wrap of Spice

That sounds ok to me but I would replace the fags with a vape stick and maybe swap the Red Bull for a sugar free one, otherwise that's spot on!

expatinscotland · 28/03/2017 18:09

And maybe replace the Spice with smack as it's more natural and all.

Craigie · 28/03/2017 18:16

YANBU. It was fine. Anybody who tells you your kid NEEDS crisps or chocolate is an arse.

expatinscotland · 28/03/2017 18:17

Kids definitely NEED crisps and chocolate. Adults do, too. They're tasty.

kastiekastie · 28/03/2017 18:19

agree sounds a great lunch and the babybel doesn't need to be light, but you have got a rice pudding in there. I think it sounds fantastic and if your daughter's hungry she'll tell you later and you can adjust next time.
Apparently only 1% of children taking a packed lunch have a suitably healthy one (apologies for statistic and no I can't remember where I got it from!) The other mother sounds like one of the 99% ;-)
In fact the only thing I don't like about your email is that the other woman would let her daughter 'tell her off' for not giving her chocolate or crisps, she sounds a bit wet.

DagenhamRoundhouse · 28/03/2017 18:21

That's more than I have for lunch! Don't mothers criticise each other? It's some sort of competition. It's none of her business what you give your child for lunch.

expatinscotland · 28/03/2017 18:23

'Don't mothers criticise each other? '

No, most of them don't give a toss what another one does or list off what they put in a kid's lunchbox.

AlexRose5 · 28/03/2017 18:24

BlueDaBaDee that's exactly what I thought lol .
Seriously OP you must know full well that's a healthier lunch than a choc bar and crisps. Confused
Although I personally wouldn't be one for giving my kids peperami and then thinking I had grounds for a stealth brag to be honest , so maybe not lol

muttrat · 28/03/2017 18:26

I couldn't give a flying fuck what anyone has in their lunchbox, other than to say the kids who have competively healthy mothers always look tired and pinched.

All that angst and chopped fruit makes me want to give them a snickers and a dairylea lunch able.

IHaveBrilloHair · 28/03/2017 18:27

Actually as it's a school trip I'd think crisps and chocolate were obligatory.
Is that not a time for extras?
I dunno why MN are so down on them anyway, a grab bag and a Mars bar everyday, maybe, but a plain bag of small crisps is barely a handful, and a freddo a couple of bites.
The funny thing is the orthorexics are still finding fault with the low fat cheese, but they'd find fault with anything.

AlexRose5 · 28/03/2017 18:27

Expatinscotland Grin

muttrat · 28/03/2017 18:28

Crisps are ESSENTIAL for school trips.

It's literal child abuse not to provide them.

pictish · 28/03/2017 18:29

Oh please...this thinly disguised attempt at elevating yourself over someone else through the medium of kids' packed lunches is laughable.

Yes OP your daughter's lunch was much better than the other kid's lunch. You are a more intelligent, classier mother than the other one and obviously love your child more. There you go...you'll sleep well tonight.

TwentyCups · 28/03/2017 18:30

Seems like so much for lunch to me. For my dinners at work I tend to bring a box of salad plus some bread usually. I wouldn't want or need extras on top of that. I also don't have kids. Do they get much hungrier than adults mid day?

TwentyCups · 28/03/2017 18:32

Also Grin at expat

AlexRose5 · 28/03/2017 18:35

Dancegirl the OP has probably disappeared to do some more obvious comparisons ,
Watch this space for the next thread
"AIBU? My DD just ate all her greens, said her prayers and went to bed early ... Other mum is shocked I don't let her gang out on the street corner smoking til the early hours ...AIBU or are my wholesome ways utterly cuckoo ?! I just CANT figure it out ! Will my DD be grumpy when she realises ?!" >>eye roll

Snugglepalace · 28/03/2017 18:41

God I wish my 8 yr dd would eat that. Ive lost count the amount of times I've sent her in with a similar lunchbox only for it to come back uneaten because 'all my friends have chocolate biscuits and crisps, why can't I have that too?!'

pictish · 28/03/2017 18:43

"AIBU? My DD just ate all her greens, said her prayers and went to bed early ... Other mum is shocked I don't let her gang out on the street corner smoking til the early hours ...AIBU or are my wholesome ways utterly cuckoo ?! I just CANT figure it out ! Will my DD be grumpy when she realises ?!" >>eye roll