Lunchbox contents fine for school but not holiday club

[TheLunchIsServed]

DD is 7, about to go into year 3 at school.

She doesn’t always have a school hot dinner so takes a packed lunch. Usually she has

• Ham Sandwich
• Cheese string or babybel
• Penguin bar or similar small type biscuit
• Cucumber and carrot sticks
• Apple orange or banana
• Water

Sometimes I swap the cucumber and carrots for a homemade yogurt (fruit and greek yogurt combined). School have never commented negatively on the contents of her lunchbox, only comment I’ve ever had about it was from the headteacher the first time she took a lunchbox and I asked if it was (she’d gone in late for a reason and was taken to class by the HT) who said it sounded fine.

DD is at holiday club while I work and is taking the same packed lunch with her. She’s been before to this holiday club but I had a call to say policy has changed and she’s not allowed the cheese, yogurt (even a homemade one) or the chocolate and that lunch has to contain two portions of vegetables. They’d rather I didn’t send sugary fruit – even though DD tends to eat that at morning snack time rather than with lunch.

They’ve suggested I leave in the sandwich, cucumber and carrots, swap the cheese for another portion of vegetables – they suggested some cooked and cooled sweetcorn or tomatos (which are fruit) neither of which DD likes. They said to leave the chocolate out completely.

It’s nothing to do with hot weather as the lunchbox goes into a coolbag thing when she gets to holiday club and DD says it’s still cold when she eats it (at school I put those iceblocks in when it’s hot to keep it cool and DD says it’s nice there too).

I can’t understand why her lunchbox is fine at school but not holiday club who I was expecting to be more lenient.

So AIBU to think as I’m paying £35 a day for the service they can ignore a bit of cheese and a small chocolate bar? Or AIBU?

And if so can you make suggestions that a 7 year old will actually eat?

Rules are:

• Two Portions of Veg
• No nuts or seeds
• No kiwi
• No tahini/hummus

@TheLunchIsServed

Ok I’m back. Sorry for delay DD wanted to go to the park with her friend from holiday club because running around and hula hooping isn’t enough

Manager said it was across all their settings and had come from higher up (it’s a company that runs a holiday club at about 14 different places across the county) and he had no idea why the policy had come in as most parents sent packed lunches similar to the one I sent for DD.

And yes they do have their own lunch they offer for extra cost which started this year too so I reckon it’s due to that.

Their lunch offer is very similar to what I packed but no chocolate

I just knew they’d be selling lunches

They’ve not had the take up they want for their no doubt overpriced lunches so they’re making it so much hassle to send lunch it’ll force people’s hand.

It’s an increasingly common tactic. As is in-house only lunches for allergy reasons - which in at least 2 places I know of actually have children with allergies who have to provide their own lunches because they Sh can’t guarantee no contamination…

My son has a dairy allergy, his friends all eat and take yoghurts but they have to wash hands after, it seems bizarre to not allow children dairy! I’d send her with what you normally give her.

And of you meet other parents encourage them to make a fuss.

Just pack as normal then realistically what are they going to do refuse to allow children to eat there own lunch? If everyone does it then it really becomes an unenforceable act I would not suggest this if it were allergy related BTW but as they are just flogging meals passive resistant behaviour it is

God I hate the Lunchbox Gestapo! The only thing a holiday club should be dictating is anything banned for allergy purposes like nuts, etc. Tell them to go do one.
It's none of their business if your child prefers fruit to vegetables.

I thought it might be to encourage you to buy their lunches!

I dont understand why no cheese and fruit? There is all this focus on what children are allowed to eat when the real issue is that some children (not your child) do not move around enough.

So no reason for the cheese ban?

Ignore them and tell them your child needs the dairy.

This is crazy! I work in a school and we have never had any ban on dairy products even when a child had a dairy allergy. The only banned item is nuts. I do think it's OK to ask for no chocolate bars or sweets and no fizzy drinks like in school, but beyond that it is getting OTT.

I don't understand why cheese would be objected to. I mean - cheese is protein, cheese is nice, I eat cheese every day. It's not as if a small child is going to eat a pound of cheese in one go (even I don't do that).

Anyway I'm off to the kitchen to get cheese and biscuits.

Made tomorrows lunch, exactly the same but without the chocolate, not getting into a faff over chocolate I can give her at home.

I'm allergic to kiwi but it's not an airborne allergy. 7 year olds are old enough not to share food.

And as for the no cheese thing. Fuck off.

No 'sugary fruit' ? This is crazy.

They need to mind their own business.

I work in a school and we are planning to give an extra push in September for healthy lunches. This is an example of an unhealthy packed lunch which I regularly see: This is one child's lunch:

Sausage roll, 2 packet of crisps, Kit Kat, Caprisun, yoghurt and dairylea dunkers.

My children are at summer club tomorrow and are taking:
Pesto pasta, cucumber sticks, malt loaf or brunch bar, apple, olives, pepperami, and 2 jammy dodger biscuits.

Push comes to shove find a different holiday provider if they lose people over policy it might cause a rethink

I'd be asking how the lunch you sent didn't fit the criteria...

My ds2 usually gets the following in his lunch box:-

Sandwich (minion "ham" like that teddy crap you can get-he bloody loves it 🤢) on brown warburtons thin.

Chopped cherry tomatoes and baby cucumbers.

Frube

Cocktail sausages

Blueberries

Packet of Pom bears.

He's 3... obviously I vary it but that's pretty typical. Private nursery not school nursery have never had an issue!!

The company I work for runs holiday clubs, we’ve got over 1000 kids booked in this summer & I can tell you quite honestly not one of us cares what you put in their lunch! They are massively overstepping the mark here.
The only time we stipulate no anything is if we have a child with allergies - when that happens I send out a nice email explaining the reason for whatever it is they can’t have (usually nuts) & because people know the reason they are generally happy to oblige.

Amazing number of children tucking into mackerel and salad for dinner but who don’t tolerate snack options other than chocolate biscuits and crisps……

I was thinking of this thread as I packed up a cheese sandwich last night. I think the bigger problem is when the lists get silly people ignore them and that could be dangerous for children with severe allergies. My daughter came home yesterday and said someone had nuts when they were banned and told me quite adamantly she wasn’t to have nuts (I hadn’t and wouldn’t put them in) so the staff obviously had a word to them all about nuts in lunchboxes. That message would have been a bit dilated if they were also banging on about sugary fruit…

Re issues around cheese allergies, and how it would be fine as long as they didn't eat it, or they'd be banning butter if it was that, can I ask people who don't know about Karan (Karanbir) Cheema, to google.

He was killed at school by a piece of cheese half the size of a post it note flicked at his neck. His friend who'd pulled the piece of cheese from a baguette and passed it to his friend, who flicked it at Karan, have to live with Karan's death too.

Yes the company may have all sorts of reasons good, bad, or indifferent and I'd be irritated and querying too, but some of the misunderstanding that's posted on this thread is really worrying.

Outside of are this lot taking the proverbial, all parents need to understand the extremes of what a cheese or dairy allergy could mean, and that the fact any organization is allowing or not allowing X on the premises isn't an indicator that therefore there isn't really a problem with Y.

@MissTrip82 is it really? Why is a mackerel salad for tea and a penguin in a packed lunch box together mutually exclusive? .

@Elleherd I remember the tragic death of Karan very well. Absolutely awful.

That's completely rediculous. My kids would be starving if that's all I gave them for lunch. And when I send my kids to holiday club they usually get an extra treat or two, not less!

Just ignore them that's crazy

[quote MrsCrosbyNRTB]@MissTrip82 is it really? Why is a mackerel salad for tea and a penguin in a packed lunch box together mutually exclusive? .

@Elleherd I remember the tragic death of Karan very well. Absolutely awful.[/quote]
Mackerel salad for tea sounds weird to me, more of an hors d'oeurve or light lunch/dinner dish. However each to their own. Mackerel gives me indigestion, always has, much prefer salmon.

Nothing wrong with a Penguin, they are hardly huge.

@Maggiesfarm it was a mumsnet approved massive salad featuring new potatoes and avocado as well

My DC love mackerel but interestingly it’s also started to give me indigestion.

İgnore it and if they mention it again ask for a copy of their degree in nutrition.

Yes I'd ignore this too.

At school we stick to the lunch box policy and I'm glad of it as I like my dd to eat well. Obviously they are allowed cheese etc anyway.

At holiday club here they are allowed what they like and most dc take sweets, chocolate etc.
I do send dd in with treats because its their holiday and a little treat now and then won't harm them.