One of my children will not drink water at all. He absolutely hates it - it makes him gag and shudder. To the point he will literally go days and days without drinking if that’s all that’s on offer. He did this on school camp recently, three full days, in the heat doing sport all day with nothing at all to drink. Nothing except the milk on his cereal in the mornings if you can count that. He was in such a state when he came home.
So the theory that they’ll drink when thirsty enough doesn’t always work!! He’d have ended up in hospital on a drip before drinking any water.
I put cordial in his metal drink bottle for school to avoid the inevitable - headaches, bedwetting, constipation, lack of concentration, bad behaviour, tiredness. I understand it is unhealthy, but that is the only junk I allow - no sweets etc. And the alternative isn’t great. I agreed this with his first school, offered to provide a letter from the urinary clinic and promised to send the cordial in a bottle that wasn’t see through and made him promise not to tell the other kids.
It’s a nightmare, creates so many issues.
My other two drink water, one only drinks water, won’t touch cordial or juice.
What I find crazy in all of this, is the schools don’t allow cordial, because it’s not healthy yet my younger kids’ school gives the kids a massive chocolate brownie or ice cream or cookies or cakes for puddings every day. Also, the older kids’ school allows the kids to buy as many cakes as they want in a day from the canteen - WTAF?!?! The cakes are brownies, flapjacks, muffins and cookies. All full of sugar. Yet they ban cordial?!
One of my boys, when he was nine, used to tell the chef at that school that he wanted more lunch because he was hungry. She wouldn’t allow it as ‘County decides’ the size of the portions each child should have. So she’d deny him more pasta or chicken or whatever was on offer but then slap a bit fat calorie and sugar filled cake on his plate for pudding!!
To continue my rant - it can’t be about the spillage, at our schools, as the kids are not allowed to drink during lessons so can’t spill anything.
And almost last rant - every now and then, the school puts on a movie and encourages the kids to bring sweets - as many as they want - to eat during the movie. ‘Why are they not given a treat of additional PE or play time rather than a movie?’ I always ask. But, I send them in, to watch the movie like a good parent who does what they’re told. I don’t send sweets. But I do send cordial in the metal flask.
I’m kind of sorry, but not enough to stop. My kids are rarely off sick, their homework is always done, they perform well at school, we don’t take time off in term time, I volunteer as much as I can and they are well behaved. Surely that’s enough toeing the line and doing what we’re told.
I don’t always agree with what the schools decide is healthy and acceptable- I don’t agree with movies at school as a great, I don’t agree with sugary puddings, I don’t agree with marshmallows in hot chocolates at forest school along with s’mores - but, I toe the line on all of those and let my kids be involved. Even though I would never let my kids eat a s’more alongside a hot chocolate on a weekend, I allow them to participate at school.
I’m sure if you work in a school you understand the logic, but it’s lost on me…
If my kids’ schools commit to banning all sugar in the canteen and ‘treats’, then I’ll commit to working on my one child who drinks cordial.
epic rant over.