To think the public have the society they deserve

[GoodnightAdeline]

Just read yet another post in our town mums’ Facebook group about the ‘lunchbox letter’. In essence a local primary has written to parents asking them to stop putting sweets and other garbage in their kids’ lunch boxes and all hell has broken loose. ‘How dare they tell my what to feed my child’ ‘tell them to fuck off’ ‘we’ll give the kids an eating disorder’ ‘my kid will only eat cheese strings and cola bottles, do they want her to starve’ etc

It was the same with the ‘your child is overweight’ letters, the ‘please send them in with water not Prime’ letters, the ‘please watch them as they cross the road after school because we had a near miss the other day and are getting complaints’ letters.

After a million such posts with defensive, vitriolic replies I’m beginning to think, why bother improving the NHS/dentistry etc? Why bother helping people who won’t help themselves.

YES I KNOW I’M BEING UNREASONABLE but the above mindset just seems so prevalent it depresses me to unreasonableness!

I agree. My dad used to say 'some people behave like they're in EastEnders'. And I think that's a fair point. My family is not perfect, we have problems. But we don't yell at each other or get overwrought about small things. There's never a feeling of tension or drama, despite having to deal with family members with complex mental health issues. We are calm, pretty much always.

I do think people copy what they see, to a certain extent.

@JazbayGrapes i agree with everything you’ve said today.

I think people who think food used to be healthy have memory problems! Lack of exercise is a HUGE factor. I could bang on about the barriers to this, but if we are going to judge parents for anything regarding kids health ask why they let them alive off PE, stay home on Sports day or don’t encourage outdoor activity.

I think the way people are spoken to, not the words that are said, is seriously under estimated. I find it quite hard to imagine that parents of overweight children don’t know they’re overweight and why. My new phew is very overweight, as was his sister who’s 10 years older than him. They are also both ND and both wanted to stay at home playing computer games and never even going for a walk. My SIL and BIL are not bad parents, but they’re dealing with all the trappings life brings as well as parenting a child who has a major meltdown of his games are taken off him, to the point of self harm. He is 10 and they waited ages to see CAMHS to be told he is ND but in-school counselling is all he needs. It’s not, he needs a referral to a child psychologist and proper support. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack unless youre absolutely loaded and can afford private care.

I feel sad that people would assume she’s just a stupid lazy parent - it’s a lot more complex and I bet there are very few families where it is straightforward

Poverty is not having enough food and clothes or your heating on. There's no reason to think they are all OP said is they feed their kids junk food

That’s not the definition of poverty but OK.

But people in poverty will not be getting their nails done. That’s just non-rich people.
Its not the same.

Poverty is not having enough food and clothes or your heating on. There's no reason to think they are all OP said is they feed their kids junk food

21st century poverty is not Victorian poverty. Try volunteering in a foodbank and you'll see.

It's not victorian it still affects people like that

Not just thick and stroppy but also proud to be ill informed.

Exactly.
It’s off that people won’t accept that poverty exists unless it’s sackcloth-laiden children in a damp riddled victorian workhouse. People in poverty still have smart phones.

A smart phone I can accept as it’s a necessity but £50 acrylics, disposable vapes and cigarettes, £1,000 bulldog puppies and constant takeaways I can’t.

Why do you assume these people are in poverty then? Don’t equate being working class with being impoverished

Yeah, it's offensive

wasn't her though

Who said they were working class?

But cost of living. Sweets, biscuits, crisps and choc and crap is cheaper than fruit isn’t it. Then a mucky D on the way home.

Oh wait, no it isn’t cheaper is it.

I live opposite an infant/primary school and there is a Mr Whippy ice cream van parked outside there at 2.45 onwards every weekday.

A lot of things on the internet aren’t real. Base your judgements on people you encounter in real life

It was implied

What happens when its a SEN child with possible Prada Willi syndrome. I had a thread about this last year but it got taken down. I was in a coffee shop in Jan last year and had just sat down with my latte and lemon muffin. When i heard scream and this young girl of about nine was standing in front of me screaming, and her dad said "She wants your muffin" I was concerned about her knocking over the latte which was hot, so i just gave it to her. A few mins later he came back with a bag of mini muffins he had bought to placate her with which she refused I told him not to worry and to keep them for later. As i sat there with my drink i watched her eat the pack of them after the lemon muffin. A young woman who worked there brought me a replacement muffin over, I told them thankyou but you dont have to. Over the last 18 months ive seen them now and again and two weeks ago in the same coffee shop he walked past my table and said "dont worry you havent got a lemon muffin" and made a joke of it. Now before anyone starts I DONT CARE ABOUT THE FUCKING MUFFIN Im thinking what would happen if she takes something from another child. I also saw her literally grab him by the lapels and drag him into Claires. He doesnt seem to have any control over her. And sometimes there is a young lad with them Slightly older Must be her brother and he always looks as miserable as sin.

Why though? Cereal bars aren’t exactly cheap.
Instead of (branded) cheese strings one could get supermarket’s own brand cheese and cut it in cubes or make sandwiches.
Melon could be replaced by a cheaper seasonal fruit or some vegetable sticks.
It doesn’t all have to be perfect, I just wonder why “not having much money” ofter seems to automatically mean “frozen pizza and crisps”.

@RickyGervaislovesdogs

*But cost of living. Sweets, biscuits, crisps and choc and crap is cheaper than fruit isn’t it. Then a mucky D on the way home.

Oh wait, no it isn’t cheaper is it.*

Peaches 🍑 are expensive. And don’t forget the humongous kids with no legs and Fortnite-adapted hands

I live opposite an infant/primary school and there is a Mr Whippy ice cream van parked outside there at 2.45 onwards every weekday.

Mr Whippy is hardly to blame for health crisis

Mr Whippy would do a better job than the stories if he ran for Government

Tories lol

I just wonder why “not having much money” ofter seems to automatically mean “frozen pizza and crisps”.

Because frozen pizza or microwave meals are exactly a much cheaper option than cooking fresh from scratch.