AIBU to be furious at holiday club?

[samidolls]

Background- my son is 7, going into yr3 in September. Holiday club is run by the school, and he has attended each year since starting school. Every year previously holiday club has provided breakfast and a snack tea, but parents have had to provide a packed lunch as they don’t have access to the school kitchen.

Yesterday was the first day of this years summer holiday club (for some reason it didn’t open for the first week of the holidays). There has been a new system put in to book places at holiday club, and part of this was an option to pay an extra £1.50 each day for a hot meal.
We specifically did not pick this option as while DS is not a fussy eater he cannot stand potato, and at least 3 of the meals are potato based.
There was no communication of any other changes at all.

DS comes home last night to tell us he was not allowed to eat his packed lunch at lunch time and had a have a hot dinner- which we have not paid for. The meal was jacket potato with beans, and as he doesn’t like potato all he ate was beans!

The staff told him he should have brought two packed lunches, as he needed a second one for tea time. They then gave him his packed lunch at tea time.

I know he hasn’t gone hungry, and that’s not the source of my angry (though it doesn’t help!) but the complete lack of communication?! We would have packed a second lunch if we had only been told about it.

There has not been a single bit of communication about this, I went back and checked booking docs, posters, terms and conditions- nothing.

I should also add that DS is in before and after school club every day, and the same staff run holiday club, but again nothing was mentioned! They know he eats basically everything but potato, so to withhold his packed lunch just seems absolutely insane to me!

It was not a very successful start to the holidays as we couldn’t even get into the building yesterday as they are having building work done and the entrance was blocked (with a builder as a bouncer who insisted we had been informed- we hadn’t!) and also now holiday club closes at 3pm on Fridays!

There are many frustrations as a working parent but this has tipped me over the edge when it’s all combined! 😬

OP said they used to provide food for later themselves, and this has now changed without her knowing.

Well it's annoying but I can't imagine being so furious about it. Speak to them, politely, when you drop him off. There's been a mistake, that's all.

As you say, your child didn't go hungry (because of them, not you!) and that's 'not the source of {your} angry'...so what on earth is your problem?

If you don't want him to have the hot meal option, send him with both meals. He is your child to feed.

I bet they're frustrated with you.

It’s a) not previous years and b) not after school club, despite being run by the same people.

Furious is a laughable overreaction. It’s a minor issue and it’s all sorted.

The ‘cup half full’ way of thinking is that it was extremely kind of them to offer him a free hot lunch. At £1.50 a paying customer, I’m surprised they had extra! But on that, £1.50 for a hot meal suggests that this isn’t a money making enterprise for the school, so I’d assume for that, that they’re not paying for someone to handle the admin to a business level. I would have worked this out in advance, sent him in with enough food for the day, and had I not, thanked them profusely for allowing him the free hot lunch.

No wonder teachers are leaving the profession in droves if this is what they have to deal with on the daily - entitled working parents ‘furious’ over nothing. And this a holiday club! The poor workers probably think 🙄 jeez calm the fuck down and get a grip.

Furious and angry is a bit OTT for a bit of miscommunication.

This is not something to be furious about... bloody hell.

Mildly irritating, but noone died, an alternative option was found and life goes on?

You'll lead a very infuriated existence if something like this tips you over the edge

FURIOUS! How would you react if something actually bad or dangerous had happened?

That's a long day with no proper cooked meal OP. What do they give him for breakfast? A bit of toast? Then lunch was a packed lunch (normally sandwiches i guess) and then they had a 'snacky' tea? What did that consist of? Now he's going to be having their breakfast and basically two packed lunches - how do you get a decent healthy meal into him? Non processed meat?

Why not tell them he'll have a meal when he gets home and doesn't need another packed lunch.

You are unreasonable to be furious. Irritated at best.

You're getting some harsh responses here!
I think the lack of communication is pretty appalling and I would have been irritated (not furious maybe but the shrugged off response would also have added to the irritation).

The holiday club we use is very clear what is included and what needs to be provided (they do a cooked tea and we provide a packed lunch, unless they go on a trip and the different arrangements required are made very clear well in advance).

Changing things without notice and without checking for allergies is a bit gung ho. If I behaved like that towards my clients I would certainly be braced for complaints!

I think they behaved sensibly. He had a hot meal at lunch and his packed food at tea time. You need to make him 2 packed meals so he doesn't require another hot lunch.

Yanbu. And I would be cross from an allergies perspective for starters

People (especially businesses) shouldn't feed other people's children without their parents consent

I assume you aren't a teacher because any properly educated teacher would be thinking about allergies and consent and communication when they read the Op

Oh get over it. When I was at school, all I had was a spam sandwich and one fairy cake to last me all day. I survived 🤷‍♀️ Sounds like your son did too. You’re making a mountain out of a molehill.

Mildly annoyed maybe. Furious seems a bit of an over reaction.

Sounds like a small easily fixable issue, the only thing unreasonable here is that this turned into a post.

I know there are a lot of fussy eaters in the world, but something as staple as a potato…you should work on this.

Complete over reaction.

All well and good that they fed him. What if he has an allergy/intolerance to any of the contents of their supplied food. Doesn't bear thinking about.

They didn't force feed him

Additionally they run the after school club

They should already be aware of any allergies he has.

Plus he's 7, at the age old enough to be aware of allergies he has and to not eat things he can't

Since se trusted them to feed him breakfast and tea, they should have all his allergy information!

Irrelevant. Best practice is to still always check with parents every time.
I have taught my children's school to do this now and it has saved them from several errors. No child eats any food unless the parents have pre approved it.

What a stupid comment.

There is so much ignorance around allergies. It's not just about this child, best practice is to always check and always make sure you have a paper trail.

You remind me of my son's (now sacked) head teacher who said (when he was accidentally given macaroni cheese aged 4) " well give it a few months and he'll learn to speak up for himself"

No. Of course I have taught my children to be careful of their allergies ever since they were in nappies. But at the end of the day they are children and the adults caring for them have the responsibility

Think yourself lucky they’re running a holiday club so you can go to work. Some working parents don’t have this facility 😳