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! 😬

For all of the extensive school holidays????

They didn't 'withhold' his packed lunch, they saved it for later when there would be no other food available, and gave him what there was when there was food. I hope you thanked them.

Have you considered that not everyone will have used this club last year, so it's only this year's joining information that is in any way relevant? Unless the info that you received specifically said that food would be provided then yabu to assume it would be. Sorry op, I think this one is on you.

Due to a misunderstanding/miscommunication you sent him in with one meal - he needed two.

To cover for your error they gave him a free one (though he only liked part of it).

You are sounding ungrateful from here OP!

I would say its a miscommunication and put it down to human error. Things go wrong sometimes.
No one died, no one was harmed , no one went hungry.
Furious? Seriously?
Blimey.

If they had given him the packed lunch at lunchtime, there would have been no alternative option to eat at tea time, when all the other kids were eating their packed lunch. They did the sensible thing by telling him to keep the packed lunch and offering hot food.

Being furious is ridiculous.

It is mildly irritating at best.

Well now im perplexed about 2 things:

1. OP being "furious" about a mix up.
2. You finding OP being furious "very worrying"

It's a mix up OP, your son won't have lasting damage from one day of potato contaminated beans for lunch.

Op’s said they do provide a snack at tea time so he wouldnt have been left hungry. The hot meal is optional so she provided him with lunch he like he should have his lunch.

This is why going back to work full time just doesn't work. It's all well and good in term time but holidays need covering!

They provided a snack previously, when they also didn't provide a hot meal

Oh dear calm down. This is not about mum guilt but about a misunderstanding. Nothing to be furious about. So he had beans for lunch! Either send him with two packed lunches or encourage him to try the hot lunch , at least for a week.you/he may be surprised. Please stop worrying.

People have completely lost a sense of proportion on Mumsnet recently it seems. This isn’t something thats even close to being “furious” about. Something you might be mildly irritated about for a few seconds but thats it. Your child didn’t go hungry, I’m sure there was other ingredients/food than literally just the potato he could eat, and it’s something that’s solvable immediately by making him two pack lunches next time. Even if he did go a bit peckish for the day, it’s hardly the end of the world. It’s not going to do anything to him.

Slightly annoyed (prob bemused is the better word) it wasn’t communicated to you but FURIOUS is a complete overreaction.

7 is very young for such a long day and with just 1 packed lunch. You are massively overreacting. They are looking after your child for you, and feeding him as best they can. Hardly third world problems.

@samidolls my guess is this is probably one of a few things, maybe many things, that have ticked you off recently. Or maybe it’s just me that can deal with this annoying thing, then that one, then some more and eventually I can get furious over something that, in isolation, others might think trivial.

But from the responses you’ve had it seems that doesn’t happen for some people. It seems they deal with any annoyance in a measured way and then are free from any irritation, fresh and ready for whatever crap comes along next, which they similarly deal with masterfully without any residual stress. How super for them

They didn't want him to lose out as he was basically going to be missing a meal. So they supplied him with what they gave the others, for free. It's good he ate the beans. It's better than nothing.

Now you know to send him with two pack lunches. But to be furious about it seems bizarre! The only crime they committed was to give him free food. It's not their fault he doesn't like potato.

Huge overreaction! Save your furry for the big things otherwise you are going to be constantly exhausted

I wonder what all the other children ate, if there was no communication?

Just curious, did anyone else get mixed up or did all the other parents manage to understand the system and arrange lunch?

It sounds like poor communication but furious is overreaction. The staff ensured he had food albeit not to his taste.
I’d be grateful there was a club with such long hours at his school.
Re the building work the club staff probably wouldn’t have been informed (eg School secretary might have been told but she’s not there to pass message on to club staff)
The hours and what to bring should be clear. Next year I’d ask in advance. You can’t assume from year to year.
Not running week 1 is presumably so staff can have a holiday.

There are kids starving to death on Gaza, not something I could get angry about in the circumstances.

Bribery is likely to cause an unhealthy relationship with food, nothing is worth doing that to a child. Lots of people don’t eat potatoes, is your diet biege and potato heavy if you can’t imagine what someone would eat if a meal didn’t contain potato.

Furious, blimey!

"Furious" is completely over the top. They made an error in communication presumably or maybe you failed to see a communication ftom them. They fed him. Not really anything to be furious over.

Exactly.
I hate the phrase "give your head a wobble" but in this situation I can't think of anything better.

What did the other children do, or were they all hot lunches?