Extravagant Pack Lunches

[Diadrie]

I am a TA in a primary school in the middle of a town, real mixed background from families who are mortgage free making well into 6 figures and families living in council homes, earning minimum wage.

As part of my job I supervise the infants half at lunchtime and I have seen the more absurd pack lunches recently from one child. It’s a bento box format, very normal fruit and veg, then greek yogurt and compote, a dip (guacamole/tzatziki/hummus). The main is really star of the show though with: salmon and cream cheese bagel, steak and onion focaccia sandwich, quiche Lorraine etc.

I’m now sat thinking what a totally over the top pack lunches recently for a 5 year old, admittedly the child does finish it, but salmon and steak in children’s pack lunches??

AIBU thinking this is totally over the top, extravagant and slightly absurd.

I thought you we’re gonna say sushi and sashimi 🤣

My child has smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels. He loves smoked salmon and sushi. Didn’t realise it was over the top and absurd.
Why assume that kids just want to eat beige, processed food?
Its like restaurants that only
offer something and chips for the kids menu, my kids would rather have a smaller version of a proper meal. I think children have more varied tastes these days

Meh. Offspring #2 liked salmon & cream cheese bagels. She also went to school with gyoza or duck spring rolls/cucumber sticks and hoisin sauce if I bought a whole duck at the weekend and the fruit she'd eat was strawberries, purple grapes or melon.

She wouldn't have entertained a sweaty cheese and cucumber sandwich and a banana if I'd offered her a tenner a day to do it. That and her other preferences wouldn't get past either the Healthy Packed Lunch inspection (Dairylea lunchables, chicken dippers, cheese and crackers, jerk chicken, rice and peas, leftover pizza, yum-yums and sausage rolls) or Not Killing the Kid Over There (peanut butter sandwiches, sushi with sesame seeds, prawn cocktail on Turkish bread from round the corner with sesame, nigella or poppy seeds on top).

She wasn't particularly motivated by food and could easily go 10 hours without thinking about it unless it was physically placed in front of her, so I decided to just give her what she wanted as she'd actually eat it.

As they say with babies, fed is best. No point chucking away money on school dinners she wouldn't eat, no point chucking money away on packed lunches she wouldn't eat or would have a dinnerlady saying was unhealthy and I certainly wasn't going to risk another kid's health by hoping she didn't sneeze over him after lunch, so she got stuff you'd clearly turn your nose up at for being fancy.

god it's actually really horrible that you work with children and would come online and sneer at a family - especially when they are feeding their child good food made with love.

you must have a very poor understanding of nutrition if you think a smoked salmon bagel is 'over the top'

I find it amusing that you think quiche is fancy - it’s the most bog standard boring lunch food that I can think of (yummy but definitely not fancy). My kids love smoked salmon, as do I. However I wouldn’t send smoked salmon sandwiches or bagels to school only because they don’t keep their packed lunches in a fridge and lunch isn’t until 1:30pm, so I think any meat or fish fillings might be a bit iffy by then after 5.5 hours out of the fridge. I do often however pack them things that might appear slightly mad, but that they enjoy. One of mine does a lot of sports so he eats his lunch at playtime at 11am and has a school lunch in the dining hall at lunch time! I expect there may be teachers who judge him for that but he is slim, athletic, very active and growing so I have no problem with it.

I find it extremely concerning you seem to disapprove of children having a varied and healthy diet!

I hope they don’t pick up on your vibe as you sound like the last person who should be supporting them during meals if this your attitude.

They’re probably making the same thing for themselves and just doing a bit extra for their child. Hats off to them - it’s a lot healthier than Dairylea Dunkers and a capri sun. They’re instilling good eating habits! I wish my kids would eat that kind of food!

For anyone wanting healthy packed lunch ideas that would send OP into a tailspin then this is a good page to follow: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FH4nNfsRr/

I am with you on quiche!

I low carb so my go to "cant be arsed to cook properly" dinner is a crustless quiche, takes ten minutes tops to prep and DD and I both have the leftovers for lunch the next day. The absolute opposite of fancy in this house!

If that’s what they eat at home why shouldn’t they have it in their packed lunch??

I want every single one of those!

I think the school you work in should be a bit more particular about the sort of people they employ as TAs.

A wind em up and watch em go thread by the looks of it.

It sounds like a lovely lunch! My DD is mega fussy (in some ways) and completely unfussy in other ways. She won't eat a sandwich (wish she would sometimes!), but will happily take in a food flask with anything from a risotto, stew or pasta meal, to a pho or panang, or molokhia, bamia, maqluba etc (we're from the ME originally). What she takes into school (or as a packed lunch for when out and about) is leftovers from meals we have at home: I want to know that she will eat a good, balanced, filling meal whilst at school (or when out and about), hence me going for this way of doing things. It's definitely not to be showing off or extravagant. Also helps with ensuring food isn't wasted!!

If the child eats it, who cares?

My son has a restricted diet and he has the same bog standard packed lunch of ham sandwich, crisps, fruit, yogurt etc every day.

We used to give our eldest Brie and crackers in her packed lunch. We quite often do couscous and bits of steak from the night before, or sourdough with butter on now for both DDs lunches.

we do eat like this at home, but actually neither of our children eat sandwiches, which is a bit fucking tiresome when rummaging in the fridge at 7.30 on a Friday morning trying to make something different and novel which doesn’t include chucking a sandwich and some crisps into a bag with an apple.

Hurrah for them. People in this country who actually give their children proper food instead of factory food. Smoked salmon is hardly expensive is it. Doesn’t sound ‘extravagant’ to me - it’s hardly beluga.

I work in a primary school. I don't even look what's in any of the children's packed lunches. Partly because it's none of my business and partly because I don't really feel any urge to be nosey. I'm more interested in my own lunch!

Mine would have eaten all that. I don’t see the issue.

I am one of those council estate, minimum wage earners (or I was when my DD was at school anyway) and about as opposite to fancy as you can get and I don't see anything wrong with that lunch, quiche isn't fancy, I used to make a crust less one for my DDs lunch because it was cheap, filling and fairly healthy and we've had smoked salmon yellow label going ood plenty of times, and I used to send her with carrot or/and cucumber sticks and hummus because it's cheap and she liked it (I can't stand the stuff personally) she also now prefers plain yoghurt and compote - which is basically a home made fruit corner!
You're being ridiculous and I suspect like to think cool and edgy by scoffing (no pun intended) at lunches that are healthy when there's been so much emphasis on kids having lunch boxes policed for being unhealthy.

Good to know that when I was putting all that effort in to make healthy exciting lunches for my foodie eldest child the school staff were sneering down their noses at me. I’m sure you’ll be relieved to know that my youngest is very fussy and just eats the same cheese and onion sausage rolls every single day, is that okay with you?

I think it's a bit mean of you to judge the kids' food

Yes, it sounds great and better than school dinners. If parents choose to use their time and money and the child loves it, aren't they doing the right thing? Unless they're criticising other parents who couldn't afford that, which would be mean, then why not?
Some parents will buy their children tons of books, take them to exciting museums/destination holidays, and not everyone can (wish I could afford to do more, but I don't grudge anyone else as long as they don't judge me)/

I mostly agree but just wanted to say that a paediatric dietician advised Babybel's are excellent snack options for children.

They are high in protein and calcium, full fat, not ultra processed, no preservatives or additives or emulsifiers etc.

My son is under a dietician and she also recommended babybels for my son who has a limited diet.