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.

Sounds like a lovely packed lunch to me .
I am older so when i had to make packed lunches for my 3 children I was fed up thinking what to put in that would last in a (usually too warm ) classroom .
i did put little cool fridge packs in the basic lunch boxes they had and tried varieties of sandwiches , wraps , pasta salads , bean salads , noodle salads .
Little individual yogurts , cherry tomatoes, cucumber sticks , dips , small fruits 🍇
Little individual wrapped plain cakes or homemade cakes wrapped in cling wrap .
I think one staff member objected to my putting homemade soup in a flask as she said it was too messy

Just keep in mind that some children actually need different things to be healthy for medical reasons.

My son has a limited diet and is under a dietician. Ham sandwich & crisps etc is the perfect lunch for him to keep him healthy. Steak would land him in hospital.

People might assume I go over the top with my child's lunches but there are reasons for it, she's on a specialist diet due to IBD. The typical packed lunches will make her poorly. Add to this that we avoid processed foods as much as possible.

I really don't think it's something to judge about, especially as it's benefiting the child.. whole foods, nutrient rich & not processed crap.

Tbh I often feel for the kids where I see loads of packaged processed junk that their parents believe to be healthy ie - fridge raiders, snack wraps, lunchables, peparami, frubes, petit filous etc. It's no wonder they're tired & irritable with all that added sugar & sodium.

Plus those processed foods are often just as expensive as things like smoked salmon!

Nothing wrong with a ham sandwich and crisps in themselves! The packed lunch is only part of a daily diet, which needs to take into account individual needs.

DD hoovers up veg, my challenge is to get calorie rich foods into her!

no more op, one and done kind of post

My son is on a specialist diet due to bowel issues too but it actually tends to involve more unhealthy food as he needs low fibre and to avoid food that can be poorly digested so we have to avoid wholemeal, raw veggies, dried fruit, berries, hummus etc.

So ham on white is a nice, simple lunch option for him.

The saddest thing I ever saw was a child who brought in a packed lunch of quavers and custard creams all mixed together in an old biscuit container- he was so embarrassed when he opened it and said ‘ mum was too busy to make anything’. We reassured him it was fine and you criticise healthy packed lunches from mums who do find time.

How middle class IS this site. People are struggling to feed their kids and others on here are making out smoked salmon and steak is perfectly normal in packed lunches.

if I didn’t get such a laugh at the belters posting on here it would be a waste of time coming on. I really miss the old Mumsnet when people weren’t up their own backsides.

DD is autistic and sensory seeks with food. She won’t eat “standard lunchbox” food such as a ham sandwich, instead we have to continually mix it up. Humous with chilli sauce mixed in, pickled eggs, bbq chicken and jalapeño ciabatta, olives (low salt) home made savoury cheese biscuits, more exotic fruit rather than the standard apple and orange.
If they’re eating it, getting some of their five a day in, minimal ultra processed foods, then I can’t see the problem. More worrying are friends who rock up with two chocolate bars and two packs of crisps every day.

If that’s what they eat and it’s polished off I really don’t see the problem and think you are being judgy 🤷🏼‍♀️

yeah in real life smoked salmon and steak for lunch isn’t the norm.

Well clearly it is, as that child has it for lunch in real life.

Yes, it must be the middle class mums. Can’t be someone who was brought up on tomatoes and feta as the cheapest food option in their culture.

A poster talked about the lack of aspiration among many and how being ‘working class’ is used as an excuse to basically not do better by their own children (this or another thread). You are just affirming that by putting people, and presumably yourself, in outdated social class categories.

It is perfectly normal for some families and as long as the child eats it, who cares?

But it is normal for some, and that’s ok. I understand it’s upsetting you that some children and families can afford to eat so well, but it doesn’t mean it’s not their normal, and I’m sure you wouldn’t wish them to judge you on what you feed your kids, so don’t do the same back.

Sounds like an amazing lunch. And?

Maybe this child tends to eat more at lunch and not much at dinner time. It isn't unusual for young children to have a peak eating time. Sounds like a great lunch. We got jam sandwiches and an apple in the 70s.

Op you are an inverse snob

No need for OP to return. They’ve achieved their expectation of MN frothing about how it’s perfectly normal and how they always send their DC in with smoked salmon sandwiches, and even better the frothing around those parents who dare send their kids in with lunchables or Pom bears (worse than crack!)

Salmon is the only fish, i like so wouldn't see any issue with giving some to a young child. It's a healthy protein. Change the label of a steak foccacia to beef sandwich and it doesn't sound as peak but is the same thing essentially.
If the kids were coming in with caviar and oysters I could maybe see your point.

SOME people struggle to feed their kids. SOME people feed their kids smoked salmon bagels or leftover steak sandwiches (roast beef slices they were called way back when). SOME people fall between the two. No single group is wrong or abnormal. Every group could benefit from knowing that. Every group could benefit from not sneering at the others. Those with more could do with helping out those with less.

Well, I think it's valid in the context of the this thread. The OP was judgmental about these lunches, even calling them "absurd". It's fair enough to point out that yoghurt and a salmon bagel is more healthy than Lunchables and Pom bears.

OP would be in bits if she saw what some of the Asian kids are sent in with in our school. Dhal, curry and rice, samosa! I'm sure that would blow OP's mind as it isn't a jam sandwich.

Smoked salmon trimmings aren’t that expensive, more than the cheapest ham but not loads.
quiche is very cheap.
If you are struggling for basics, yes, its expensive. But so ate branded crisps, and nobody would start a thread about children bringing branded food in…