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 don’t think this is absurd!! Much much better than a babybel, crisps and a slither of processed ham in crap bread with fake butter.

To give you another perspective from afar, when I sent my ds to nursery in France, if I sent a sandwich as his lunch, his key worker would ring me and ask if I’d like her to give him a lunch. Because shock horror a sandwich is not a real meal, really. And the ingredients used in kids food / convenience food in the UK is utter rubbish. Just because they’re 5 doesn’t mean may aswell feed them crappy stuff. And I wonder if the parents your talking of fear the cooked lunch options are equally unhealthy or overly processed..

Baffled how this is "over the top" or "extravagant"... both totally normal every day sandwich fillings, should 5 year olds only be given jam or cheese sandwiches as anything else is a waste of money on an "unrefined" palate? 🙄

meh i wouldn't have eaten a normal sandwich for packed lunch either. mine would have been classed in the "extravagant" by this metric.

i just ate the food my parents ate and hated sliced bread. still do.

so homemade sun-dried tomato bread with roasted toms avocado and hummus sandwich. or Jamaican loaf with a roasted sardine spread and grilled veg
or stuffed peppers i used to love raw mushrooms and celery which is admittedly weird.

plus a mixed fruit salad and blended juice.

i just saw a 4 year old eating raw oysters and vinaigrette on the weekend.

normal is what you choose to make it for your children. you can't crave/ moan for something you've never had.

My autistic youngest had a restricted diet, but would eat salmon steaks. I probably spent less than those around me getting takeaways etc. Iceland used to do decent ones. My eldest GD loves sushi. We aren't big bread eaters, but she'll eat bagels, or croissants. We eat widely, mainly because we are first/second generation immigrants from different continents. We all had council houses at one time. It actually doesn't cost more than a typical British diet (if that even still exists). You are being ridiculous.

Sounds like normal food to me, not every child wants to eat ‘kids food’ for every lunch. My DDs favorite sandwiches are smoked salmon so I pack those for her sometimes and Greek yogurt and compote is very normal and much better then the kids yoghurts.

You sound kind of chippy and jealous, op.

Those lunches sound wonderful, and I wish more kids ate as well as that.

you wouldn’t bat an eyelid at a ham bagel so I can’t see why you think smoked salmon is so outlandish. quiche will be leftovers.

One of my children has a lunchbox like your example. Would much prefer some dips and crudités with some protein and new potatoes to a sandwich. My other child is firmly in the ‘only eat a ham sandwich’ or tomato pasta phase of life.

A tub of own brand greek yoghurt probably works out cheaper per portion than buying "kids" yogurts.

I think a lot of the food you're describing op is not necessarily more expensive than the stereotypical kids packed lunch items

A TA used to make comments to my daughter over her “posh” lunch. It was things like you’ve described. We weren’t about to change her diet to pack things she enjoyed less, were less nutritious and which she was less likely to enjoy just to fit in with someone else’s expectations of what a child’s lunch should look like.

The children didn’t seem to care what each other ate.

Oooh, but a fish finger sandwich is food of the gods. But it must be made with freshly baked white bread and the fish fingers must be just cooked and piping hot. It must also have a large dollop of tartar sauce inside it. Crisps are not necessary.

So not really a great packed lunch option as it would be cold, but I love it hot and freshly made. My 90 year old mother does too and sometimes gets her carers to cook one for her. 😃😎

I'm wondering whether to make myself one for tea now because DH and DD are both out, so I am on my own and can do as I like. 😃😃 I've just baked a loaf of bread too and that must be eaten while fresh (would be rude not to).

Better than the absolute garbage my ds takes in his packed lunch. A 'butter' sandwich, crisps, yoghurt, chicken bites and a chocolate bar.

I am fully aware this is all shit but he is full and thats all I care about. If I could get away with giving him an amazing packed lunch like that I would jump at the chance

A piece of quiche isn't extravagant! It's a great bit of protein and dairy and about £2 in Tescos. Your other two examples are just sandwiches, made with what sounds like decent quality ingredients on decent quality bread. All lovely fuel for a growing kid with a lot of learning to do.

Yabu to say pack lunch.
It is a packED lunch.

I love the idea that a piece of quiche is fancy or unusual. It's an ideal kid's food, used to make them all the time.

The other stuff does sound a little bit "trying too hard", but if the kid eats it then it's not all a performance is it? The parent/s are probably a bit "foody" and they love cooking and preparing meals, they're not necessarily trying to show off.

It's great if kids are eating a wide variety of foods and parents can afford that sort of stuff.

I think we're all being big old meanies to the OP, and should show up in her schoolyard to support her, forming an honour guard holding more acceptable lunchtime offerings, like a packet of barbecue Hula Hoops, a limp Easi Singles sandwich, a half-empty Fruit Shoot, a wizened apple that's been at the bottom of a lunchbag for a week etc.

It's a bit sad that an adult in a position of care for and authority over a 5yo child is judging their lunchbox contents as "too nice". I mean, if there were a mouldy half sandwich and half an apple in there, by all means judge away and raise it with the parents, bring it to the teacher's attention and see if the canteen staff can spare you something more nutritious for them. But to judge for being perfectly healthy but just by your personal (not even average) standards as extravagant...

And then people wonder about standards and respect, and why the world is upside down these days. What a ridiculous post.

Thanks for that. I was having to sit on my hands to avoid correcting it!

I don’t think the Op will be long for this job

thankfully

Sounds delicious. Better than cheap ham on white bread, a frube and crisps. The fact there’s a disparity in incomes across the school intake really has no relevance; people can feed their kids as they wish, regardless of what others do.

This child's mum can come make me a packed lunch every day please!

Those packed lunches sound interesting, varied and nutritious.
My kids liked quiches and they're easy to eat

I'd be over the moon if my child ate any of that.

My middle son wouldn't eat sandwiches either, so I would make him homemade sausage rolls or quiches (I used packet pastry, I'm not a chef).

Me too 😄