Am I sensible, or a Food Nazi?

[BananaPudding]

We have recently come to live in a new town where we are staying with my SIL and her three children for a short while. All children take packed lunches to school.

The rule of the house is a sandwich, a capri sun and 3 choices of the "pantry snacks".

Pantry snacks currently include (all prepackaged):

Rice Crispie Treats
Assorted flavored crisps in small bags
Small bags of M&Ms
Small bags of a crisp called "Funyuns", vile onion-flavored cornmeal rounds
Nutter-Butter cookies
Very sweet granola bars which should be called candy
Cheese Nips
Ritz Cheese Sandwich crackers
Chocolate wafer cookie bar things

THREE things from that list in every lunchbox! I am stunned. No fruit in a lunchbox, ever.

I make dd's lunch after she goes to bed, and it contains varients of a peanut butter or ham sandwich, a piece of fruit, some sliced vegetable, a piece of cheese and a bottle of water. Sometimes yogurt instead of cheese.

DD says I am mean and give her sad lunches. Honestly, she never complained before as it never occurred to her that those things would go in lunches. I have compromised and said that on Fridays only she may have a capri sun instead of water, and one choice of the pantry snack list.

Sensible choices, or am I a mean Food Nazi? SIL thinks I am crazy.

Also am "mean" at breakfast when I make her eat eggs, french toast and fruit or the like instead of Froot Loops, Lucky Charms or Cocoa Puffs.

You are NOT a food nazi - much rather eat what you offered (can I come for lunch ) ?

The 'pantry snacks' sound pretty revolting. I'd say you're being sensible rather than the other option...

I agre with you, I only give one 'snack'.

My dd1 has lunches like your dd, but I do include one treat, say a choc biscuit or something. Just one though. Drink is juice and water mixed. Breakfast is porridge, oatiflakes or weetabix or sometimes weetos.

I think you are right in your choices, but you could maybe include one tiny little treat? I think your SIL is barking though.

No you are sensible, stick to your guns, the other stuff is all tat and teaches them to like rubbish. The odd treat is obviously fine and nothing should be banned but all that every day, nonsense, it's why so many kids are overweight.

I wouldn't put it quite liek that to your sil though

cheese nips has tickled me

LOL Bobby, they are a little square cheese-flavoured cracker. Neon orange, obviously.

Thank you ladies. I am glad to know that I am not the crazy one.

Perhaps I will make some little homemade treat (of which I can pronounce the ingredients) to tuck in so she feels less deprived.

I'd give her juice not capri sun

and a treat daily .. make some cakes or biscuits to put in

don't think you're a food nazi, but you are quite possibly being a bit judgemental and ain't I superior at mothering

can i object to the use of the word nazi ?

totally inappropriate for talking about food

Very sensible!

I guess you are in the US? The following story is not a slur on you it you are just an example of other daft people so you know your SIL is not the only one! Just coincidence she is American.

A friend of mine lives on a US airforce base. She loves the UK life but not the food. She will take her DD to Burger King for breakfast before Nursery most days as the Nursery (Private UK one near where we work) "only offer cereal, fruit and toast" Her DD is 3. The cereal is all no sugar/salt things and she says her DD won't eat the "English rubbish" So Whopper and fries for breakfast is not rubbish?

Lulu, I apologize. I take your meaning.

thank you bananapudding

"it is a" not you sorry!

Am having a glass of wine!

Bananapudding of course you are being sensible!

My dd gets a sandwich, a piece of fresh fruit, a yogurt / cheese squares (cut from a big block of cheddar), , a bottle of water and a portion of dried fruit or some veggie sticks for lunch. Sometimes as a treat she gets homemade flapjacks (small squares) and we sometimes make homemade biscuits (not every week though) which she has after school. (She has food allergies which make buying biscuits etc impossible).

So yes of course you give your dc the best food for them. It's hard when other parents are giving their dc stuff that is brightly packaged / attractive looking, and you feel like the only one saying "no", but you have to draw your boundaries somewhere.

lulumama thank you

I thought about saying something about the choice of words but I didn't want to be the uptight German...

Hmm, well I think you're a little OTT on the healthy eating.

Personally, I'd prefer it if all children had a hot, cooked lunch at school, but if that isn't an option, than I'd plump for the middle-ground.

You are being sensible. We are facing an epidemic of childhood obesity - surely not feeding them crap is not something you should have to defend?!

I am quite embarrassed now to have thoughtlessly used that word in that way, please do accept my apologies Emkana.

Desiderata, I agree a hot lunch would be best. However, the Texas version of a hot lunch is either fried chicken nuggets, a fried corndog, a gross thing called bbq on a bun etc. with chips and sweet corn. It's all fried (Seriously, Texans fry everything. They have even managed fried coca-cola) and veggies are scarce.

you cant give in cos your kids prefer the look of someone elses lunch. at our old school ds1s friend had 2 bags of crisps and 2 chocolate bars for lunch every day so he thought i was incredibly mean that he didnt even get one of each all the time. i do try to put something interesting in several times a week tho (we currently have doctor who frubes). if she wants capri sun couldnt you give her the 100% apple juice ones? she wont realise the difference

Wo, how can CocaCola be fried?!! That is almost impressive!!

fried coca cola !! that sounds, scientific !!

Ooh, please tell me what a corn dog is. Lynette Scavo mentioned them once on desperate housewives and I have wondered every since.

Not at all a food nazi and don't listen to anyone who says you are OTT - children do not need processed, salted, sugared chemical laden "treats" every day. Once a week, or on special occasions (at a party, at someone's house for tea) is fine. But I don't understand why anyone would want them to think that sort of food is "normal" and should be eaten every day.