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Original poster

Lemonade given at Nursery parties

84 replies

doodygirl · 18/06/2011 22:14

My eldest child is at nursery attached to infant school. The infant school claims it is a healthy eating school. Every half term the nursery have a party and the chldren are given lemonade. I was shocked at first but haven't said anything yet. My child is the oldest in the year (early Septembber birthday).

In September my second child starts, who is August birthday and I am not keen at all on her having lemonade. My eldest child had never had any fizzy drinks before he attended the nursery.

Do you think I am making a fuss? I really don't think it is appropriate.

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mrz · 19/06/2011 10:05

and isn't annoying that Rocks organic squash was fermenting in the bottle causing them to explode Shock

MumblingRagDoll · 19/06/2011 10:10

Is that right mrz? Did they take it off the shelves then? We used to buy that now and then....haven't seen it for a while though.

Haudyerwheesht · 19/06/2011 10:11

Lighten up.

That said, ds who is 4 wouldn't drink it -he asked for a drink of mine one day and almost collapsed because he hated it so much (prone to melodrama as he is!)

Haudyerwheesht · 19/06/2011 10:11

Lighten up.

That said, ds who is 4 wouldn't drink it -he asked for a drink of mine one day and almost collapsed because he hated it so much (prone to melodrama as he is!)

mrz · 19/06/2011 10:12

Yes MumblingRagDoll there was a recall of Rocks at the beginning of the year - think it was only one type

christinecagney · 19/06/2011 10:21

As a teacher (nursery and primary for 20 years) I have seen the other side of the 'healthy eating' thing - children who are really worried in case they accidentally eat 'sugar' or whatever; they can get really stressed at school events where there is different food from at home. It's as though they think a bit of sugar/some sweets/ a cake will cause them instant harm.

Healthy eating is really important of course, but so is not storing up 'food issues' for the furture.

You can form good habits at home without them being compromised by the occasional treat at school or at a family event.

I think being relaxed about food is really important (food issues myself as a teenager, and my DD is similar, so we tried to be v laid back now)

Elibean · 19/06/2011 10:55

You will be amazed at how un-shockable you will be a year from now.

I only had Rocks at home etc etc till dd1 went to primary school, at which point I threw my hands up in horror at the sweets doled out on birthdays/special occasions. Then I remembered the sweets I used to love as treats when I was little, the fizzy drinks that went up my nose and tickled at rare birthday parties, and got over it Smile

Honestly, it won't hurt them - its every meal, every day stuff that counts. I'd be more concerned about there being a non-fizzy alternative for kids that didn't like the fizzy stuff (dd1 loathes it).

grubbalo · 19/06/2011 13:14

If this is a party once every 6 weeks then sorry but yes I think you are totally and utterly overreacting. I am quite happy for my children to think lemonade (and, heavens above, coca cola and FRUIT SHOOTS Wink) are ok for special occasions like that. No, I wouldn't be happy if it was happening on a daily basis, but that hardly seems to be the case.

From personal experience, if you are the sort of parent who stops your children having anything like this ever, then they will overload themselves on the stuff when they finally do get the opportunity. Far better to get them to think they are the sort of thing you have once ever so often for "treats".

exoticfruits · 19/06/2011 16:04

It seems a big fuss. At 4 yrs mine didn't like it anyway-it is a bit of an acquired taste. Either they won't drink it, or they will like it,even if it the second it won't hurt as a one off.

cory · 20/06/2011 09:31

It's once every half term, not once every half hour: unless you observe some really severe effects on your dcs I would relax.

cumbria81 · 20/06/2011 10:10

bloody hell, it's lemonade, at a party. Do you go to parties and have ryvita and mineral water? thought not.

curtaincall · 20/06/2011 17:58

like grubbalo says. When my dsc were young, they would wait till they were 'round the corner from their house after leaving for school and chuck their healthy peanut butter sandwiches or salad in the nearest bin. At school they'd trade in carrot sticks for their friends' choccy bars.

Take it easy. I remember it too wanting to protect them from all things unhealthy - just can't be done !

bubbles1112 · 20/06/2011 18:21

What is so bad about artificial sweetener? Also The thing that bothers me about fizzy drinks is the citric acid and teeth...however once in a while is quite ok by me...

seeker · 20/06/2011 18:37

My view is, people have been eating sugar for years. We know the effects - we know that we can mitigate the effects by tooth cleaning and so on. Artificial sweeteners haven't been around for long enough for us to know what they do to growing minds and bodies. Better the devil you know.

I feel the same about butter and 'spread" I'd rather my children had the known down sides of butter than the unknown ones of polywhatever fats.

SauvignonBlanche · 20/06/2011 18:45

Get a sense of proportion!
Every day, I'd be shocked too, once a half term at a party does not seem anything to get self righteous about.

everlong · 20/06/2011 18:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mum2be79 · 20/06/2011 18:59

No food is 'unhealthy'. All foods are fine in moderation.

Scholes34 · 21/06/2011 10:19

I'm with seeker. Artificial sweeters taste vile. I have a friend who's an academic (a chemist) and won't touch the stuff. We never buy drinks containing Aspartame (or other foodstuffs) if we can avoid it, but typeface for ingredients lists gets smaller and I really should take my reading glasses with me now when I go shopping. My DCs know to avoid it, but also understand the odd glass now and then won't hurt and they're polite enough to accept a "no added sugar" drink when at a friend's house. Sugar's not a problem if the children are active and clean their teeth properly and they don't go OTT on the amount they consume.

OP YABU. The nursery by not serving the lemonade all the time is re-enforcing the message that it can be enjoyed as an occasional treat. Just make sure they're not buying the cheap "no added sugar" version. Sainsbury's are pretty good on what they sell.

narmada · 21/06/2011 17:32

Bejaysus. Is this a serious thread? I am suspecting a wee joke here.

lingle · 21/06/2011 18:07

I sympathise with the OP. You have the baby. you listen to the advice on what it should eat, you stick to the advice, it's easy (cos the baby doesn't know any better) then you send'em out into pre-school or nursery or whatever. They use similar language to the stuff you heard from the health visitor at those post-natal classes. "Oh, more broccoli" you think. Then you see that child comes home with sweets most weeks (because someone has a birthday most weeks) and eats lots of biccies and sweeties for mid-morning break.

So you think "that's not right". But when you open your mouth, everyone laughs at you, and tells you how silly/prim/uptight you are.

"How odd!" you think.

The solution is for those who dispense the healthy eating advice to warn parents that if they try to stick with it beyond the age of 1:

  1. they will be mocked.
  2. every single sweetie will be described as "only once in a while" - this happens especially when it's daily or near-daily.
  3. Other mothers will not only mock, they actually bond with each other over the mocking (as on this thread).

This would save people lots of trouble later.

bubbles1112 · 21/06/2011 18:14

I agree Lingle! Only last week dd's preschool had a big drive on teeth care...we were even given a patronising poster to tick when/if dd had brushed her teeth for 2 minutes (I'd never thought of brushing her teeth before that advice!!!) Then some child has a birthday and dd is sent out with a hard boiled lollypop. I will not let my children have them as my personal belief is that they are teeth rotters and choking hazards! So dd is upset as I am the mean mum who says no. Just pointing out the contradiction!

AbigailS · 21/06/2011 18:18

Healthy School Status isn't about banning anything "unhealthy" as it's natural for us to like some of these foodtypes. It's about a balance. If we told kids they can't eat crisps or sweets or drink soft drinks we'd be on to a looser. We talk about "treat" foods and drinks that you should have just ocassionally and that is what this sounds like - a special treat. I wouldn't worry about it.

lingle · 21/06/2011 18:23

lol bubbles I remember that one too.

the problem is, there's a huge disjunct between what you say and what other mothers hear.

You say: "I don't feed my 2-year-old son/daughter hard lollies yet - my own teeth are rubbish and I'd like to delay him/her getting into the habit. Luckily, he doesn't know what one is yet so I can get away with it for a while longer - hurray! meanwhile, it would be nice if nursery didn't undermine my efforts at home."

No-one hears that. This is what they hear:

"I don't feed my son/daughter lollies - you do. You do and that means I am a better mother than you. You should feel bad. "

hence the need for bonding/general reassurance via mockery/exclusion and telling you you are not relaxed.

I gave up with DS2 because (i)as a younger child, he was more aware of sweets cos of older brother and (ii) it wasn't worth the hassle. Now I just fight to limit how much crap they have per day. But it would have been nice if nursery hadn't undermined my efforts to delay the inevitable.

GoldenGreen · 21/06/2011 18:30

I agree with Lingle too. Nothing wrong in caring about what your children eat, especially with the "official" messages you are given.

Also, I get rather tired of always reading that the children who aren't usually allowed to have junk "go mad" when they do have it at a party or whatever...where is the evidence for this? Who actually knows what children do or don't eat at home? They all eat ridiculous amounts of crap at parties regardless, FGS.

Having said that, OP, I do think this sounds like a nice treat and it isn't too often, so I wouldn't mind about this.