Lunchbox police

[Homealone2015]

Dd is in reception and has a lunch box most days as she's quite fussy. A TA sits with them at lunchtime and constantly tells dd that "mummy gives you too much chocolate" "you need more fruit".

Her lunch currently consists of a ham sandwich, half a bag of quavers, a mini choc chip cake, a yogurt and a penguin choc bar. She will eat most of this. It's been trial and error trying to find things she will eat at lunch. She won't eat fruit/veg at lunch time, it's always still there when we get home. She's only just started eating fruit at snack time.

Yesterday dd came home upset as this ta "keeps telling her off" over something she has no control over, shouldn't the ta be talking to me? As the person who makes her lunch if she has a problem??

Dd has constipation issues and is taking regular logical so I know how important eating the right food is, but I'd rather she ate something at school than nothing .

What I don't understand is unless you feed your kids junk how do they have it?! Why wound a child only eat potato waffles for 18 months? No one is going to starve!

I hate the lunch box police, however I think you know that is a pretty awful lunch.

How about a sandwich, cucumber (since you say she likes that), a pot of berries/chopped fruit (more likely eaten than whole fruit) and either a yoghurt or one 'treat' item.

@SallyWD I used to work in the UK once upon a time and our dinner ladies were instructed to remove contraband items... maybe your school could start the year informing parents that this will happen as of the next school year?🤷‍♀️

Well i cooked a pizza the other morning and put it in my childs lunchbox! Wonder what the school must have thought of me? We had nothing in and i had the days mixed up. Usual lunch box is a sandwich or wrap, crisps or olives, cucumber and 1 fruit

Also work In Ireland now.

It is interesting reading this that so many people want ta’s to teach your child the curriculum and nothing else.
I have had parents complain as I encouraged (gently) a child to eat his roast dinner with cutlery. Not my place, well you teach him then!!! But they don’t and he is 9 and no diagnosed needs.
Every day at lunch there is a child who has a carrier bag with a mars bar and a smoothie for his lunch. He is given money and chooses that from the shop on his way to school. Should we chat to him about choices?

Adults in schools should be allowed to talk to children about healthy eating!!!!

Don’t get me started on trying to teach good manners.

Youngandfree that's a good list of options - except how is a wrap not a sandwich?

We're all aiming for the same goal here - more protein, more veg/fruit, less processed crap.

But wraps/pasta/rice are no different from a sandwich with a sensible filling. It's the same nutrients, just in a different format.

My dc get bored with sandwiches & like all of the above. Dds bff insists on an identical sandwich (cheese & tomato) every day, & won't eat anything else, as I've learned when doing a picnic for a day out.

But the intrinsic nutritional value of any of these is fairly similar. It's just about dishing it up in a format that gets eaten, whether a given dc likes or hates variety.

The TA shouldn’t be speaking to your child, however am surprised you haven’t been called into school.
Called into school?! Gosh have you seen what some kids have in their lunchboxes?? Half the parents would be called in!

My fussy child has a wholemeal roll with ham/cheese/houmous, breadsticks And cheese, fruit - satsuma/berries, carrot sticks and a yoghurt or maybe a soreen bar thing or raisins.
That is not fussy!

No one is going to starve!
Pfft.

Cotton wool! Get your cotton wool here...

How is a home made muffin lower fat and sugar than a cake bar?

If you don't make it with fat, sugar, eggs and flour whatdoyou make it with?

I'm sure Gwyneth Paltrow has a book on the subject.

Or ask the school for its / its caterers' recipe. And sit back and wait to be told that cakes in packed lunches are unhealthy anyway...

@PurpleCrowbar I don’t have a notion it’s my 5yr old who has that logic 😂😂

fair! It's totally still a sandwich though!

One of mine went through a phase where sandwiches were NOT OK but toasties via the Breville toaster were grand.

I'm like 'yeah but if you think I've got time to make bloody toasties...'

So I made regular sandwiches. She found time to breville the buggers. & then ate them cold for lunch.

I thought this was pretty grim especially as she was wanting cheese & lettuce during this phase (ugh limp soggy lettuce), but whatever.

I doubt the lettuce survived as a legitimate one of her 5 a day!

I dunno. It's all hard work. Mainly, I reckon on restricting the cake & crisps provided in the lunch & just hoping they'll come home hungry enough to eat whatever fruit & veg is about.

@DrCoconut absolutely fair enough - i consider DS to be fussy because the only meat he will eat is ham and sausages, he wont touch fish and there are few vegetables he will eat (knowingly). All completely common in a young child, i know.

Your example is obviously on a totally different level and must have been incredibly difficult. Although i think there is a difference between 'fussy' how i used the term and what you describe, which is quite extreme.

But that doesn't take away from the fact that the lunchbox is full of crap food and better food should be on offer. There is a middle ground between a lunchbox full of fruit and veg and one full of chocolate a.d crisps

I agree - the teacher should be telling you not your 4/5 year old. I would ask for them not to do this.

My DS is also reception and he has a similar lunchbox to your DD (Darylea sandwich, frube, crisps and an angel slice cake/mini bag of fingers etc)

I did start off the year putting in fruit - but it used to just come back with him, so now I don’t bother!