from the preschool lunch trenches..

Lily doesn't seem to lie about school stuff and so far I have, eventually, gotten pretty much every incident out of her- like when she gets time outs.. and what they were for. So, on the drive home today, I went through the usual 'how was your day?,' 'what did you do?,' etc. She chatted about this and that.. told me she got a time out for sticking her tongue out at one of her friends. I rolled my eyes and told her that geesh, I thought that was a little silly.

When we got home I opened her lunch bag and asked how her lunch was and what she ate. She drank her milk, she ate her sandwich, and she had some fish crackers. Yup, I could see that. And.. something along the lines of she couldn't have the fruit snacks I had given her.

Wait, couldn't? Like.. wasn't allowed to? Like.. her teacher told her not to eat them and to put them back in her bag? Apparently, yes.

What? Why?

She said the teacher thought it was candy and wasn't allowed to eat part of the lunch I had given her. (Why she didn't speak up and let them know it wasn't, I'm not sure.) Which.. is not okay with me. I told Lily that I didn't care if I gave her a doughnut and a bowl of ice cream.. that's HER lunch and she can eat it.

At the beginning of September, there was a new posting on the classroom bulletin board.. pictures of some of the kids healthy lunches. And some type of wording to encourage all the kids lunches to be.. you know.. sort of along the same lines.

I think it's great that they are encouraging parents to pack a healthy lunch for their preschoolers. I think it's great that they are encouraging overall healthy eating habits. And blah blah blah. I mean.. I'm a vegetarian, I very rarely drink soda, and my kids don't drink it at all. Candy, cookies, and sugary things are an occasional thing for them.. not an expected constant.

Lily's school lunches are pretty healthy for a picky four-year old. A sandwich with a (100%) juice box or organic milk. And then one or two things like cheese, fruit, crackers, yogurt, or fruit snacks. I've never given her cookies, chips, or candy for school. So.. this happening? So mad.

You know what I did give her today? Two little packets of Florida's Natural Au'some Nuggets- which feature a giant piece of fruit on the front. The first 8 ingredients are different fruit purees, the 9th is pure sugar cane, etc. They even use pectin instead of gelatin! The stupid things are vegetarian.. which is not true of a lot of fruit snacks. (Also interestingly, each one has 3 grams of sugar.. while the Stonyfield YoKids yogurt Squeezers that I've put in her lunch and they have let her eat have nine grams.)

And I'll continue. She told me they were learning about their five senses today.. and to help illustrate some of the points.. they made Jello. And did she have some? Yup.. that would be the taste sense. According to the internet, one serving (half a cup) of the stuff has 19 grams of sugar. Sigh.

Jason wants me to call them. Like.. right now. Address it immediately. Am I going to call the school to tell them her fruit snacks are not candy? No. Is Lily's story true? Probably, but even Lily said it herself, the food was misidentified as candy. So.. I will just say something next time.

I even ran through the theoretical conversation with him so that he'd be satisfied that I would actually address the situation. Which, ug, I am already dreading. I hate having to bring up things like this with them. When I do, I'm sure they must be thinking that's what you're talking to us about? That's the "battle" that you're choosing to fight?

Why can't they just let her eat the damn lunch I made her and stop being the, alleged, sugar police?