School went back a week ago.
My daughter has already been scolded for not having a waste free lunch.
The generic group email has been sent, reminders in the newsletters, PTA parents getting up on their soap boxes on the school facebook group.
I just want to scream at all these people:
I'm sorry i can't afford to spend a small fortune on Bento lunch boxes for my kids, that are so small that they don't even fit a whole apple in meaning i have to cut everything up into tiny pieces.
I'm sorry I won't and can't constantly replace snack containers that either get lost, broken or stolen out of the lost property box (probably by parents, who like me, are f**king jack of buying this stuff all the time).
I'm sorry that so many snack containers get lost because kids aren't allowed back into the classrooms when they're done eating, so their choice is to either carry them around the playground or leave them outside to be forgotten.
I'm sorry that i go without things I need some (actually many) weeks just to make sure my kids have a filling and fairly nutritious lunch for school, so their sandwhich comes wrapped in a piece of cling wrap or a single use paper bag - sue me!
I'm sorry that sometimes my health and general life circumstances leave me time poor meaning that i sometimes buy packaged snacks.
I'm sorry you feel the need to punish small children over something they do not have control over.
I'm sorry that you are unaware of the struggle some families go through just to make sure their kids have SOMETHING in their lunchboxes and I'm sorry that you can't see your restrictions are making it harder for them.
I'm sorry that I now have something else to feel guilty about...
I try and be as environmentally friendly as is practical and possible. I also understand why having healthier foods packed is ideal but these things should be encouraged not enforced with military like efficiency.
Vent over i guess...
14 Replies
The world has become a sad and precious place to live in now! The lunchboxes sucks and it’s limiting for parents who are time and cash poor.. and then you see their canteen filled with crap and think umm wtf why am I being shamed?
I literally empty the packs of chips into the lunch box so they have their “nude food” hahah.
Here’s some tips I do to get quick snacks in:
- egg and bacon muffins
- Betty Crocker muffins
- pikelets from shaker maker
- coles pick and fill nuts
- popcorn
- veggie sticks
- ham and salami pieces rolled up small
Thanks for the suggestions 😊
I always forget about piklets, great idea!!
Oh gee. I'm so glad I just missed out on all this lunch box nazi stuff! My youngest is 16, trust me once they hit high school there are zero fucks given to what's in anyone's lunch box! Could be 2 durries and a foil in there and still nobody would care 😂. It's really unfair they put this pressure on parents especially those that are struggling financially, I have been there and you have to do what you have to do to get by some weeks! What I would love to see is all of this extra effort going in to make sure kids have perfect food in perfect lunch boxes actually be put in to one on one time with kids who are struggling to read. If PTA and school staff have time to look at kids lunch boxes and whinge all over Facebook then they must be pretty bored and could possibly do something a bit more constructive with their time like spend 10 minutes reading to a child or listening to a child read. Everyone seems to forget what school is actually for x
Lol, my lunch probably was 2 durries when i was in high school 😂😂
I totally agree, spend more time teaching the kids and less time dictating what's in their lunchboxes!
Why not just empty it into a container at home?
Working in schools I've never seen a school that makes kids carry their lunchboxes with them for playtime. Suggest a large bucket or container for the class to all put their containers in.
I also see all the single use waste and imagine that happening in every school daily. So I'm on board with proactively encouraging no wrappers.
Half her problem is losing containers so there probably already is a big container for them to put their lunch boxes and containers in but the kids get confused about what's theirs so grab the wrong ones. As for single use wrappers etc, it's not really reducing the amount going to landfill, the rubbish is just getting left at home instead of going to school. If schools were serious about helping the environment they would be teaching them what to do with it and have bins for different recyclables and maybe involve the kids in recycling projects and take tours of recycling centres. Just banning all rubbish at school does nothing.
Yep, pretty much what the above responder said.
I'm not against the anti waste movement but if I'm emptying packaged foods into containers or buying snack containers every other week I'm not exactly helping the environment (or my wallet) there either.
I do try and limit my waste in general, we reuse and recycle quite a lot at home and the majority of what my kids take in their lunch is fruits and veg that can be put in the school's compost bin for the garden, so I'm just a bit tired of being grilled for the occasional piece of cling wrap or muesli bar wrapper.
There's also about 10 foods we can't pack due to allergies (including nuts, egg/egg products, dairy and certain breads) which i happily comply with as it's a safety issue but it is another restriction that predominately impacts parents on really tight budgets.
So i really do think this whole lunch box shaming trend needs to stop. Most of us are doing our best with what we've got!
No you're not helping the environment but you would be still setting the example at school while also meeting your own needs and values.
In regard to reusing and discussing environment and recycling centres they do that as well.
Totally agree with you. Id fail if I had a kid in primary school.
I agree with you. Such a pain, so much pressure. I just don't have the time to be honest! I will try when they have specific days, but that's it!
I find nude food less pressure! They can’t ask for junk! I’m a full time working single mum and I don’t find it hard. Sandwich. Chop us some strawberries and grapes. Then a salada with cheese & vegemite It’s 5 minutes max! I don’t understand at all
My kids eat very healthily. Usually 3 servings of fruit, a serve of veg (cucumber, capsicum, carrots etc), a snack which can vary from a salada to a muffin and everything in between. They then get a sandwich, if not a sandwich a left over taco or pasta from dinner.
It's the fact that the school has a carry on that their grapes or strawberries or saladas are in a plastic baggie instead of a container. Not sure what's not to understand there....
It just doesn’t seem that hard to put them in a container. Not trying to argue just can’t relate to how it’s hard
If i have a container, it's a non issue and i'll use the container. As i said, the containers very rarely come home and it's not sustainable for my budget or the environment to keep forking out money to replace them.