Teacher dictating which parts of daughter's lunch she can eat in which order?

[Anonymous]

Idk if this is worth a discussion with the teacher. Yesterday was my DD's first day of preschool (4yo). I packed her a sandwich, yogurt, berries, and oatmeal/banana "cookies" that I made. She ate her sandwich first and then said she went to eat the cookies and she said the teacher stopped her and told her she can't have the cookies until the rest of her lunch is eaten. DD started crying and the teacher explained that we have to eat the healthy food before the treats. By the time DD calmed down, she ate the berries and then the teacher said lunch time was over and she had to pack up the rest of her lunch to take home. She did come home with the yogurt and cookies in her lunch bag.

My DD is 99% for height and a huge eater. What I packed is a typical lunch for her and the sandwich and berries alone definitely wouldn't have been enough for a 7:45am-2:45pm school day. I don't want to be a crazy parent, but should I address this with the teacher? We are of the camp that we provide our kids with balanced meals and they choose which and how much to eat. I'm fairly certain DD would have eaten everything in the order of sandwich, cookies, then mixing the berries in the yogurt. I also don't like that the teacher called the cookies unhealthy. They were bananas mashed and baked with oats and cinnamon. We don't really discern good vs bad food in our house because we don't have many sweets anyway so when we do, we don't make it a big deal.

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

You are a nightmare, OP.

[Anonymous]

OP is not a nightmare. I think it is worth explaining to the teacher what you wrote to us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Idk if this is worth a discussion with the teacher. Yesterday was my DD's first day of preschool (4yo). I packed her a sandwich, yogurt, berries, and oatmeal/banana "cookies" that I made. She ate her sandwich first and then said she went to eat the cookies and she said the teacher stopped her and told her she can't have the cookies until the rest of her lunch is eaten. DD started crying and the teacher explained that we have to eat the healthy food before the treats. By the time DD calmed down, she ate the berries and then the teacher said lunch time was over and she had to pack up the rest of her lunch to take home. She did come home with the yogurt and cookies in her lunch bag.

My DD is 99% for height and a huge eater. What I packed is a typical lunch for her and the sandwich and berries alone definitely wouldn't have been enough for a 7:45am-2:45pm school day. I don't want to be a crazy parent, but should I address this with the teacher? We are of the camp that we provide our kids with balanced meals and they choose which and how much to eat. I'm fairly certain DD would have eaten everything in the order of sandwich, cookies, then mixing the berries in the yogurt. I also don't like that the teacher called the cookies unhealthy. They were bananas mashed and baked with oats and cinnamon. We don't really discern good vs bad food in our house because we don't have many sweets anyway so when we do, we don't make it a big deal.

Thoughts?

ABSOLUTELY SAY SOMETHING. She is a teacher not a dietician. f& her

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are a nightmare, OP.

I'm actually really chill, but don't want 1. my DD hungry at school and 2. me picking up a crabby hungry kid everyday when she had a perfectly good lunch.

Just seeing if this is normal or to be expected. DD is our oldest so we are new to school and I was surprised.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I'd just save the cookies until after school. Our preschool sometimes did this too. I think some parents send a ton of crap, and they focus on getting the kids to eat the food that will keep them FULL, but it spills over into telling my 4 year old he can't eat a hershey kiss until after his apples. Which is silly. I know they may eat the treats first, and I don't care!

[Anonymous]

I can see where the teacher is coming from, because at that age, many kids are slooooooooow eaters and might only get through cookies during the designated lunch time...so she's probably used to guiding children to eat the more nutritionally dense stuff first. Concur that labeling foods as 'unhealthy' isn't ideal, but I don't think her reasoning was unsound.

If your child is as good an eater as you say, why would re-ordering the food cause such a meltdown?

[Anonymous]

I would address this with the teacher. Totally reasonable .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are a nightmare, OP.

I'm actually really chill, but don't want 1. my DD hungry at school and 2. me picking up a crabby hungry kid everyday when she had a perfectly good lunch.

Just seeing if this is normal or to be expected. DD is our oldest so we are new to school and I was surprised.

She's in charge of your child. That's not being a dictator. Most people eat dessert last. She assumed you'd want your kid to eat dessert last if you were there to suprevise.

Why would she come home hungry if she ate her food in a different order?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can see where the teacher is coming from, because at that age, many kids are slooooooooow eaters and might only get through cookies during the designated lunch time...so she's probably used to guiding children to eat the more nutritionally dense stuff first. Concur that labeling foods as 'unhealthy' isn't ideal, but I don't think her reasoning was unsound.

If your child is as good an eater as you say, why would re-ordering the food cause such a meltdown?

I'm guessing because she was in a new environment, with a new adult, telling her something that she didn't know how to respond to and got upset.

[Anonymous]

We had a preschool teacher like that. At first it rankles with me but then I let it go. Kid ate the sweet part of lunch last. No big deal. This teacher also taught them to say “may I please…” and other manners. Not sure of the age of your teacher but mine was older and a bit old fashioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are a nightmare, OP.

I'm actually really chill, but don't want 1. my DD hungry at school and 2. me picking up a crabby hungry kid everyday when she had a perfectly good lunch.

Just seeing if this is normal or to be expected. DD is our oldest so we are new to school and I was surprised.

She's in charge of your child. That's not being a dictator. Most people eat dessert last. She assumed you'd want your kid to eat dessert last if you were there to suprevise.

Why would she come home hungry if she ate her food in a different order?

That’s why OP should explain her values and expectations. Teacher has less work policing her DD. Problem solved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had a preschool teacher like that. At first it rankles with me but then I let it go. Kid ate the sweet part of lunch last. No big deal. This teacher also taught them to say “may I please…” and other manners. Not sure of the age of your teacher but mine was older and a bit old fashioned.

Yes, she is older as well

[Anonymous]

It's old fashioned to eat dessert at the end of the meal? Good luck with your kids eating habits once they're out of preschool. LOL

[Anonymous]

I would let it go.