Rate my kid’s lunch

[Anonymous]

My second grader eats the same thing for lunch every day. She has a variety for dinner. She’s not a picky eater; she just likes routine for lunch. Here it is:

Half a sandwich on wheat bread—either cream cheese or peanut butter and jelly
Baby carrots—about 4 or 5
Sliced apple
Almonds—about 10 lightly salted
A small bit of breakfast cereal in the “dip” container in her lunchbox—e.g. 5 or six fruit loops or kix, which she considers her treat.

That’s it. Every day.

She has a good snack when she gets home from school (cheese and crackers, fruit, a scrambled egg or something else with protein).

What do you think of this lunch?

[Anonymous]

I’m shocked you’re allowed to send nuts. We are not.

[Anonymous]

Yup. It’s classroom by classroom at our school. If there are no nut allergies in the class, kids can bring them. We’ve had years with an allergic classmate and I never mind accommodating—just happen to have no allergies in her class this year.

[Anonymous]

Perfect. It hits everything they need: fruit, vegetable, fat, protein, fiber.

Thank goodness for nuts..my child would get no protein if we weren't allowed to send nuts. Glad you can too!

[Anonymous]

I think it's great. My kid also likes consistency for lunch and is very similar, but we are not allowed to send in nuts of any kind and she won't eat veggies, so it's not as balanced.:

Sandwich - either sunbutter and jelly on wheat or cream cheese on cinnamon raisin bagel
Berries, whatever is in season
Sliced apples, pears or stone fruit if in season
Goldfish crackers
A small dessert (usually a butter cookie or a small piece of chocolate)

She will not eat veggies, she's adamant about it, so I gave up putting them in her lunch and just serve them to her at dinner where she also doesn't eat them but at least she gets exposure and when she refuses to eat them, she can more easily supplement with other items. With lunch I send things I know she'll eat so she doesn't get home ravenous. Her afternoon snack is usually something protein focused like yogurt and granola with some blueberries, or a small bowl of oatmeal with peanut butter.

I used to experiment more with her lunches and send in things like beans and rice or lentils with veggies (which she would pick around). But at her current school, most kids eat the school lunch or bring in a lunch that is all prepackaged foods (lunchables, bagged chips and cookies, fruit by the foot, etc.). I won't do that, I'm not super intense about eating healthy but I'm not going to send her to school with a bunch of junk food, plus the packaging is so wasteful. And she won't eat the school lunch.

My kid is on the picky side, as you can see, but still eats a decent diet despite being kind of limited. We just focus on getting 1-2 servings of protein and 2-3 servings of fruits/veggies at every meal and I feel like we're fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m shocked you’re allowed to send nuts. We are not.

We can send nuts to our school too. They identify the allergy kids and make a plan at the start of the year. My daughter knows that to be able to sit next to one friend at lunch she can't have certain things in her lunch.

[Anonymous]

It's better than what my food allergy kid gets, which is either whole grain chips + guac, or a jelly sandwich on wheat bread. He's allergic to peanuts, all tree nuts, sunflower seeds, and I tried flavored tahini and he turned out to be allergic to sesame seeds as well.

He won't eat meat or cheese sandwiches. I would LOVE to be able to send him nuts for a protein. Your lunch sounds pretty balanced.

[Anonymous]

Well, it sounds fine to me. My kid also picks on food for lunch…eats a hearty breakfast and a normal dinner with a good deal of variety. Big snack in the afternoon after school. I think lunchtime at school can be distracting as it is a free/chatting time and most kids are not going to eat a whole big meal.

[Anonymous]

5 or 6 Fruit Loops? The fact that you posted this at all makes me thing you’re overly rigid about what she eats.

[Anonymous]

Its fine but you seem overly anxious about what she's eating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5 or 6 Fruit Loops? The fact that you posted this at all makes me thing you’re overly rigid about what she eats.

+1. 5 fruitloops? GTFO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5 or 6 Fruit Loops? The fact that you posted this at all makes me thing you’re overly rigid about what she eats.

When I read that I was like FOOD CONTROL ISSUES HERE WE GO AGAIN

[Anonymous]

6 fruit lopps fir a dessert for an 8 yr old/2nd grader???

Unclench and give a real dessert.

[Anonymous]

You're seeking validation for YOUR own control issues via your kid's lunch (and presumably other meals).

Consider better ways of managing your anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5 or 6 Fruit Loops? The fact that you posted this at all makes me thing you’re overly rigid about what she eats.

When I read that I was like FOOD CONTROL ISSUES HERE WE GO AGAIN

+1

Overall the foods are fine, but the counting is not. Honestly, that's ^^.