Sharing of water bottles
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Anonymous
+1000 Why in the world would the OP have a meeting.  The OP should simply tell her daughter to just say no.
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Anonymous
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I wouldn't mind if my daughter shared and build up immune systems! Kids can't be that bad plus you don't get a brand new restaurant cup each time too don't you?
True it's yucky to see someone else's toothmarks on your bottle but dont nearly all Kids leave teethmarks on water bottles with spouts? Or if you don't want her to leave any, why not ask her to ask her friend to open the bottle instead? |
Anonymous
| Germaphobe alert... |
Anonymous
| Yes, if you think it is gross/unhygienic/inappropriate, teach your children not to share water bottles. There is no need to involve teachers or other parents IMO. I get tired of people looking to others to police things that are better left to parenting. |
Anonymous
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OP here. Thanks for the responses. Oh yes, we are not Germaphobe but my DD is well aware to tell others not to share these things…. But I think this girl in my DD’s class uses stuff without people’s permission. I normally wouldn’t get so irked either and if it was a hot day or a desperate situation that she needed water, we wouldn’t really mind it much either to fuss over a water bottle and share if she asked nicely and was considerate enough to not chew up the bottle when using it! But we seemed to think is that she either lies that she didn’t do it or just shrug her shoulders and ignore comments from my daughter and teachers. The problem too is that this has happened after the fact and has apparently helped herself to other peoples things during gym or maybe somehow access the hanging hooks during the day.
Thanks for reading and if you want the longer story… here goes…. My daughter had used her previous bottle for around 2+ years and the usual wear (some tooth marks and dents etc) happens on kids bottles but it wasn’t so bad and she seemed to take care of her things. Last month however, I noticed the spout suddenly seemed all chewed up and it was leaking a little so I bought her a new one just three weeks ago. In just one week, there were suddenly all these deep toothmarks on her new bottle and so I told my daughter that she shouldn’t really be chewing on the spout. That’s when she said she said it was not her and she thinks it was this classmate of hers that is stealing her water when she was not looking. She also said when she caught her once, she had told her before not to drink from her bottle. This time, however, the girl claims she didn’t drink from it. (And we think she particular likes my daughter’s because she has apple juice in her bottles for school.) So it’s very strange. Either it is someone else who drank from my daughters bottle, a deliberate water bottle chewing prank (strange!!), or my daughter is lying and she actually developed a habit of chewing her bottle and didn’t want to own up to it? I then gently raised this with the teachers but they said unless they saw it, they couldn’t pin it on anyone and ignored it. I kinda believe my own daughter in this case because she has never really chewed hard on her own water bottles and it has only just started happening. Apart from the lying, I am also irked by the fact that it’s a hygiene issue that was not really looked into by the school. My daughter also says this girl usually has very little food brought to school, doesn’t have her own bottle or lunch bag and always begs from others. So what would you guys do?? Or buy another bottle without a spout and then move on? (But then, how will we know whether this girl used my daughter’s bottle without her knowing?) I wouldn’t really fuss over a bottle, make my daughter measure how much water she drinks or change what she will bring to school? (and after all, it is quite soon before school ends and hopefully next year, this thing no longer recurs?) |
Anonymous
Maybe I would just ask your daughter to give her this new one as well and move on. Buy your daughter one without a spout this time. No more teethmarks! My son was a chewer and we were so fed up with teethmarks and leaking on these waterbottles. |
Anonymous
I would (1)stop putting apple juice in my child's water bottle, (2)send in a water bottle for my daughter labeled with her name and a water bottle for the other child labeled with the other child's name, and (3)either casually send in extra food with my daughter to make sure this other child had food to eat or talk with the teachers about what my child had observed and offer to provide additional snacks for any child who doesn't have any/provide a "scholarship" lunch account so that a child without a lunch could get lunch. The first one I would do simply because I don't like my child drinking juice, I feel it has little nutritional value, and I want my child to be used to drinking water as her primary beverage. The second I have done a few times because kids lose things and I understand parents don't always want to replace them. At the same time, I don't want my child to share her water bottle and I also don't want another child to go without. The third I have done a couple times, but both times the situation drove my response. This also can require an additional level of extra money that not everyone has. Most of us can dig up another $5-$10 for a water bottle, but providing daily snacks/lunches for another child can be expensive. |
Anonymous
(2) is nice but I think if the parents won't pack lunch, they probably wont fill her bottle with water either. I have done (3) once but never again because I had received some backlash from the school that it should not be directed to one single child. (I was "unfortunately" a single dad, and the child was a girl) The story is similar too as tHis girl also stole food from my son and I wanted him to continue getting his nutrition. She also used his waterbottle (despite him saying no) and his is a camelbak so it was meant to be chewed on anyway.  But he didn't get sick.
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Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
| But I think the problem here is not OP's daughter saying no? It's someone using it without permission. Teachers probably need to deal with that. |
Anonymous
| Those of you that think op is a germaphobe are disgusting. Not only is she drinking after op's kid, it's every other kid. That's how strep, mone, etc. get passed around and never leave a classroom. I'd tell the teacher, tell my kids to say no, and someone needs to point this girl to a freaking water fountain. Gross. |
Anonymous
| Mono ^ |
Anonymous
| Stop sending juice. Problem solved. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Oh we did stop juice but my daughter still thinks her bottle was being used. Cap was opened, nozzle seems a little wet etc when she hasn't drank any water yet etc. just feels awful. Feel like just giving her the chewed bottle and get my daughter a new one. It's near $20 but the thought of her bottle being used is just awful. Wonder if it will really solve the problem though. Because it really does address instructing that child what is really wrong. That's why I really wanted to grab hold of the mother if I could! |
Anonymous
| Why can't your daughter just keep the bottle with her? How is the girl getting hold of the bottle without your daughter knowing it? |