Does every kids event have to involve food?

[Anonymous]

I don’t mind not doing food - but you can volunteer to plan some of these things & set an example of how to do inclusive foods or no food.

[Anonymous]

Op--- I agree. The food thing is over done. kids do not need a snack after every single T-ball event. Geez.

[Anonymous]

Basically every adult event involves food too. As a totally normal adult I also hate it! Good luck with your kid and ignore the PP who is talking about eating disorders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Swim team celebrates every meet with boxes of donuts. The meets themselves involve snacks that are candy bars and chips.

This is probably one of the easier events on your list to navigate. Many of the more experienced swim parents pack their own too, once they get savvy about junk food and other overpriced snack bar items.

[Anonymous]

Biggest culprit for us is school with the birthday treats every week, ice cream parties, etc.

As far as activities go, we haven’t noticed it nearly to the same extent. Snacks after soccer games seemed like a standard thing that no one seemed to think twice about, and the donuts after summer swim meets. But over the years we’ve also had kids in tennis, track, dance, team gymnastics, winter swim team, diving, musical theater, violin, cello, choir, and youth orchestra. I honestly cannot think of more than a handful of times where food was passed out with any of those. At that age, it was always snack time where it was something that each parent sent in with their kid, or kids packed for themselves later on. I think a teacher brought cookies to ballet class one time (stuck in my memory because it was so unexpected), and they always have a dessert table set up after the end of year music recitals but that’s easy enough to avoid. Maybe it’s the team sports where it’s more of a thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with what you’re saying. No, every event should not involve food!! Kids get enough calories and junk as it is. They do not need donuts at a swim meet.

[phone]

[Anonymous]

It is hard to navigate, OP. My older child has a peanut allergy, and we've been lucky so far...her reactions have been mild (though I know that can change), and most people are aware of peanut allergies. But my toddler is anaphylactic to egg and also contact reactive (hives and severe eczema) and that feels almost unavoidable at times. Egg is everywhere. I carry safe snacks always, but I really have to watch the toddler, since she's at the phase where everything she touches goes straight to her mouth.
I agree with PPs about volunteering to provide food. I do that, and I always inquire about any potential food allergies in the group.

[Anonymous]

Your sports events have way too much food! That’s crazy. Ours were never that bad. On the upside, the food nearly disappears by 7-8. If it hasn’t, you can easily say no thanks. If chips or cookies are handed out at sports, my kids can accept them, put in bag and bring home for later. They’ve gotten used to it and know that there’s zero reason to eat junk at sports. That’s exercise time and we should make the separation. I hate that we make the association between physical exercise/sports and eating crap. Makes no sense

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like an eating disorder to me. It's very fashionable to blame all sorts of things on gluten or wheat or dairy or eggs. But there is absolutely no scientific proof that they are the cause of anything. Doctors are just fobbing you off because they don't know.

DP.

You sound like you have an 'lack of empathy" disorder. May a little empathy make it to your cold hearted soul some day.

[Anonymous]

^a not an.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like an eating disorder to me. It's very fashionable to blame all sorts of things on gluten or wheat or dairy or eggs. But there is absolutely no scientific proof that they are the cause of anything. Doctors are just fobbing you off because they don't know.

What is your degree? Is it in bullsh$$ because thats what you're talking right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with what you’re saying. No, every event should not involve food!! Kids get enough calories and junk as it is. They do not need donuts at a swim meet.

[phone]

NP +1

Snacking is out of control in this country.

No wonder half the kids at school are on ritalin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My youngest has severe eczema. We have met with several specialists and over the course of a year have identified what flares him up- wheat, dairy, eggs, corn, tomatoes, chocolate, nuts, preservatives, annatto, sorbitol, and some others. Basically anything that comes in a box or can triggers hives and then skin that looks like third degree burns on his neck, torso, legs, arms, back and cheeks. It’s absolutely miserable and takes weeks to clear up a flare. I travel with our own snacks but it’s so damn hard when every single kids event involves food that he cannot eat. He’s 5 and he understands that he can’t have that sort of stuff and we are praying that he outgrows his allergies, and I honestly don’t want to take away the joy of food for anyone else but I just want one kids event that doesn’t involve food. Swim team celebrates every meet with boxes of donuts. The meets themselves involve snacks that are candy bars and chips. Piano gives away lollipops and other candy as prizes. Baseball does ice cream after every game. Soccer does cookies. School does pizza parties and ice cream. Every play date involves chips, gummies, etc. I know it’s just bad eczema and nowhere near the stresses of anaphylactic allergies that other parents have to deal with, but it’s just tiring. Give me one school event or sports practice where everyone eats fruits and veggies to celebrate. Anyway, I know this is a first world problem and I wouldn’t dare bring this up anywhere but an anonymous forum so this is just a rant.

OP I get it. We are in the daycare years and people bring in treats for birthdays but I dont always get a heads up. My son came into the car one day and I asked about his day. He was really quiet and kind of out of his normal happy-go-lucky. He said, Mommy, it was X's birthday today. He got a cupcake! I said oh wow! Lucky X. You had cupcakes on your birthday too! Do you remember if they were chocolate or vanilla? His reply: well, everyone else but me got one. Ms. X got me a snack from my box but I really wanted a blue cupcake bc its my favorite color.

Well we went home and made blue cupcakes but it does suck. I dont expect ANYONE to cater to my kids but it would be nice to get a forewarning. Ive even had people at birthday parties suggest that we shouldnt bring a safe slice of cake or safe cupcake because their kid might want one too. Ummm yes only MY kid should be left out (at 3 years old) but dont worry I bring enough for everykid to have one (just in case).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with what you’re saying. No, every event should not involve food!! Kids get enough calories and junk as it is. They do not need donuts at a swim meet.

[phone]

NP +1

Snacking is out of control in this country.

No wonder half the kids at school are on ritalin.

+2

The Cult of the Snack is absurd in the US.

[Anonymous]

This is why we have millions of kids becoming obese and a skyrocketing rate of diabetes in this country. Because we feed kids garbage.