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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents appreciate that their child learns the importance of eating their main food first instead of those chocolate kisses sent in. Problem would be solved if you didn’t pack sweets in the first place. Maybe the parent should learn what a healthy lunch consists of and that their child will eat those red peppers and humus by watching their classmates eating healthy too and won’t even miss a “dessert”.

Uh, excuse me, it's baked oatmeal.

All high quality people understand that the baking process makes the sugars disappear. Humph.

If her DD came in with a thermos of plain oatmeal, with cinnamon and sliced bananas on top, none of you would be screaming “omg don’t send cookies”. Those exact same ingredients put in the oven are suddenly an Oreo? This is why parents and not teachers decide what their children should eat.

You are talking about preschoolers eating in groups. They are not individually conducting nutritional analysis with mass spectrometers. They are looking at what other children are eating and pitching fits if they have to wait for their "cookies." You could try to argue that it's effing "backed oatmeal," but when you are talking about tiny children, perception is at least as important about reality.

If you want to turn lunch into a digression on the RDAs of 2/3 of a biscuit, get a nanny. If you are poor enough that you need a group setting, don't expect a meticulously catered PhD presentation on nutrition. Have your kid wait for the "cookie," or send it "unbaked." Because it's not as fun and tasty when it's not in cookie form, and that's the point -- the other kids are responding to fun and tasty, not nutritional analysis. Get with the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At what age does spreading out a selection of foods and letting your child pick what they are going to eat stop? Because most people don't eat meals at a buffet. Most people eat meals like this: appetizer, main course, dessert. So at some point you're doing your DC a disservice to continue letting them act like a toddler learning to eat and not teaching them to eat like everyone else. What point is that? My guess is when they enter school. OP's child is no longer a toddler.

You should read up on DOR but it’s not “a buffet of food” it’s several items (like a sandwich, yogurt, berries and an oatmeal cookie for example!) all of which you are fine with your DC making their whole meal. Then how much and which items they eat is up to them. Kid wants to have just yogurt today, fine, kid wants to have second sandwich, fine. It’s a a much more adult way of eating because an adult isn’t forced to eat whatever items another adult puts in front of them, and if they dislike something they’ll just eat more of something else.

So at what age does that end?

Well, how old are you? Because that’s how you probably eat as an adult.

No, as a matter of fact I don't. If I ate dessert first I would be in terrible health.

What a weird idea. If you eat the same food in a different order it doesn’t impact your health unless you think offering nutritionally balanced meals means every meal has cake.

I eat the healthy food first, because I'm a mature adult and I realize those are the foods that my body needs to stay healthy. Then if I have room leftover, I eat the dessert. If I"m full, I only eat a few bites because dessert is good.

This is actually STANDARD PRACTICE all over the world, yet you are calling it a weird idea.

This "let them choose what to eat" idea is for children just learning how to feed themselves. It's not how most people eat past the age of 4. Let your kids grow up. They are no longer toddlers in preschool. They can learn to adapt themselves to a group setting -- and if they can't, or if mommy insists they don't have to, they're in for a world of problems in the coming years. Good luck with that.

Do you eat dessert at every meal? Because that’s where your health problems are arising. If you have carrots, chicken, cucumber and yogurt dip at a meal, it is nutritionally irrelevant whether you eat the cucumbers before the carrots. The same is true of a toddler eating oatmeal before yogurt.

Let's not pretend we don't understand the issue. Order is not the issue -- except for cookies, and yes, most people consider "baked oatmeal" to be cookies. Most people teach their children to eat the cookies last. Most do.

If what OP describes as going into the cookies is accurate— just oatmeal and bananas— then this is only about order. Oatmeal and bananas are not less nutritious than a sandwich or strawberries.

See here's the thing -- it's not about the round, baked oatmeal thingamajig that OP sent in. Because OP's child is part of CLASS now. The teacher is dealing with the entire class. She can't ask what the ingredients are of every item. The rule is, cookies last. That goes for all kids, even precious kids with baked oatmeal that looks like a cookie.

And so it is about order and having the rule for the sake of it. She doesn’t have to ask the entire class, she can just assume parents are ok with the kids eating what is in their packed lunches, thereby creating less work for herself. She can use the extra time to work on the children’s table manners!

How dare you correct my child's table manners! Do you not know that chewing with one's mouth open is scientifically proven to be beneficial for both breathing and masticating?

Please provide a reference.

NP here chewing with open mouth kids can better appreciate the oatmeal banana cookie they eat. Teacher can use extra time to work on the kids language!
https://metro.co.uk/2022/07/24/research-says-eating-with-your-mouth-open-makes-food-taste-better-17058736/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents appreciate that their child learns the importance of eating their main food first instead of those chocolate kisses sent in. Problem would be solved if you didn’t pack sweets in the first place. Maybe the parent should learn what a healthy lunch consists of and that their child will eat those red peppers and humus by watching their classmates eating healthy too and won’t even miss a “dessert”.

Uh, excuse me, it's baked oatmeal.

All high quality people understand that the baking process makes the sugars disappear. Humph.

If her DD came in with a thermos of plain oatmeal, with cinnamon and sliced bananas on top, none of you would be screaming “omg don’t send cookies”. Those exact same ingredients put in the oven are suddenly an Oreo? This is why parents and not teachers decide what their children should eat.

You are talking about preschoolers eating in groups. They are not individually conducting nutritional analysis with mass spectrometers. They are looking at what other children are eating and pitching fits if they have to wait for their "cookies." You could try to argue that it's effing "backed oatmeal," but when you are talking about tiny children, perception is at least as important about reality.

If you want to turn lunch into a digression on the RDAs of 2/3 of a biscuit, get a nanny. If you are poor enough that you need a group setting, don't expect a meticulously catered PhD presentation on nutrition. Have your kid wait for the "cookie," or send it "unbaked." Because it's not as fun and tasty when it's not in cookie form, and that's the point -- the other kids are responding to fun and tasty, not nutritional analysis. Get with the program.

Or send to a preschool where “fun and tasty” isn’t seen as some kind of special privilege given at the discretion of a teacher. How Dickensian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At what age does spreading out a selection of foods and letting your child pick what they are going to eat stop? Because most people don't eat meals at a buffet. Most people eat meals like this: appetizer, main course, dessert. So at some point you're doing your DC a disservice to continue letting them act like a toddler learning to eat and not teaching them to eat like everyone else. What point is that? My guess is when they enter school. OP's child is no longer a toddler.

You should read up on DOR but it’s not “a buffet of food” it’s several items (like a sandwich, yogurt, berries and an oatmeal cookie for example!) all of which you are fine with your DC making their whole meal. Then how much and which items they eat is up to them. Kid wants to have just yogurt today, fine, kid wants to have second sandwich, fine. It’s a a much more adult way of eating because an adult isn’t forced to eat whatever items another adult puts in front of them, and if they dislike something they’ll just eat more of something else.

So at what age does that end?

Well, how old are you? Because that’s how you probably eat as an adult.

No, as a matter of fact I don't. If I ate dessert first I would be in terrible health.

What a weird idea. If you eat the same food in a different order it doesn’t impact your health unless you think offering nutritionally balanced meals means every meal has cake.

I eat the healthy food first, because I'm a mature adult and I realize those are the foods that my body needs to stay healthy. Then if I have room leftover, I eat the dessert. If I"m full, I only eat a few bites because dessert is good.

This is actually STANDARD PRACTICE all over the world, yet you are calling it a weird idea.

This "let them choose what to eat" idea is for children just learning how to feed themselves. It's not how most people eat past the age of 4. Let your kids grow up. They are no longer toddlers in preschool. They can learn to adapt themselves to a group setting -- and if they can't, or if mommy insists they don't have to, they're in for a world of problems in the coming years. Good luck with that.

Do you eat dessert at every meal? Because that’s where your health problems are arising. If you have carrots, chicken, cucumber and yogurt dip at a meal, it is nutritionally irrelevant whether you eat the cucumbers before the carrots. The same is true of a toddler eating oatmeal before yogurt.

Let's not pretend we don't understand the issue. Order is not the issue -- except for cookies, and yes, most people consider "baked oatmeal" to be cookies. Most people teach their children to eat the cookies last. Most do.

If what OP describes as going into the cookies is accurate— just oatmeal and bananas— then this is only about order. Oatmeal and bananas are not less nutritious than a sandwich or strawberries.

See here's the thing -- it's not about the round, baked oatmeal thingamajig that OP sent in. Because OP's child is part of CLASS now. The teacher is dealing with the entire class. She can't ask what the ingredients are of every item. The rule is, cookies last. That goes for all kids, even precious kids with baked oatmeal that looks like a cookie.

And precisely because it a a BAD rule for a class is why I would push back. No child should be subjected to this rule. That is why it is worth fighting this. Preschool teacher DOES NOT have a degree in nutrition and should not be making nutritionally unwise rules.

Maybe you can start a preschool based on nutrition and run it yourself. That way you can make the rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents appreciate that their child learns the importance of eating their main food first instead of those chocolate kisses sent in. Problem would be solved if you didn’t pack sweets in the first place. Maybe the parent should learn what a healthy lunch consists of and that their child will eat those red peppers and humus by watching their classmates eating healthy too and won’t even miss a “dessert”.

Uh, excuse me, it's baked oatmeal.

All high quality people understand that the baking process makes the sugars disappear. Humph.

If her DD came in with a thermos of plain oatmeal, with cinnamon and sliced bananas on top, none of you would be screaming “omg don’t send cookies”. Those exact same ingredients put in the oven are suddenly an Oreo? This is why parents and not teachers decide what their children should eat.

You are talking about preschoolers eating in groups. They are not individually conducting nutritional analysis with mass spectrometers. They are looking at what other children are eating and pitching fits if they have to wait for their "cookies." You could try to argue that it's effing "backed oatmeal," but when you are talking about tiny children, perception is at least as important about reality.

If you want to turn lunch into a digression on the RDAs of 2/3 of a biscuit, get a nanny. If you are poor enough that you need a group setting, don't expect a meticulously catered PhD presentation on nutrition. Have your kid wait for the "cookie," or send it "unbaked." Because it's not as fun and tasty when it's not in cookie form, and that's the point -- the other kids are responding to fun and tasty, not nutritional analysis. Get with the program.

Or send to a preschool where “fun and tasty” isn’t seen as some kind of special privilege given at the discretion of a teacher. How Dickensian.

Have you met a preschooler when you are trying to get them to eat a meal? How about when they are in a group, and with different lunches?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At what age does spreading out a selection of foods and letting your child pick what they are going to eat stop? Because most people don't eat meals at a buffet. Most people eat meals like this: appetizer, main course, dessert. So at some point you're doing your DC a disservice to continue letting them act like a toddler learning to eat and not teaching them to eat like everyone else. What point is that? My guess is when they enter school. OP's child is no longer a toddler.

You should read up on DOR but it’s not “a buffet of food” it’s several items (like a sandwich, yogurt, berries and an oatmeal cookie for example!) all of which you are fine with your DC making their whole meal. Then how much and which items they eat is up to them. Kid wants to have just yogurt today, fine, kid wants to have second sandwich, fine. It’s a a much more adult way of eating because an adult isn’t forced to eat whatever items another adult puts in front of them, and if they dislike something they’ll just eat more of something else.

So at what age does that end?

Well, how old are you? Because that’s how you probably eat as an adult.

No, as a matter of fact I don't. If I ate dessert first I would be in terrible health.

What a weird idea. If you eat the same food in a different order it doesn’t impact your health unless you think offering nutritionally balanced meals means every meal has cake.

I eat the healthy food first, because I'm a mature adult and I realize those are the foods that my body needs to stay healthy. Then if I have room leftover, I eat the dessert. If I"m full, I only eat a few bites because dessert is good.

This is actually STANDARD PRACTICE all over the world, yet you are calling it a weird idea.

This "let them choose what to eat" idea is for children just learning how to feed themselves. It's not how most people eat past the age of 4. Let your kids grow up. They are no longer toddlers in preschool. They can learn to adapt themselves to a group setting -- and if they can't, or if mommy insists they don't have to, they're in for a world of problems in the coming years. Good luck with that.

Do you eat dessert at every meal? Because that’s where your health problems are arising. If you have carrots, chicken, cucumber and yogurt dip at a meal, it is nutritionally irrelevant whether you eat the cucumbers before the carrots. The same is true of a toddler eating oatmeal before yogurt.

Let's not pretend we don't understand the issue. Order is not the issue -- except for cookies, and yes, most people consider "baked oatmeal" to be cookies. Most people teach their children to eat the cookies last. Most do.

If what OP describes as going into the cookies is accurate— just oatmeal and bananas— then this is only about order. Oatmeal and bananas are not less nutritious than a sandwich or strawberries.

See here's the thing -- it's not about the round, baked oatmeal thingamajig that OP sent in. Because OP's child is part of CLASS now. The teacher is dealing with the entire class. She can't ask what the ingredients are of every item. The rule is, cookies last. That goes for all kids, even precious kids with baked oatmeal that looks like a cookie.

And so it is about order and having the rule for the sake of it. She doesn’t have to ask the entire class, she can just assume parents are ok with the kids eating what is in their packed lunches, thereby creating less work for herself. She can use the extra time to work on the children’s table manners!

How dare you correct my child's table manners! Do you not know that chewing with one's mouth open is scientifically proven to be beneficial for both breathing and masticating?

Please provide a reference.

NP here chewing with open mouth kids can better appreciate the oatmeal banana cookie they eat. Teacher can use extra time to work on the kids language!
https://metro.co.uk/2022/07/24/research-says-eating-with-your-mouth-open-makes-food-taste-better-17058736/

Talking with one's mouth full -- even better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents appreciate that their child learns the importance of eating their main food first instead of those chocolate kisses sent in. Problem would be solved if you didn’t pack sweets in the first place. Maybe the parent should learn what a healthy lunch consists of and that their child will eat those red peppers and humus by watching their classmates eating healthy too and won’t even miss a “dessert”.

Uh, excuse me, it's baked oatmeal.

All high quality people understand that the baking process makes the sugars disappear. Humph.

If her DD came in with a thermos of plain oatmeal, with cinnamon and sliced bananas on top, none of you would be screaming “omg don’t send cookies”. Those exact same ingredients put in the oven are suddenly an Oreo? This is why parents and not teachers decide what their children should eat.

You are talking about preschoolers eating in groups. They are not individually conducting nutritional analysis with mass spectrometers. They are looking at what other children are eating and pitching fits if they have to wait for their "cookies." You could try to argue that it's effing "backed oatmeal," but when you are talking about tiny children, perception is at least as important about reality.

If you want to turn lunch into a digression on the RDAs of 2/3 of a biscuit, get a nanny. If you are poor enough that you need a group setting, don't expect a meticulously catered PhD presentation on nutrition. Have your kid wait for the "cookie," or send it "unbaked." Because it's not as fun and tasty when it's not in cookie form, and that's the point -- the other kids are responding to fun and tasty, not nutritional analysis. Get with the program.

Or send to a preschool where “fun and tasty” isn’t seen as some kind of special privilege given at the discretion of a teacher. How Dickensian.

Oh, OP is free to change preschools. She is also free to hire a nanny.

If she wants to go to a given school where they are making do with what they have, she's also free to volunteer as lunch lady who gives didactic lessons about "the most recent research on childhood nutrition" to the ones still in pull-ups. Barring that, she needs to power down on making demands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents appreciate that their child learns the importance of eating their main food first instead of those chocolate kisses sent in. Problem would be solved if you didn’t pack sweets in the first place. Maybe the parent should learn what a healthy lunch consists of and that their child will eat those red peppers and humus by watching their classmates eating healthy too and won’t even miss a “dessert”.

Uh, excuse me, it's baked oatmeal.

All high quality people understand that the baking process makes the sugars disappear. Humph.

If her DD came in with a thermos of plain oatmeal, with cinnamon and sliced bananas on top, none of you would be screaming “omg don’t send cookies”. Those exact same ingredients put in the oven are suddenly an Oreo? This is why parents and not teachers decide what their children should eat.

You are talking about preschoolers eating in groups. They are not individually conducting nutritional analysis with mass spectrometers. They are looking at what other children are eating and pitching fits if they have to wait for their "cookies." You could try to argue that it's effing "backed oatmeal," but when you are talking about tiny children, perception is at least as important about reality.

If you want to turn lunch into a digression on the RDAs of 2/3 of a biscuit, get a nanny. If you are poor enough that you need a group setting, don't expect a meticulously catered PhD presentation on nutrition. Have your kid wait for the "cookie," or send it "unbaked." Because it's not as fun and tasty when it's not in cookie form, and that's the point -- the other kids are responding to fun and tasty, not nutritional analysis. Get with the program.

Or send to a preschool where “fun and tasty” isn’t seen as some kind of special privilege given at the discretion of a teacher. How Dickensian.

Have you met a preschooler when you are trying to get them to eat a meal? How about when they are in a group, and with different lunches?

Yes. I have a preschooler with serious allergies. She eats something different from her classmates almost every day. The teachers are apparently superior beings because this has never once caused them to lose control of their classrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents appreciate that their child learns the importance of eating their main food first instead of those chocolate kisses sent in. Problem would be solved if you didn’t pack sweets in the first place. Maybe the parent should learn what a healthy lunch consists of and that their child will eat those red peppers and humus by watching their classmates eating healthy too and won’t even miss a “dessert”.

Uh, excuse me, it's baked oatmeal.

All high quality people understand that the baking process makes the sugars disappear. Humph.

If her DD came in with a thermos of plain oatmeal, with cinnamon and sliced bananas on top, none of you would be screaming “omg don’t send cookies”. Those exact same ingredients put in the oven are suddenly an Oreo? This is why parents and not teachers decide what their children should eat.

You are talking about preschoolers eating in groups. They are not individually conducting nutritional analysis with mass spectrometers. They are looking at what other children are eating and pitching fits if they have to wait for their "cookies." You could try to argue that it's effing "backed oatmeal," but when you are talking about tiny children, perception is at least as important about reality.

If you want to turn lunch into a digression on the RDAs of 2/3 of a biscuit, get a nanny. If you are poor enough that you need a group setting, don't expect a meticulously catered PhD presentation on nutrition. Have your kid wait for the "cookie," or send it "unbaked." Because it's not as fun and tasty when it's not in cookie form, and that's the point -- the other kids are responding to fun and tasty, not nutritional analysis. Get with the program.

Or send to a preschool where “fun and tasty” isn’t seen as some kind of special privilege given at the discretion of a teacher. How Dickensian.

Wow, not giving a preschooler a cookie on demand is Dickensian. This has GOT to be the most privileged post of all time. Well done.

[Anonymous]

This discussion is so DCUM. Reminds of when a friend of mine was insisting that her preschool teacher police her son's eating. She wanted him to eat vegetable first, then protein, then carb, because that is the order in which she served food at home, and she did not want him filling up on the more desirable carb item. The teacher refused to do it because she didn't have time, and I thought my friend was absolutely crazy for trying to control that outside of her home.

Here we have the opposite scenario: a teacher is taking the time to ensure that kids eat the nutritious portion of their lunch first and dessert last. It's reasonable. She doesn't know what's in the cookie, just that it's a cookie. The kid has the same amount of time to eat, it's just being asked that she eat a specific item -- which looks like dessert -- last. And we have a parent flipping out because they don't want their kid being required to eat dessert last.

I feel so bad for teachers who have to deal with all of these insane parents. Just let. it. go.

[Anonymous]

This is going to be a long, tough road for you. Teachers set rules. Kids are to comply with them. Horrible parents interrupt that simple dynamic and ruin the entire structure. Please homeschool if you are going to do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents appreciate that their child learns the importance of eating their main food first instead of those chocolate kisses sent in. Problem would be solved if you didn’t pack sweets in the first place. Maybe the parent should learn what a healthy lunch consists of and that their child will eat those red peppers and humus by watching their classmates eating healthy too and won’t even miss a “dessert”.

Uh, excuse me, it's baked oatmeal.

All high quality people understand that the baking process makes the sugars disappear. Humph.

If her DD came in with a thermos of plain oatmeal, with cinnamon and sliced bananas on top, none of you would be screaming “omg don’t send cookies”. Those exact same ingredients put in the oven are suddenly an Oreo? This is why parents and not teachers decide what their children should eat.

You are talking about preschoolers eating in groups. They are not individually conducting nutritional analysis with mass spectrometers. They are looking at what other children are eating and pitching fits if they have to wait for their "cookies." You could try to argue that it's effing "backed oatmeal," but when you are talking about tiny children, perception is at least as important about reality.

If you want to turn lunch into a digression on the RDAs of 2/3 of a biscuit, get a nanny. If you are poor enough that you need a group setting, don't expect a meticulously catered PhD presentation on nutrition. Have your kid wait for the "cookie," or send it "unbaked." Because it's not as fun and tasty when it's not in cookie form, and that's the point -- the other kids are responding to fun and tasty, not nutritional analysis. Get with the program.

Or send to a preschool where “fun and tasty” isn’t seen as some kind of special privilege given at the discretion of a teacher. How Dickensian.

Have you met a preschooler when you are trying to get them to eat a meal? How about when they are in a group, and with different lunches?

Yes. I have a preschooler with serious allergies. She eats something different from her classmates almost every day. The teachers are apparently superior beings because this has never once caused them to lose control of their classrooms.

Because you can tell the other preschoolers that Larla will get very sick otherwise. Is that a lie you tell in other circumstances, or are you (like most people) trying not to lie to children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This discussion is so DCUM. Reminds of when a friend of mine was insisting that her preschool teacher police her son's eating. She wanted him to eat vegetable first, then protein, then carb, because that is the order in which she served food at home, and she did not want him filling up on the more desirable carb item. The teacher refused to do it because she didn't have time, and I thought my friend was absolutely crazy for trying to control that outside of her home.

Here we have the opposite scenario: a teacher is taking the time to ensure that kids eat the nutritious portion of their lunch first and dessert last. It's reasonable. She doesn't know what's in the cookie, just that it's a cookie. The kid has the same amount of time to eat, it's just being asked that she eat a specific item -- which looks like dessert -- last. And we have a parent flipping out because they don't want their kid being required to eat dessert last.

I feel so bad for teachers who have to deal with all of these insane parents. Just let. it. go.

That’s why people are saying, let the teacher know what’s in it and that it’s part of lunch. NBD unless the teacher is on a power trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents appreciate that their child learns the importance of eating their main food first instead of those chocolate kisses sent in. Problem would be solved if you didn’t pack sweets in the first place. Maybe the parent should learn what a healthy lunch consists of and that their child will eat those red peppers and humus by watching their classmates eating healthy too and won’t even miss a “dessert”.

Uh, excuse me, it's baked oatmeal.

All high quality people understand that the baking process makes the sugars disappear. Humph.

If her DD came in with a thermos of plain oatmeal, with cinnamon and sliced bananas on top, none of you would be screaming “omg don’t send cookies”. Those exact same ingredients put in the oven are suddenly an Oreo? This is why parents and not teachers decide what their children should eat.

You are talking about preschoolers eating in groups. They are not individually conducting nutritional analysis with mass spectrometers. They are looking at what other children are eating and pitching fits if they have to wait for their "cookies." You could try to argue that it's effing "backed oatmeal," but when you are talking about tiny children, perception is at least as important about reality.

If you want to turn lunch into a digression on the RDAs of 2/3 of a biscuit, get a nanny. If you are poor enough that you need a group setting, don't expect a meticulously catered PhD presentation on nutrition. Have your kid wait for the "cookie," or send it "unbaked." Because it's not as fun and tasty when it's not in cookie form, and that's the point -- the other kids are responding to fun and tasty, not nutritional analysis. Get with the program.

Or send to a preschool where “fun and tasty” isn’t seen as some kind of special privilege given at the discretion of a teacher. How Dickensian.

Have you met a preschooler when you are trying to get them to eat a meal? How about when they are in a group, and with different lunches?

Yes. I have a preschooler with serious allergies. She eats something different from her classmates almost every day. The teachers are apparently superior beings because this has never once caused them to lose control of their classrooms.

Because you can tell the other preschoolers that Larla will get very sick otherwise. Is that a lie you tell in other circumstances, or are you (like most people) trying not to lie to children?

Or you tell them, as our school does, that everyone is in charge of their own plate and what larla eats is for larla and what Chloe eats is for Chloe, which Lin addition to not singling out the kids with allergies, is part of teaching healthy body image.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is going to be a long, tough road for you. Teachers set rules. Kids are to comply with them. Horrible parents interrupt that simple dynamic and ruin the entire structure. Please homeschool if you are going to do this.

+1 This is the kernel of the matter, although OP doesn't recognize this yet. She is upset that someone else is in charge of her child. It's not about the baked oatmeal discoid object she sent in for her DD to eat -- it's about another person of authority stepping in and telling her child to do *** without her persmission *** .