DD's friend said her food stinks

[Anonymous]

I would not pack steamed broccoli b/c even though I love roasted/raw, steamed smells really bad.

I am an immigrant and I just don't pack "smelly" things for my kids from my culture. Although I do pack eggs because that's one of the things I know they will reliably eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s worth mentioning this to the teacher. I am a teacher. You can try to not bring broccoli but skipping your ethnic food because it smells different is not okay. The kids who are saying it smells are being insensitive and frankly culturally ignorant (which is perfectly age appropriate) but this is a great learning opportunity for the class. They could do a unit in family traditions including foods and maybe even dress, then they can discuss how to act when something is different and how saying “gross” might make others feel.

Ok, I hear this and appreciate the sentiment. But it’s exhausting being different sometimes. I just want to move on sometimes. Although I get that things should be fair all the time, sometimes it’s about protecting your own mental health and choosing which battles to fight. The same kids who think it seems funny may think different foods are so cool in high school.

OP, pick your battles and don’t let other people, especially people who have never been in your shoes, tell you how you should respond. Find out what result your daughter wants and go with that. Her happiness is what’s important here, not making a statement.

[Anonymous]

Aw, OP if it makes you feel any better, I sometimes ask my picky eater kid to look at his friend’s lunches for ideas. Every time he tells me how amazing this girl’s lunch looks. She brings Indian food.

[Anonymous]

It’s so much the ethnic smells, but COOKED food packed in a closed container, then opened in a crowded space, is going to smell. Whether that is Indian food, chili, stew, whatever. But yes, cooked broccoli is a huge offender.

[Anonymous]

It's the broccoli. I love it but it smells strongly after being stored for a short time. Cauliflower, cabbage, and brussels sprouts are also very smelly. They taste great when they are hot and freshly made, but smell terrible after that.

Ask her what she'd like for lunch. She shouldn't spend her days afraid of lunchtime.

[Anonymous]

aw... poor kid.

It gets better. My DC in HS takes all kinds of strong smelling food to school, and DC said no one says a thing. Most of the time, someone says it smells good - like Indian, kimchee fried rice, etc..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aw, OP if it makes you feel any better, I sometimes ask my picky eater kid to look at his friend’s lunches for ideas. Every time he tells me how amazing this girl’s lunch looks. She brings Indian food.

My DS loves Indian food and takes it for lunch a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She needs to be able to handle this and to either deal or bring diff food but TBH steamed broccoli smells awful.

+1 steamed broccoli held for hours at an increasingly lukewarm temperature. Sorry but that does smell.

I just made a broccoli/feta soup. The house stinks. I love broccoli but the entire house now smells wretched. This way, I made cod and it also smelled. I heated leftovers following day for a stinky house. I did not send my kids with the fish to school for this reason.

Sorry, OP. This could've been the case whether you were Indian or any other ethnicity with strong smelling food. Tell your daughter to buck up and brush it off. Not everything is a racial offense.

[Anonymous]

You're setting up her up for failure Op- whether you agree or disagree if steamed broccoli stinks or not .

If you still insist she eats your cooking/Indian food, surely you can find something less pungent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She needs to be able to handle this and to either deal or bring diff food but TBH steamed broccoli smells awful.

+1 steamed broccoli held for hours at an increasingly lukewarm temperature. Sorry but that does smell.

I just made a broccoli/feta soup. The house stinks. I love broccoli but the entire house now smells wretched. This way, I made cod and it also smelled. I heated leftovers following day for a stinky house. I did not send my kids with the fish to school for this reason.

Sorry, OP. This could've been the case whether you were Indian or any other ethnicity with strong smelling food. Tell your daughter to buck up and brush it off. Not everything is a racial offense.

+1 my DDs friend has always brought Indian food for lunch. If kids ever said anything (which kids do), she just shrugged and said I like it. Guess what, they stopped talking about it.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Based on these responses, maybe it was the broccoli then. Will avoid steamed broccoli from now on. I knew cabbage and brussel sprouts stink but not about broccoli. My kid also mentioned boiled egg stinking so we have been avoiding that lately. I've never sent yogurt rice because that stinks.

Just to clarify, I did not imply racism. I've met the girl's parents and they are nice people.

I will talk to DD about taking the food she likes and just say 'I like this', or take other non smelly foods to fit in.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Based on these responses, maybe it was the broccoli then. Will avoid steamed broccoli from now on. I knew cabbage and brussel sprouts stink but not about broccoli. My kid also mentioned boiled egg stinking so we have been avoiding that lately. I've never sent yogurt rice because that stinks.

Just to clarify, I did not imply racism. I've met the girl's parents and they are nice people.

I will talk to DD about taking the food she likes and just say 'I like this', or take other non smelly foods to fit in.

Thanks!

OP, you can imply racism. Some people are too sensitive because they have never been in the minority and experienced micro or not so micro aggressions. Just because a kid’s parents are nice and nonracist, doesn’t mean their child isn’t a bully. They might pick on other kids about other things but about Indian foods with your child. Sure, people are saying it’s the broccoli. It may be. But the kids are trying to make her feel different, and only you can decide how to handle this with her.

[Anonymous]

I do think mentioning it to the teacher is a good idea. There are so many books that the class could read about this.

Lunch From Home, The Sandwich Swap, and so on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Based on these responses, maybe it was the broccoli then. Will avoid steamed broccoli from now on. I knew cabbage and brussel sprouts stink but not about broccoli. My kid also mentioned boiled egg stinking so we have been avoiding that lately. I've never sent yogurt rice because that stinks.

Just to clarify, I did not imply racism. I've met the girl's parents and they are nice people.

I will talk to DD about taking the food she likes and just say 'I like this', or take other non smelly foods to fit in.

Thanks!

OP, you can imply racism. Some people are too sensitive because they have never been in the minority and experienced micro or not so micro aggressions. Just because a kid’s parents are nice and nonracist, doesn’t mean their child isn’t a bully. They might pick on other kids about other things but about Indian foods with your child. Sure, people are saying it’s the broccoli. It may be. But the kids are trying to make her feel different, and only you can decide how to handle this with her.

Oh, c'mon, PP! I am an Eastern European immigrant, so if i bring my herring and horseradish to school and someone says that stinks to high heaven, which it does, what would you say then? Racist? Some foods stink. It's that simple.

[Anonymous]

This was me when I was a kid and you should just send her with a regular sandwich (heck, you could do chutney and cucumbers, that's fine) and sides. There are plenty of other things they will tease her about, please just make her life easier.