Summer at Norwood-no refrigeration for lunches!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone remember the days of going to summer camp with a brown bag lunch consisting of bologna sandwiches and a piece of fruit, maybe some chips in a baggie, with the only thing to keep it cold a frozen little jug of some koolaid type drink? The brown bag usually melted by lunch.

I am not suggesting you should do this, but an insulated cooler bag with a freezer pack should keep your child's lunch cold from 9am to noon. Same rules apply at our camp, and they take care of snack. Please explain how a camp shoud have open refrigerator space for 300 lunches?

Also, our camp gives us an option to have lunch delivered by a service for about $5 per day. If Norwood offers a similar service, maybe you'd feel more comfortable ordering your child's lunch instead of packing it.

I was always super envious of the kids who got hoho's. And since they are totally unnatural they never melted. I still sneak a hoho every once in a while when the vending machine at work has them.

[Anonymous]

While 15:00's suggestions are lovely, based on our own experience, I'd caution against sending so much food. Kids don't have much time for lunch, and they often spend much of it socializing, so I'm guessing most of it would come back. I usually send 2 or 3 things and figure they can make up the difference at home.

[Anonymous]

Where I was growing up, only the rich kids got HoHos (and Ding Dongs)! I still remember that!

[Anonymous]

Back in the 70's, at least a couple of times in elementary school I took a tin of sardines in mustard for lunch. I don't remember what I ate to go along with it! But it certainly was not a carb and it was totally shelf-stable.

[Anonymous]

Oh, good lord. So glad I was away until today and missed this thread.

My husband is a food nazi. Seriously. We eat very close to zone/paleo around here. So what does our kid take to Norwood for lunches during the school year (where there is also no refrigeration for lunches)? Cottage cheese, a salad (sometimes with meat on it for the protein), sometimes a wrap sandwich (because we almost never buy real bread), sometimes cold cooked chicken, carrots and hummus, carrots and plain yogurt for dipping, broccoli, fresh fruit of all types, I could go on. We send a tiny bit of salad dressing on salad days in a separate container so that the salad doesn't wilt by lunch time. Shockingly, DC has managed to survive multiple years of Norwood with only an ice pak and a cold bottle of water as refirgeration without catching any food borne illness. And DC's never had a cheeto. When I'm being a naughty mommy I may sneak a few organic crostini into the lunch because I know DC likes them.

[Anonymous]

I am so LOL - DCUrbanMoms are the most hilarious, PC bunch of parents ever. Tempted to pack Ho Hos, a Suzie Q and Frito Pie in DDs lunch tomorrow. Do you think she will trade them for some edamame and raw brocoli?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so LOL - DCUrbanMoms are the most hilarious, PC bunch of parents ever. Tempted to pack Ho Hos, a Suzie Q and Frito Pie in DDs lunch tomorrow. Do you think she will trade them for some edamame and raw brocoli?

I'm begging you, do not forget the oatmeal creme pie for dessert.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I want to meet all of these lovely edamame, hummus, carrot stick and frozen green bean eating 5 year olds. Not saying kids don't eat these things, but every day???? C'mon! I'm guessing a few of you sneak a Georgetown cupcake during lunch, so why deprive the kids of a little sugar?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, good lord. So glad I was away until today and missed this thread.

My husband is a food nazi. Seriously. We eat very close to zone/paleo around here. So what does our kid take to Norwood for lunches during the school year (where there is also no refrigeration for lunches)? Cottage cheese, a salad (sometimes with meat on it for the protein), sometimes a wrap sandwich (because we almost never buy real bread), sometimes cold cooked chicken, carrots and hummus, carrots and plain yogurt for dipping, broccoli, fresh fruit of all types, I could go on. We send a tiny bit of salad dressing on salad days in a separate container so that the salad doesn't wilt by lunch time. Shockingly, DC has managed to survive multiple years of Norwood with only an ice pak and a cold bottle of water as refirgeration without catching any food borne illness. And DC's never had a cheeto. When I'm being a naughty mommy I may sneak a few organic crostini into the lunch because I know DC likes them.

lmao...thank god i can't afford to send my kid to camp here.

[Anonymous]

While 15:00's suggestions are lovely, based on our own experience, I'd caution against sending so much food. Kids don't have much time for lunch, and they often spend much of it socializing, so I'm guessing most of it would come back. I usually send 2 or 3 things and figure they can make up the difference at home.

I was thinking exactlly the same thing. Two years of packing lunches for my kindergartner, and I can count on lunch coming back uneaten at least once a week because she was "too busy" to eat it. We stick to a main course, a fruit and milk.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree. Kids don't actually eat their camp lunches anyway, so this is all irrelevant.

In the productive, more ideas camp, dd goes to camp (not at Norwood) with an insulated lunch bag an an ice bag. I get the feeling op will think I'm poisoning her, but here goes anyway: Yesterday it was a peanut butter (not allowed at Norwood, btw) sandwich, raisins, melon and berries. (She ate a quarter of the sandwich and some fruit and raisins.) Today it was plain pasta, strawberries, ritz crackers, applesauce, and some pepperoni slices (yes, really. we have some protein challenges with this one.)

Good luck, all. I don't have to pack lunches during the year, and expect this to be the hardest part of the summer.

[Anonymous]

My kid just drank his juice at camp today as far as I can tell. He sent the complete sandwich back, and most of the grapes. Said it was too hot to eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any info on Summer at Norwood?? We are about to send our almost 4 year old twins there and have just been informed that they do not provide refrigeration for lunches! I would think that this would be a basic service, so the kids could have a balanced, nutritious meal, instead of crackers or other junk. Any ideas on what can be packed for lunch that won't go bad without refrigeration, yet will provide good nutrition??

I know we can put a lunch in an insulated cooler, but refrigeration is much more reliable and consistent and safe. Everyone we have talked to-mom's, the pediatrician, think that not providing refrigeration, which is so basic, is weird. Had we been informed of this before we signed up, we may have opted not to enroll our kids-but it was disclosed only a couple of weeks before the start date! A little untimely in my view. Are they just being cheap (hard to believe with their resources, what we paid for the camp, and knowing that refrigeration is very basic).

Also any other info on Norwood's summer camp would be helpful-I was a lttle bothered about the refrigeration thing, especially considering their resources and so called "commitment" to kids-so now I'm just wondering about the rest of the program.

Any info would be very helpful. Thanks!

Not everyplace has a refrigerator.

Put a quality ice pack in their lunchbox, it will keep fine until lunch. Pack sandwiches, wraps, pasta salads, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While 15:00's suggestions are lovely, based on our own experience, I'd caution against sending so much food. Kids don't have much time for lunch, and they often spend much of it socializing, so I'm guessing most of it would come back. I usually send 2 or 3 things and figure they can make up the difference at home.

This is true. Sending a half a sandwich, some fruit, and a cheese stick, yogurt, or cottage cheese would be plenty. Plus, camps tend to have morning or afternoon snacks - either provided or you pack one for the kid to take out of their lunch box.

Plus, like me, some people just hate to eat when they're hot and overheated. Cold foods and plenty to drink is best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid just drank his juice at camp today as far as I can tell. He sent the complete sandwich back, and most of the grapes. Said it was too hot to eat.

Same here. My daughter sent back her sandwich & fruit. She drank the juice, ate her cheese stick and popcorn. I used to send a bunch of food also. My daughter finally said, "mommy, it's just too much food. I can't pick!" She was 4 at the time; now 5.