Do you pack your PK3 kid's lunch?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We began PK3 last year at at Title 1 school last year and packed lunch. Kid comes home one day and says all of the pink (white) kids pack lunch and the brown (black) kids get free lunch together. I went in and talked to the teacher, who did confirm that there was a perfect racial split for packed vs school lunch in the classroom, which also meant they sat by race since the teacher just served the free lunch at one table to half the kids. I talked with other parents, we stopped packing lunch, and our 3 and 4 year olds stopped being segregated at lunch time. I don't know if the food was great, but he never came home hungry and I hate the dynamic we had set up.

Your choice, but it's not good enough for my family. The dynamic that's been set up is that some people don't care enough to provide their children with a healthy lunch. Somehow it's complicated to make a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato. It's too expensive to buy fresh fruit or applesauce. Yogurt is too time-consuming to grab out of the freezer and put in a lunch bag.

I really hated it when the teachers at our Title I PS would give the breakfast to everyone - including my child. Hello? I already fed her at home and I DON'T WANT her learning to eat those unhealthy foods her classmates eat. I don't want her to be a part of that fat culture.

Yuck. Ultimately, it was another reason that made it so much easier for us to switch to an HRC when she got in.

You know why the teacher would give the breakfast to everyone. Because we're required to! Relax just a little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We began PK3 last year at at Title 1 school last year and packed lunch. Kid comes home one day and says all of the pink (white) kids pack lunch and the brown (black) kids get free lunch together. I went in and talked to the teacher, who did confirm that there was a perfect racial split for packed vs school lunch in the classroom, which also meant they sat by race since the teacher just served the free lunch at one table to half the kids. I talked with other parents, we stopped packing lunch, and our 3 and 4 year olds stopped being segregated at lunch time. I don't know if the food was great, but he never came home hungry and I hate the dynamic we had set up.

Your choice, but it's not good enough for my family. The dynamic that's been set up is that some people don't care enough to provide their children with a healthy lunch. Somehow it's complicated to make a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato. It's too expensive to buy fresh fruit or applesauce. Yogurt is too time-consuming to grab out of the freezer and put in a lunch bag.

I really hated it when the teachers at our Title I PS would give the breakfast to everyone - including my child. Hello? I already fed her at home and I DON'T WANT her learning to eat those unhealthy foods her classmates eat. I don't want her to be a part of that fat culture.

Yuck. Ultimately, it was another reason that made it so much easier for us to switch to an HRC when she got in.

Please be fake. Seriously?

[Anonymous]

Look, for all you people who say "relax" and "can't your child eat what everyone else eats?" -- do you not see how awful eating habits are in the general public these days?!

I, too, would not wan't my kid to eat a bunch of processed food at breakfast. DCPS needs to do a better job of what they provide.

Eating habits are set when people are young! Sure, you can choose to eat healthily later, but you have to *think* about it. If you want your kid to be one of those people who just naturally gravitates to healthy foods without any hang-ups, then you consistentlly feed your kid healthy food when they are little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We began PK3 last year at at Title 1 school last year and packed lunch. Kid comes home one day and says all of the pink (white) kids pack lunch and the brown (black) kids get free lunch together. I went in and talked to the teacher, who did confirm that there was a perfect racial split for packed vs school lunch in the classroom, which also meant they sat by race since the teacher just served the free lunch at one table to half the kids. I talked with other parents, we stopped packing lunch, and our 3 and 4 year olds stopped being segregated at lunch time. I don't know if the food was great, but he never came home hungry and I hate the dynamic we had set up.

Your choice, but it's not good enough for my family. The dynamic that's been set up is that some people don't care enough to provide their children with a healthy lunch. Somehow it's complicated to make a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato. It's too expensive to buy fresh fruit or applesauce. Yogurt is too time-consuming to grab out of the freezer and put in a lunch bag.

I really hated it when the teachers at our Title I PS would give the breakfast to everyone - including my child. Hello? I already fed her at home and I DON'T WANT her learning to eat those unhealthy foods her classmates eat. I don't want her to be a part of that fat culture.

Yuck. Ultimately, it was another reason that made it so much easier for us to switch to an HRC when she got in.

It's not complicated or tough to make a turkey sandwich or pack a yogurt, many of the kids at my Title 1 school are poor and they don't have much food at home. That is why they have free school lunch. I care enough about my kids to not have them look differently at the poor kids. It's not good enough for me to have my kids looking down on poor people. Thank you for leaving our school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We began PK3 last year at at Title 1 school last year and packed lunch. Kid comes home one day and says all of the pink (white) kids pack lunch and the brown (black) kids get free lunch together. I went in and talked to the teacher, who did confirm that there was a perfect racial split for packed vs school lunch in the classroom, which also meant they sat by race since the teacher just served the free lunch at one table to half the kids. I talked with other parents, we stopped packing lunch, and our 3 and 4 year olds stopped being segregated at lunch time. I don't know if the food was great, but he never came home hungry and I hate the dynamic we had set up.

Your choice, but it's not good enough for my family. The dynamic that's been set up is that some people don't care enough to provide their children with a healthy lunch. Somehow it's complicated to make a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato. It's too expensive to buy fresh fruit or applesauce. Yogurt is too time-consuming to grab out of the freezer and put in a lunch bag.

I really hated it when the teachers at our Title I PS would give the breakfast to everyone - including my child. Hello? I already fed her at home and I DON'T WANT her learning to eat those unhealthy foods her classmates eat. I don't want her to be a part of that fat culture.

Yuck. Ultimately, it was another reason that made it so much easier for us to switch to an HRC when she got in.

You know why the teacher would give the breakfast to everyone. Because we're required to! Relax just a little.

I know you're supposed to offer. But, then I specifically asked you not to. I specifically told you that she'd been fed at home. Can she please go play in the "dramatic play" corner or read in the "library section"? I was really clear about not wanting the school food. You didn't listen to me. That's one reason you have one less high-performing child at your school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We began PK3 last year at at Title 1 school last year and packed lunch. Kid comes home one day and says all of the pink (white) kids pack lunch and the brown (black) kids get free lunch together. I went in and talked to the teacher, who did confirm that there was a perfect racial split for packed vs school lunch in the classroom, which also meant they sat by race since the teacher just served the free lunch at one table to half the kids. I talked with other parents, we stopped packing lunch, and our 3 and 4 year olds stopped being segregated at lunch time. I don't know if the food was great, but he never came home hungry and I hate the dynamic we had set up.

Your choice, but it's not good enough for my family. The dynamic that's been set up is that some people don't care enough to provide their children with a healthy lunch. Somehow it's complicated to make a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato. It's too expensive to buy fresh fruit or applesauce. Yogurt is too time-consuming to grab out of the freezer and put in a lunch bag.

I really hated it when the teachers at our Title I PS would give the breakfast to everyone - including my child. Hello? I already fed her at home and I DON'T WANT her learning to eat those unhealthy foods her classmates eat. I don't want her to be a part of that fat culture.

Yuck. Ultimately, it was another reason that made it so much easier for us to switch to an HRC when she got in.

It's not complicated or tough to make a turkey sandwich or pack a yogurt, many of the kids at my Title 1 school are poor and they don't have much food at home. That is why they have free school lunch. I care enough about my kids to not have them look differently at the poor kids. It's not good enough for me to have my kids looking down on poor people. Thank you for leaving our school.

If they have no food at home, then why are they fatter than everyone else? Those calories are coming from somewhere...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We began PK3 last year at at Title 1 school last year and packed lunch. Kid comes home one day and says all of the pink (white) kids pack lunch and the brown (black) kids get free lunch together. I went in and talked to the teacher, who did confirm that there was a perfect racial split for packed vs school lunch in the classroom, which also meant they sat by race since the teacher just served the free lunch at one table to half the kids. I talked with other parents, we stopped packing lunch, and our 3 and 4 year olds stopped being segregated at lunch time. I don't know if the food was great, but he never came home hungry and I hate the dynamic we had set up.

Your choice, but it's not good enough for my family. The dynamic that's been set up is that some people don't care enough to provide their children with a healthy lunch. Somehow it's complicated to make a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato. It's too expensive to buy fresh fruit or applesauce. Yogurt is too time-consuming to grab out of the freezer and put in a lunch bag.

I really hated it when the teachers at our Title I PS would give the breakfast to everyone - including my child. Hello? I already fed her at home and I DON'T WANT her learning to eat those unhealthy foods her classmates eat. I don't want her to be a part of that fat culture.

Yuck. Ultimately, it was another reason that made it so much easier for us to switch to an HRC when she got in.

It's not complicated or tough to make a turkey sandwich or pack a yogurt, many of the kids at my Title 1 school are poor and they don't have much food at home. That is why they have free school lunch. I care enough about my kids to not have them look differently at the poor kids. It's not good enough for me to have my kids looking down on poor people. Thank you for leaving our school.

All the more reason to call out the food as being crap. It's the best meal many of these kids get and we need to make it count. I care about all the kids, that's why I'm not willing to pretend the lunch is adequate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We began PK3 last year at at Title 1 school last year and packed lunch. Kid comes home one day and says all of the pink (white) kids pack lunch and the brown (black) kids get free lunch together. I went in and talked to the teacher, who did confirm that there was a perfect racial split for packed vs school lunch in the classroom, which also meant they sat by race since the teacher just served the free lunch at one table to half the kids. I talked with other parents, we stopped packing lunch, and our 3 and 4 year olds stopped being segregated at lunch time. I don't know if the food was great, but he never came home hungry and I hate the dynamic we had set up.

Your choice, but it's not good enough for my family. The dynamic that's been set up is that some people don't care enough to provide their children with a healthy lunch. Somehow it's complicated to make a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato. It's too expensive to buy fresh fruit or applesauce. Yogurt is too time-consuming to grab out of the freezer and put in a lunch bag.

I really hated it when the teachers at our Title I PS would give the breakfast to everyone - including my child. Hello? I already fed her at home and I DON'T WANT her learning to eat those unhealthy foods her classmates eat. I don't want her to be a part of that fat culture.

Yuck. Ultimately, it was another reason that made it so much easier for us to switch to an HRC when she got in.

You know why the teacher would give the breakfast to everyone. Because we're required to! Relax just a little.

I know you're supposed to offer. But, then I specifically asked you not to. I specifically told you that she'd been fed at home. Can she please go play in the "dramatic play" corner or read in the "library section"? I was really clear about not wanting the school food. You didn't listen to me. That's one reason you have one less high-performing child at your school.

Sounds like one less overly demanding nagging mom with lots of demands for her special snowflake. Glad to see her go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We began PK3 last year at at Title 1 school last year and packed lunch. Kid comes home one day and says all of the pink (white) kids pack lunch and the brown (black) kids get free lunch together. I went in and talked to the teacher, who did confirm that there was a perfect racial split for packed vs school lunch in the classroom, which also meant they sat by race since the teacher just served the free lunch at one table to half the kids. I talked with other parents, we stopped packing lunch, and our 3 and 4 year olds stopped being segregated at lunch time. I don't know if the food was great, but he never came home hungry and I hate the dynamic we had set up.

Your choice, but it's not good enough for my family. The dynamic that's been set up is that some people don't care enough to provide their children with a healthy lunch. Somehow it's complicated to make a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato. It's too expensive to buy fresh fruit or applesauce. Yogurt is too time-consuming to grab out of the freezer and put in a lunch bag.

I really hated it when the teachers at our Title I PS would give the breakfast to everyone - including my child. Hello? I already fed her at home and I DON'T WANT her learning to eat those unhealthy foods her classmates eat. I don't want her to be a part of that fat culture.

Yuck. Ultimately, it was another reason that made it so much easier for us to switch to an HRC when she got in.

You know why the teacher would give the breakfast to everyone. Because we're required to! Relax just a little.

I know you're supposed to offer. But, then I specifically asked you not to. I specifically told you that she'd been fed at home. Can she please go play in the "dramatic play" corner or read in the "library section"? I was really clear about not wanting the school food. You didn't listen to me. That's one reason you have one less high-performing child at your school.

Sounds like one less overly demanding nagging mom with lots of demands for her special snowflake. Glad to see her go.

No you're not. Test scores matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We began PK3 last year at at Title 1 school last year and packed lunch. Kid comes home one day and says all of the pink (white) kids pack lunch and the brown (black) kids get free lunch together. I went in and talked to the teacher, who did confirm that there was a perfect racial split for packed vs school lunch in the classroom, which also meant they sat by race since the teacher just served the free lunch at one table to half the kids. I talked with other parents, we stopped packing lunch, and our 3 and 4 year olds stopped being segregated at lunch time. I don't know if the food was great, but he never came home hungry and I hate the dynamic we had set up.

Your choice, but it's not good enough for my family. The dynamic that's been set up is that some people don't care enough to provide their children with a healthy lunch. Somehow it's complicated to make a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato. It's too expensive to buy fresh fruit or applesauce. Yogurt is too time-consuming to grab out of the freezer and put in a lunch bag.

I really hated it when the teachers at our Title I PS would give the breakfast to everyone - including my child. Hello? I already fed her at home and I DON'T WANT her learning to eat those unhealthy foods her classmates eat. I don't want her to be a part of that fat culture.

Yuck. Ultimately, it was another reason that made it so much easier for us to switch to an HRC when she got in.

You know why the teacher would give the breakfast to everyone. Because we're required to! Relax just a little.

I know you're supposed to offer. But, then I specifically asked you not to. I specifically told you that she'd been fed at home. Can she please go play in the "dramatic play" corner or read in the "library section"? I was really clear about not wanting the school food. You didn't listen to me. That's one reason you have one less high-performing child at your school.

Sounds like one less overly demanding nagging mom with lots of demands for her special snowflake. Glad to see her go.

No you're not. Test scores matter.

If low test scores can keep people like you away I will instruct my own high achievers to start tanking the tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We began PK3 last year at at Title 1 school last year and packed lunch. Kid comes home one day and says all of the pink (white) kids pack lunch and the brown (black) kids get free lunch together. I went in and talked to the teacher, who did confirm that there was a perfect racial split for packed vs school lunch in the classroom, which also meant they sat by race since the teacher just served the free lunch at one table to half the kids. I talked with other parents, we stopped packing lunch, and our 3 and 4 year olds stopped being segregated at lunch time. I don't know if the food was great, but he never came home hungry and I hate the dynamic we had set up.

Ugh, that sucks. But why did the teacher have them sit like that? Is it really so hard to move a plate from one table to another?

this seems like overkill. You want your kid to eat shitty food just to make some point to a bunch of kids who don't even care or notice? This is life. not everyone gets the same thing or has the same experiences. This is not shaming at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We began PK3 last year at at Title 1 school last year and packed lunch. Kid comes home one day and says all of the pink (white) kids pack lunch and the brown (black) kids get free lunch together. I went in and talked to the teacher, who did confirm that there was a perfect racial split for packed vs school lunch in the classroom, which also meant they sat by race since the teacher just served the free lunch at one table to half the kids. I talked with other parents, we stopped packing lunch, and our 3 and 4 year olds stopped being segregated at lunch time. I don't know if the food was great, but he never came home hungry and I hate the dynamic we had set up.

Ugh, that sucks. But why did the teacher have them sit like that? Is it really so hard to move a plate from one table to another?

this seems like overkill. You want your kid to eat shitty food just to make some point to a bunch of kids who don't even care or notice? This is life. not everyone gets the same thing or has the same experiences. This is not shaming at all.

I'm sure those kids were just green with envy over your DC's kale salad. My mom used to pack my lunch, all homemade organic of course, and I would sneak out to the vending machine for a twinkie.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I figured it wouldn't take long for this thread to evolve into a judgmental argument.

We are a family that cares a lot about healthy food. I cook a lot, and we avoid sugar, refined flour, and cheap oils (we do believe in eating healthy fats, even butter from quality sources).

However, after thinking all this through, my son will eat the school lunch (he won't be there for breakfast or aftercare). This is a school that is not generally popular with our demographic, and I don't want him to be the one white boy in the class with a lunch box because he is too good to eat what everybody else eats (nor would I want him to be part of the segregated table that one PP described). I do want him to blend in as well as possible while he is there (which won't be past PK). I don't think one possibly sub-optimal meal per weekday for a couple of years is going to harm him or spoil is habits, and eating with the group might help him try things he wouldn't at home and become less picky.

We can reevaluate this once we see how it goes, but I just can't see that excluding him from the family-style hot lunch will be a good idea. I do hope that the Sodexo contract won't result in a decline in quality.

Thanks all for the responses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We began PK3 last year at at Title 1 school last year and packed lunch. Kid comes home one day and says all of the pink (white) kids pack lunch and the brown (black) kids get free lunch together. I went in and talked to the teacher, who did confirm that there was a perfect racial split for packed vs school lunch in the classroom, which also meant they sat by race since the teacher just served the free lunch at one table to half the kids. I talked with other parents, we stopped packing lunch, and our 3 and 4 year olds stopped being segregated at lunch time. I don't know if the food was great, but he never came home hungry and I hate the dynamic we had set up.

Your choice, but it's not good enough for my family. The dynamic that's been set up is that some people don't care enough to provide their children with a healthy lunch. Somehow it's complicated to make a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato. It's too expensive to buy fresh fruit or applesauce. Yogurt is too time-consuming to grab out of the freezer and put in a lunch bag.

I really hated it when the teachers at our Title I PS would give the breakfast to everyone - including my child. Hello? I already fed her at home and I DON'T WANT her learning to eat those unhealthy foods her classmates eat. I don't want her to be a part of that fat culture.

Yuck. Ultimately, it was another reason that made it so much easier for us to switch to an HRC when she got in.

Wow. Words fail me. Are you really that clueless?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We began PK3 last year at at Title 1 school last year and packed lunch. Kid comes home one day and says all of the pink (white) kids pack lunch and the brown (black) kids get free lunch together. I went in and talked to the teacher, who did confirm that there was a perfect racial split for packed vs school lunch in the classroom, which also meant they sat by race since the teacher just served the free lunch at one table to half the kids. I talked with other parents, we stopped packing lunch, and our 3 and 4 year olds stopped being segregated at lunch time. I don't know if the food was great, but he never came home hungry and I hate the dynamic we had set up.

Your choice, but it's not good enough for my family. The dynamic that's been set up is that some people don't care enough to provide their children with a healthy lunch. Somehow it's complicated to make a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato. It's too expensive to buy fresh fruit or applesauce. Yogurt is too time-consuming to grab out of the freezer and put in a lunch bag.

I really hated it when the teachers at our Title I PS would give the breakfast to everyone - including my child. Hello? I already fed her at home and I DON'T WANT her learning to eat those unhealthy foods her classmates eat. I don't want her to be a part of that fat culture.

Yuck. Ultimately, it was another reason that made it so much easier for us to switch to an HRC when she got in.

You know why the teacher would give the breakfast to everyone. Because we're required to! Relax just a little.

I know you're supposed to offer. But, then I specifically asked you not to. I specifically told you that she'd been fed at home. Can she please go play in the "dramatic play" corner or read in the "library section"? I was really clear about not wanting the school food. You didn't listen to me. That's one reason you have one less high-performing child at your school.

omg. don't let the door hit you ...