Author |
Message |
Danas15146
Member
03-31-2004
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 6:30 am
I'm waiting for a call back from my son's principal so hopefully I can get some input before she calls. We had a major meltdown today when I suggested buying lunch (he liked everything but the main course and could get PBJ instead) He doesn't really care for the sandwiches too much but if he doesn't eat the whole thing so what? The rest is more than enough to fill him for the day. He starts freaking that if he doesn't eat enough he has to sit at the back table and finish. So my question is "who makes the determination that he has eaten enough?". This is a touchy subject for me - having spent nearly a year in the hospital with an eating disorder I take the approach with my kids that they are the only ones who know when they are full -- we don't do the clean plate club here. Since I can't go up to the school and smack a lunch lady - I put a call in to the principal to discuss. Am I being unreasonable here? BTW - there is a general feeling among kids and staff that the lunch ladies are very mean (edited from what the teachers actually say). I have no problem with kids being corrected - but how can you say a kid has not eaten enough? Also - he gets to school at 9:00 and has lunch at 11:30 - so alot of these kids are just not hungry from breakfast yet.
|
Kep421
Member
08-11-2001
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 6:37 am
WOW...I don't understand where it is the lunch aid's responsibility to enforce that kind of thing. I thought they were just there to keep the kids from doing smack down in the aisles. First I would find out why the lunch aids are given this authority and then I would ask the principal to exempt my kid and if they ever think he's not eating enough, please send a note home. Anything else would depend on what the school's response to your questions would be...
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 6:42 am
How old is he? Are they making him eat everything or is he perceiving that they are? I agree with Kep, tell them if they have concerns about his eating to please take it up with you and not him.
|
Danas15146
Member
03-31-2004
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 6:53 am
He just turned 7. The lunch aides have been an issue for a while now (since before my time!LOL). Our dishwasher had been broken for quite a while so the kids were using disposable section plates for lunch. Several were punished (back table - no recess - and loud yelling) for their plates breaking! Again - prevent the smack down - stop the food fights - expect the kids to be respectful to you - but be reasonable. I do a lot of volunteer work at the school so I am on good terms with the principal, staff, etc. so I don't expect a bad response - I just want to be sure I am not being unreasonable myself. Also - the head kitchen worker is a friend of mine - am I stepping out of line if I call her to get some insight as to what the heck is going on in this lunchroom that 90% of the kids are terrified of upsetting the lunch aides?
|
Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 6:56 am
If the head kitchen person is your friend, I wouldn't think it too out of line to ask her for some insight.
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 7:00 am
Your kids were punished because they brought paper plates to school??????? My kids don't bring any kind of plate, they just eat out of their brown paper bags. I don't think it's out of line to ask your friend for her perspective.
|
Kep421
Member
08-11-2001
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 7:02 am
I agree with Julie and Texannie...if she is your friend, she would be the one to ask. She won't blow smoke at you... I too would be wondering why my kid was terrified at upsetting a lunch aid... I think your investigation is warranted... I hope you get simple answers (you know, the kind that make you go duh ) and everything is ok!!
|
Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 7:10 am
There is absolutely no way I would allow anyone to force my kid to eat everything on the plate. I think it sends a bad message that if they dont eat beyond what they want they will be punished. I would get a feel from the other mothers whether their kids are being terrorized by the Cafeteria Police, then I would chat with the principal. I always found it easier to change a policy if I had other parents in my corner. Also are these cafeteria ladies paid employees or volunteers? If they are volunteers I dont think it is their job to monitor what kids eat, just make sure they dont throw the food or get unruly. To give him a good giggle buy him Captain Underpants and the naughty cafeteria ladies book.
|
Kep421
Member
08-11-2001
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 7:14 am
LOL..that's funny Maris... I was thinking the Cafeteria Gestapo!! I love Captain Underpants!!
|
Danas15146
Member
03-31-2004
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 7:18 am
Maris - do you know the number of that book? The kids weren't bringing plates to school - that is what the school was providing for the buyers while the dishwasher was out of commission. The kids were being punished if there plate broke on the way to the table. To the point that alot of kids decided to buy or pack depending on how heavy the food was (ie. - a hotdog isn't too heavy so my plate shouldn't crack - I can buy lunch.) The aides are paid part-time employees. I'll let ya'll know what happens after I talk to the principal! I am just trying to compose myself so I am not screaming at her because I am ticked at a lunch aide.
|
Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 7:33 am

|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 8:21 am
Ok, that makes a little more sense! LOL
|
Danas15146
Member
03-31-2004
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 8:55 am
I just spoke with our principal who assured me that it is not necessary for the kids to finish their lunch - only eat until they are no longer hungry. The "back table" is for those kids who would still like to finish their food while the others are going out to reccess. The most the lunch aides are supposed to do is maybe ask - are you sure you don't want to try one bite or are you sure you have had enough to eat. She was on the way to lunch room after our talk to be sure that Justin understands that once he is full he can stop eating and that if anyone yells at him he needs to let her know or let me know that day so that I can make her aware. There have been other compliants about the lunch aides so they will be having a meeting about how to deal with little people.
|
Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 8:58 am
I would say, what kid wants to sit at a table to finish any kind of sandwich while everyone else is running around in the yard. Bet they dont get many volunteers to stay behind.
|
Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 8:58 am
i could spew volumes about lunch room aides and the battles i went round and round with them. holly's medications make her have no appetite, and at the time we didn't know she had sensory integration disorder also. we thought she was just picky. they would make her stay until her food was gone. she would be there the entire lunch time. she was starting to get it into her head that she was "bad" that she couldn't eat. this was at the time that they were giving her lunchtime medications. and they were refusing to give her the medication after lunch because it interferred with THEIR schedule. luckily i got her teacher to understand, and she would go with holly before lunch to get her the medication, holly would be able to eat lunch, join in with the kids, and after lunch would get the medication from her teacher. BATTLES. i'm sick of them with her and schools.
|
Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 9:10 am
It seems to me that the younger the kids are the more manic the schools get about control and "whipping them into shape" to be good little robots. I can remember virtual wars over naptime. Drove me nuts.
|
Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 9:12 am
Naptime? In school? My ds is in kindergarten -- full day kindergarten -- and they have no naptime.
|
Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 9:14 am
Dana, glad to hear that they'll be having a meeting...
|
Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 9:17 am
Yep, naptime in kindergarten. it was a miserable year.
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 9:19 am
Dana, glad the principal was so responsive and willing to fix the situation.
|
Danas15146
Member
03-31-2004
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 11:01 am
I do have to say that our school is VERY responsive to parent concerns and also to the needs of the special needs kids that we have. Our principal knows every kid (320 of them) by name and would recognize them if she saw them outside of school. Landi - that is awful -- you need to move here and go to our school! I hope that things are better for her now.
|
Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 11:51 am
she is almost 15 (as she told me this morning - 2 more weeks!) and doesn't eat lunch at all. she does drink a protein shake in the morning and right before her afternoon practice and her afternoon meds. she is no longer on morning/noon/afternoon medications and is instead of morning/afternoon. she also eats very well for dinners. she had 12 wings last night! she is regularly tested for vitamin deficiencies and nutrition levels and is fine.
|