Mom against sweets in the classroom

[Gabes_mommy]

I have 19 nieces and Nephews. NONE are over weight.But the 4 that aren't allowed to have sweetsor junk are sneaky at parties. I see them putting all kinds of candy in their pockets and my one niece stuffs her face with what ever junk she can find when her mom isn't looking. I never say anything to my SIL but I do tell my neice she is going to get herself in trouble if her mom catches her.
But by not letting her kids have any sweet snacks and junk every once in a while is going to make them rebel and then she just may have a over weight child on her hands.I know she just wants to protect her children but sometimes over parenting can bite in the behind.

This is so true! My sister doesn't allow her 4 kids to have sweets at all and all 4 of them HOARD candy whenever they see it - eating massive amounts at one time and actually hiding it in their rooms.

 

[disneyjunkie]

That lady is a nut. Why can't she just teach her kids to say no thank you?

A group of mothers here in Brooklyn are in an uproar because Mr. Softee trucks are outside of public schools and parks. For some odd reasons these mothers can't tell their kids no when they ask for an ice cream cone.

Actually, it's against the law now for sweets such as that to be in schools. You can purchase them in vending machines open to the public and the entire food service industry has had an upheavel. I'm surprised this school gets away with it. We can't.

That law isn't in effect here.

If it were, it wouldn't solve anything. The kids would just buy the stuff next door at the corner bodegas.

 

[DawnCt1]

Food nazis. Coming soon....to a school near you!

They are already here. I will bet however that while one in three children are obese, they didn't get fat at school. They arrived at school obese. It has also been demonstrated that children who are strictly prohibited from eating sweets, etc. want them MORE. If there are 25 children in a classroom, what is the worst that can happen. The children who can't have cupcakes will have an opportunity to eat 25 in 365 days. That doesn't sound like the end of the world to me. This woman doesn't feel that Americans are capable of MODERATION!!!? Has she examined her own behavior?

 

[luvmy3]

And let me further say that I think the amount of cupcake parties and such in schools today have come to a ridiculous level. Educators are in school to educate, not to throw a birthday party in class, thereby taking away already limited instructional time. If parents want to have cupcakes in class, they should throw the parites at home and invite the other kids over.

That's just my honest opinion on the matter--it has nothing to do with obesity, but rather with our priorities. When I was in the classroom full time, we did not do cupcake parties for every birthday. Inevitiably, one kid would get left out. We would have something small for Christmas, Valentine's, and Easter--each lasting only during recess. My priority was in the classroom, not parties.

Some of the teachers in my kid's school will do brithday celebrations at the holiday parties. Each party covers a couple months worth of birthdays so those kids bring in their treats the day of the party instead of on their actual birthday.
The rest that have celebrations during class, do it during snack time so that the kids do not miss any instruction time. We also have the option of buying ice cream instead of sending in treats and the kids get to have it at lunch time.

 

[mlynn]

This is so true! My sister doesn't allow her 4 kids to have sweets at all and all 4 of them HOARD candy whenever they see it - eating massive amounts at one time and actually hiding it in their rooms.

I was at one of the 4 Iwas talking about last week at my dd4 preschool graduation. I saw her eat 3 donuts. I didn't see what the other 3 got but they were the 1st in line when the food started.

 

[EthansMom]

I think it's great that the mom want her children to eat well, but I get irked at parents who want to impose their issues on everyone else. (We have one child in DS's class who has problems with milk so the mom publishes a letter with "approved" treats and sends it to the school for distribution. There was an uproar one year when I sent in a treat that was completely "milk/dairy/nut free" but wasn't on THE LIST. I had even sent in a photocopy of all ingredient panels to show that it was an acceptable food.)

Our school has gone to where they "recommend" healthy treats or other alternatives (such as donating a book to the library or sending in small prize toys for the kids) for celebrations.

In prior years, our school's biggest problem area was Hot Lunch, which is brought in from restaurants and fast food locations (we have no cafeteria). This year, the folks organizing the Hot Lunch did a terrific job completely reorganizing the program with healthier options. For instance, Dominoes pizza was replaced with pizza from a local pizzaria that uses whole wheat dough. Also, instead of having a side of fruit be an option, a fruit or vegetable is served with each meal.

I do think kids get too many foods and sugary foods seems to be a huge problem, but I think getting rid of vending machines, encouraging schools to offer healthier options for lunches, and asking teachers and parents to encourage healthier options for prizes and celebrations would go much further than making demands.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Parent your own kids and leave mine alone.

 

[onelilspark]

Most regulations are on a local level. There are general rules that are mandated by the federal government that if a school wants to receive funding they must do X, Y, & Z...but most of the ridiculous things that you hear tend to be on a local level, decided on by each school district. Want change in the rules your school follows? Go to your school board meetings and counter-act those that are "up in arms" about all the "unhealthy" options. Voice your opinions that the real problem with childhood obesity starts at home and not at school.

 

[mumom95]

This woman doesn't feel that Americans are capable of MODERATION!!!? ?

Exactly. A single cupcake is not bad, half a dozen cupcakes in one sitting, that's not so good. We need to teach our kids moderation, and you can't do that if you ban everything. Someday this woman's kids are going to grow up, move away and when mom is no longer watching they are going to go nuts with the sweets. Why, because as a kid, their mother never taught them moderation and self control, mom just dictated what they could and couldn't eat.

Of course, take this all with a grain of salt. Both my kids had friends sleepover last night, and what did I feed them for breakfast, donuts!! Now they are all out back running around playing freeze tag with the neighbor kids. So, I gave them sugar and now I'm letting them play in the backyard without me being out there (they range in age from 8-10). I guess I should win the bad mommy award for the day.

 

[creativeamanda]

OK, I watched and emailed. While I understand her crusade against obesity, I think she is a jerk for trying to impose her lifestyle on other kids.

Parent your own kids and leave mine alone.

And so, you don't think it's wrong for parents who bring junk food to school to "bring their lifestyle" on other kids? Because that's what they are doing. School is for education, not for parties. Yet again, I believe parties and treats should lay outside the realm of public education and invite people via cards. That way, each parent can make the informed choice as to whether or not they want their child to be loaded with sugar.

My son's behavior is horrible when he has sugar. I therefore limit it. He's 8. He's not going to tell a teacher handing out cupcakes, "No thank you, my mom doesn't want me to have that." It's my place as a parent to parent--not the schools'. That we are all agreeing with. So why don't we take the parties and treats out of schools and put it back where it should be? If you want to have a celebration for something, have it at home. That way, no one objects to the sugar or the celebrations' meaning, etc.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

Pssst...meet me behind the gym at 3 o'clock for a cupcake party. Pass it on.

 

[antmaril]

I saw her the other day on one of the morning shows. I think she's being ridiculous.

You worry about your kid and let me worry about mine. End of story.

 

[FayeW]

I agree with her message, but not her methods. Her an analogy of handing out treats to kids at the playground was a good one.

I find it interesting (and perhaps a bit hypocritical) that many posters have said "do what you want with your kid, but don't tell me how to feed my kid".

Couldn't the same be said for sending in the treats? Send what you want for your kid, but don't be so presumpumptious as to give it to someone else's child? What would you think if a stranger walked up to your kid and gave them a chocolate bar? Same thing, IMHO.

We don't provide lunch to students at public schools in Canada. Everybody brings their own. My kids' schools had pizza/hot dog day a couple of times a month, but you have to order/pay in advance so you have a choice of whether or not to participate.

 

[tmarquez]

I think she needs therapy.

I saw this article today: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/BeautySecrets/story?id=7857306&page=1

The mom doesn't want to allow sweets in the classroom, wants permission slips for bringing in cupcakes for your kids birthdays because there are too many obese people in America.

Theres actually a link to provide feedback and I'm thinking of responding, because I feel she's going too far. If she doesn't want her kids to eat it thats fine, everyone else shouldn't be punished. And if they're denied sweets their whole life, whats the chance of them over-endulging when they're able to once they're away from their mom? What do you think?

 

[MushyMushy]

I love how she says Americans aren't capable of moderation, but what is she teaching her own kids about moderation? Extremes on either side aren't good either.

 

[luvmy3]

And so, you don't think it's wrong for parents who bring junk food to school to "bring their lifestyle" on other kids? Because that's what they are doing. School is for education, not for parties. Yet again, I believe parties and treats should lay outside the realm of public education and invite people via cards. That way, each parent can make the informed choice as to whether or not they want their child to be loaded with sugar.

My son's behavior is horrible when he has sugar. I therefore limit it. He's 8. He's not going to tell a teacher handing out cupcakes, "No thank you, my mom doesn't want me to have that." It's my place as a parent to parent--not the schools'. That we are all agreeing with. So why don't we take the parties and treats out of schools and put it back where it should be? If you want to have a celebration for something, have it at home. That way, no one objects to the sugar or the celebrations' meaning, etc.

Parties in school are nothing new so I'm not sure you can even say put them back where they should be


If you (general you) limit your child's intake of sugar and treats it is your job to teach them that when faced with those things they are to say no thank you. The school shouldn't restrict something just because a few kids aren't going to follow their parent's rules.

 

[phorsenuf]

Guess we have a pretty liberal school as we sell pop-tarts, ice cream and rice krispie treats in our cafeteria. Sometimes we give out cookies too. The horror!

Shame on us.

 

[FayeW]

Parties in school are nothing new so I'm not sure you can even say put them back where they should be


If you (general you) limit your child's intake of sugar and treats it is your job to teach them that when faced with those things they are to say no thank you. The school shouldn't restrict something just because a few kids aren't going to follow their parent's rules.

I believe that other parents shouldn't put little children in the position of having to have the maturity to not engage in an activity that everyone else in the class is participating in.

 

[creativeamanda]

Parties in school are nothing new so I'm not sure you can even say put them back where they should be


If you (general you) limit your child's intake of sugar and treats it is your job to teach them that when faced with those things they are to say no thank you. The school shouldn't restrict something just because a few kids aren't going to follow their parent's rules.

But there are things that don't belong in school and that's one of them. Thankfully, I don't have to deal with this because all of my children are in schools who have received the Safe Schools, Healthy Students grant and therefore this has all been put to a stop. Now, when they are invited to a party at a person's home, I can monitor exactly how much they are getting. I'm not worried about other kids--just my own.

 

[mlynn]

Guess we have a pretty liberal school as we sell pop-tarts, ice cream and rice krispie treats in our cafeteria. Sometimes we give out cookies too. The horror!

Shame on us.

My dd class just did a lemonade stand last friday(4 of the year) and handed out WaterIce and cookies. They raised $686 dollar for that day(2100 for the year) so I don't think any parents here have a problem.