OT: SNACK Madness!

[dcforbreakfast]

Ok, this is getting ridiculous. I have a five year old and it seems like every activity he's been in you have to bring snacks. Bring a snack here, snacktime there, snack time EVERYWHERE!

Even at Sunday school! I have to bring snacks to Sunday school...which is a whopping hour. Like he can't go an hour without eating something after he had breakfast before we got there?

Anyone else think this is crazy? Aren't we supposed to be fighting childhood obesity in this country? Why are we turning our kids into thinking everything needs a snack.

Little League- bring snacks
Soccer - bring snacks (apparently no one does oranges anymore like when we were little)
Kindergarten - bring a snack (this is the only one I can understand because they have lunch around 11 and snack is at 2pm)
Sunday School - Bring a snack.

Then on top of it, you have to make sure nothing has peanuts (which I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND, but it's just one more element to the snack ordeal)

I'm waiting to be told I have to bring snacks to the 1/2 hour swimming lesson at the Y.

 

[digman6]

I agree with you its nuts with snack but worse with asking for money all the time!

We have kids in 4k, 3 and 5th grade my son in 5th brings his own snack daily not for class. Teacher said if you want something to eat FOR YOURSELF brig it other wise our out of luck. All the same parents would bring snack for the other kids who NEVER brought a single thing.

dd in 3rd brought pretzels but they get like 4 sticks at a time-why bother frankly if thats all your giving them! I will probably need to bring snacks 4 times this year for her if other parents don't help cough up muchies like I did with ds years ago.
dd4 only goes 2days a week so it should not be to bad with her this year. they get milk with there snacks to IF you pay for it, kinda hard to not let your child have a drink but 40cents for a little carton is a bit much I think.


We get hit with something much more annoying to me SELLING STUFF! they get countless book order forms sent home and it helps school so ok.. but then they hit us up for buying sweatshirts during the year with forms sent home.. and then its ornaments and candy the school kids made.....plus we pay for them to make a present for holidays thats typically 5.00 or more. Field trips are 8$ and upand there is usually2-3 a year... then 2 book sales a year at school B1GI put on by our "reading program". Seems they don't know when to stop trying to sell stuff. I know you don't have to always say yes to your kids and trust me I do not but it gets soooo old they are at school to learn and I feel at times its a big sales pitch all year long!!!

we signed up our son for 5th grade football how much could it be for 5 games right????? well get a load of this ( they tell you the cost as your signing up mind you) 100.00 to sign up
40.00 for a jersey
38.00 for shoes
10.00 mouth guard
3 hours of volunteer time ( car wash raise money AGAIN!)
188.00 to play 5 games, then if you vlounteer you get back 25.00 so that brings it to 163.00 seems like a lot for 5 games of 5th grade ball I think

Again I know its not required but my gosh they could tell parents the cost so they can plan this out most of my sons friends parents were in sticker shock to know its that much for a couple games .

 

[hildarumpole]

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I don't remember having that many snacks as a kid. We had lunch and if it happened to be someone's birthday, we got a treat in the afternoon. During sports practice and games, water from the drinking fountain was all we got. When we got home from school, we had an apple or some carrots to tide us over until dinnertime. It's never-ending snacktime now and not usually healthy stuff. Kids are getting very mixed messages between the childhood obesity problem discussion to practically force feeding them at every turn. And it's not just designated snack times during the school day, but M&M math or lollipops for accomplishing some academic task. It's ridiculous.

IMO, some of the problems surrounding making accomodations for kids with allergies has to do with the constant snacks and treats I have 2 kids with allergies. They can't share food, so instead of making demands of other parents, I provide their snacks. I had classmates with various food allergies, but it didn't make much difference, because we weren't asked to share food all the time. I've asked for a more sensible approach to snacks and treats at my school, but have gotten nowhere. People think I'm a partypooper and killjoy. It seems more people are interested in indulging kids rather than teach good healthy eating habits.

 

[LJRJR]

I couldnt agree with you more. After my daughters soccer games, parents are assigned to bring snacks, I was digusted to see my daughter running around for an hour, only to be given some junk drink in a pouch and a bag of chips or cookies. Even her Brownie meetings always seems to be centered around food or snack time. I give my children a snack or whatever they need before they go to do their activities. Not to sound mean, I dont even keep juice in the house anymore. All that sugar is so bad for them. I do give my children " healthy treats", a few times a week at home, but I get very aggrivated that everytime I turn around at their extra activities they give them more and more real junk. For an hour or so activity the snack is completely unnecessary.

 

[DawnM]

I have been getting juice boxes for my kids for lunch, but honestly, I really don't like them to have that daily.

What do you all do for your kids' lunches? Do you just do water? I am considering that.

Dawn

 

[RumpleMom]

If you really are concerned, enlist the help of your school nurse to encourage healthy snacks. Our nurses have won awards for promoting healthy snacking for students and teachers ( no more donut day).

 

[Mkrop]

I have been getting juice boxes for my kids for lunch, but honestly, I really don't like them to have that daily.

What do you all do for your kids' lunches? Do you just do water? I am considering that.

Dawn

DS10 can buy milk at school but we have tried the Parmalat milk boxes, I still make them cold but he was getting tired of that, he said they didnt taste the same, DS4 says they taste just fine.

I have sent water and DS10 loves water. You could even do the flavored ones, mine dont like the flavored so plain water it is!

You could try OJ, mine dont like it but that is another alternative.

 

[mom2aiden]

My DS2 likes the new Crayola water. It's flavored purified water that is colored. Red is strawberry, Blue is berry, and Green is lemon lime. It's made with splenda.

 

[DawnM]

Part of the issue is cost as well....those pre-packaged drinks are around .50 each at best. They do have water bottles that we can wash and refill. I may just ask them if they want to go with that for a while.....it is not only healthier, but much more cost effective (we are on a well and get it tested every year and have been told it is perfect drinking water, almost like natural spring water, so no need to buy.)

They get milk for b-fast, dinner and included in their after school program snack, so not too worried about getting enough milk.

Thanks,

Dawn

DS10 can buy milk at school but we have tried the Parmalat milk boxes, I still make them cold but he was getting tired of that, he said they didnt taste the same, DS4 says they taste just fine.

I have sent water and DS10 loves water. You could even do the flavored ones, mine dont like the flavored so plain water it is!

You could try OJ, mine dont like it but that is another alternative.

 

[medalla74]

GEE I LOVE THIS BOARD!!!!!!!!!
I was just thinking the same thing this morning. My DD is in second grade and she still has to take a snack! She has to take snacks for girl scouts. She also has to take snacks for soccer! I'm getting snacked to death! I dont't like the juiceboxes but feel forced to buy them because of all of these snacks I have to provide.

 

[squirrlygirl]

I have been getting juice boxes for my kids for lunch, but honestly, I really don't like them to have that daily.

What do you all do for your kids' lunches? Do you just do water? I am considering that.

Dawn

I pack milk in an insulated thermos in an insulated lunch box with an ice pack next to it wrapped in paper towel to absorb the sweat. Works great and not nearly as complicated to do as it is to type out

 

[LuvOrlando]

Curious, bringing snacks has never bugged me. All the kids love to get a snack after running up and down the field in soccer. I even throw in some ice cold Gatorade if its over 85 degrees out. The kids also seem to think getting snack tickets is a high point after a Baseball game or Softball game.

I don't know how snack time goes in other parts of the country but here in PA each family takes a turn to bring stuff for the kids. As a result my kids get about 12 games worth of snacks and drinks for my donation of a $5 box of mini Dorito bags and $1.70 Capri Sun drinks. To me its a win-win so as team Mom it never even occurred to me that anyone else would mind. How does that saying go, "You live and you learn" I just learned something new.

 

[Gillian]

DD's pre-k sunday school class, 45 minutes long, has snack time, but we don't have to bring it.

Dawn, DS 2nd grade only drinks water so I either send the little bottles or lately have been using a nalgene bottle that I freeze half full every night.

DD 4 seems fine with the plain milk boxes. I can't buy juice boxes or capri suns because she'll drink them all in a day if I don't watch her like a hawk! In general I don't keep much juice in the house.

 

[MomNeedsVacay]

this is kind of off topic from this thread.... but I stopped at a local icecream place (Maggie Moo's) for a treat b/c my DD got shots today. I asked for the kiddie cone. It was gigantic. The KIDDIE cone. I said, "I asked for the kiddie cone" . This WAS the kiddie portion. I don't think I could've finished it if I was starving- and I'm an adult! Not only do I agree with the OP on amount of snacks, but also kids portions are so BIG!

 

[adoptionmomma4]

I have been getting juice boxes for my kids for lunch, but honestly, I really don't like them to have that daily.

What do you all do for your kids' lunches? Do you just do water? I am considering that.

Dawn

I packed (we now home school) the little mini bottles of water and juice box like containers of organic milk. The milk is by Horizon and is shelf stable. I always kept it cold with an ice pack, since I do not like warm milk. I packed my kids lunch everyday last year. It was a pain, but I knew what they were eating, or should I say throwing away My kids are not big eaters.

As for all of the snack times. I totally agree! We have a snack for everything here as well. My kids will usually drink the drink and bring the snack home. They have most likely had dinner and it is to late for a snack. Depending on the snack, I will let them eat it as an afternoon snack the next day.

We had a huge problem with our cheer team snacks last year. My DD is on a competitive cheer leading team. They have competitions on the weekends and while I understand the need for a snack what our girls got was so over the top. Each girl (16 girls age 5-9) brought snack to a specific competition. Sounds reasonably easy right? At the first competition our girls got (I am so serious) a backpack with her name monogrammed filled with snacks at least 4 things, 2 juice packs, coloring books, crayons, hair things, stickers, pencils, sunglasses and more things I can not even think of. I was shocked I thought it was just a snack! I am telling you there had to be $20 worth of stuff in this bag. We also had a good luck gift exchange for the girls for each comp. They assigned each girl a secret sister. We were to make hand made cards and spend no more the $2 on a good luck token. They said hand made gifts were preferred. On the first day we got a crystal bracelet in our cheer colors I know it was more than $2. Anyway- this continued all season. It was like each week the moms were trying to out do the last week. The girls thought it was like Christmas every time the came off the floor. For my week the kids got a bottle of water, an orange and a pack of cheer stickers- in a lunch bag my kids decorated. I felt so cheap, but there was no way I was shelling out hundreds of dollars for snack time. They all probably thought I was crazy and cheap. I thought just being on the team was gift enough for them. Don't even get me started in the gift bags the girls got to take to the nationals in Florida

 

[dcforbreakfast]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this is crazy. When it's my turn I do try to bring something "relatively" healthy that I think they'll eat. So like, low sugar granola bars...or this time I'm doing little packs of Goldfish (at least no trans fat in them). The last parent though brought a box of frosted/sprinkled donuts. I'm like, what was the point of them running around for an hour?

I just can't buy juiceboxes. When I look at how much sugar is loaded in those suckers I just can't do it. There is a minute maid flavored water that I liked. Capri Sun's have tons of sugar! The "sport" version has less. And then tons of these things are loaded with High Fructose Corn Syrup and I'm really adamant about not buying anything with that.

As far as being nickeled and dimed to death at school...you guys are so right. Right now the PTA at my child's school is searching for someone to head all the fundraisers this year, I don't think anyone's stepped up (who doesn't hate these???) so so far we haven't seen any of that. Then I have all the private school kids in the neighborhood trying to sell me magazines. How many magazines can I read?

But I do feel like I've forked over hundreds of dollars already for lunch, school fees, milk fees, fieldtrips, activities....blah blah.

Kids are expensive.

 

[mommytobug]

I remember in high school not even being allowed to have any kind of snack food in our book bag. We had breaks but not snacks and definitely not Coke!! Things have really changed!! My daughter has a very high metabolism so i am thankful she can have snacks.