Stephanie packed a lunch for her son to take to school that included a bag of potato chips. When he came home, he had a note from the teacher saying that her son had shared his chips with another child. That child’s parents complained that he was eating junk food at school. So now Stephanie has been told that she needs to do better when choosing snacks for her son to take to school. Is Stephanie a bad mom for packing a lunch for her son that includes potato chips? Is “Mom Shaming” ever OK, especially from a teacher or another mother in your son’s class?
Ayla Brown: I want to welcome Stephanie to Ask Ayla Brown. Stephanie, what’s going on with the school note that was sent home with your son?
Stephanie: I pack my son’s lunch every day as usual. Great. You know, I’m very aware of the four food groups. And I really try to give them a little array of goodies and some healthy stuff, some good stuff. The other day, I sent him to school with two little bags of chips. And, I mean, the fact that and I had an extra one and I thought, you know, instead of sending him some nuts, I’m going to send him this extra little bag. And I really didn’t think twice about it. And he comes back later that day after school. And I tell you, it’s a Friday. So we’re looking at our weekend. And then I get this note back with my son. And it’s pretty much telling me that I’ve done this horrible thing. And I’ll tell you what it said, okay? Said that they saw that I had packed chips in my son’s lunch and they also had noticed that he shared the extra bag of chips with a classmate. And I guess that young person is not allowed to have chips.
Ayla Brown: Okay.
Stephanie: So however it went, their parents found out and then the school got called or the school already knew that they had a dietary concern. I’m not exactly sure.
Ayla Brown: And they sent home a note that your son shared chips and something about an approved list. I did see that in the email. What was on that? Oh, I’m sorry. You can only bring these approved snacks to school. What was on that list?
Stephanie: Mostly carrots, celery, hummus, apple slices. I mean, I include that once in a while, of course. But it was a bag of chips, they weren’t even the hot ones.
Ayla Brown: They sound like regular potato chips, right?
Stephanie: So just regular potato chips.
Ayla Brown: First of all, this sounds crazy, which it kind of is. Right?. It sounds like it’s the rule of the school and everyone else is abiding by it except for you.
Stephanie: So I’m sorry, but it makes me crazy because I’m the mom. I can pack whatever I want to pack for him. I could pack him up with a birthday cake every day if I want to. I understand the peanut stuff. Yeah, that’s scary because it’s dangerous. Right?
Ayla Brown: But we’re not talking about peanuts. We’re talking about potato chips. A different P word, if you know what I mean. If you were the teacher, how would you handle this if you were the mom like Stephanie is, how would you handle that? Who is right and who is wrong?
Stephanie: I’m thinking of taking them out of there. I don’t know. It’s getting severe. I think this was pretty severe for them to do.
