Help me plead my case - NO MORE SWEETS!!!!!

[brookely ash]

so....

my ds will have the same teacher and mostly the same class as last year. we LOVE our teacher and the classmates, however last year it seemed that atleast once a week someone brought in those super sugary supermarket cupcakes to celebrate a birthday or half birthday. my son is very sensitive to corn and corn products, but i let him make his own food choices so he was definitely eating cupcakes along w/ his classmates.

i want to convince her somehow to CHANGE THIS HABIT!!!!!!! But i'm not sure how to go about it. I'm going to contact her before the school year starts to see if - 1) will she agree and limit the sugary snacks and 2) if she'll send home a note on the first day.

I work for an organic produce distributor and am more than willing to help coordinate fruits and veggies for snacks, but i'm looking for suggestions for to offer up as an alternate.

thanks for any ideas you may have!!!!

[frogguruami]

How about suggesting that they do a monthly birthday day. Every child that has a birthday in that month celebrate it on the same day in school. Then it will only be once a month that you have sugary snacks. The is bound to be one month out of the year that has no birthdays init and that can be the month for all the kids that have summer b-days. This should make everyone happy. Moms still get to bring in treats for their kids b-days, treats are limited to once a month and there is only one day a month that class time is interupted with a b-day party.

[Hera]

I remember from my kindergarten days, the teacher had a plaster cake with candle holders stuck in the top. She would get it out and we could do the singing and blowing candles thing without the sugar. (I remember because my birthday was in the summer, and I never got to do it )

[Victorian]

sorry about that.

I'll try not to do it again

anyway, I would totally support you in the 1x a month party. I think that part of the problem is the no-homemade rule. Since they are in such a hippy school, you know that most of the parents would bring healthier snacks if they could.

I would ask her to be honest. "Look, someone is the classes child reacts to the sugar, we need to stop it".

When DS is in school, I expect that the teacher will say "no peanuts". Why is this different?

Victorian

[brookely ash]

I think she'll be understanding as well. heck, she probably hates watching the kids get all spun out from sugar anyway!

i'll try the 1x a month thing - but i'm willing to try some different things also, if anyone has any other suggestions?

[Victorian]

what if it was a different time of day? Like right after lunch when the kids are full of protein to counteract the sugar?

V.

[MomToKandE]

Last year my dd's K teacher suggested that instead of bringing a snack to celebrate b-days that the child should bring something for the classroom. She suggested flowers, a plant, a book, or something else that the whole class could enjoy over time rather than something to eat.

[bugginsmom]

When I taught kindergarten I had a no junk food policy. During our initial parent meeting I told the parents up frount that it didn't align with our health curriculum and was not teaching children that there are lots of healthy treats too. (I also did the once a month birthday for a while before going no sugar.) I provided the parents with ideas......fresh fruit cups, yogurt, bagels, granola mix, fruit juice pops, etc. The kids enjoyed these treats just as much as a cupcake and everyone was happy with it. I even had several parents thank me for caring so much about their children's health. I think that if the teacher is open to instituting a healthy snacks policy it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Honestly, what intelligent argument can one make as to why a child should have cupcakes on a semi-regular basis?

[BlueIrises]

I have some suggestions but not sure if I have any answers for you. I teach 4th grade and feel you will probably run into problems with parents over-riding the once a month thing...

At our Meet the Teacher Night in Sept, I talk to the parents about b-day parties and snacks. I explain to them that cakes are fun but not al children can partake in them due to allergies and food restrictions. I then promote my "make your child famous with a book donation" b-day suggestion. I give the parents a list of authors and books we would love to have in the class and suggest donating a book in your child's honor. I made special labels that go on the inside of the book that says "This book was generously donated to the classroom library by ___" I then show the 20-something books I have recieved over the past few years. I explain to them that I make a big deal about the child's generous donation on their b-day and everyone gets to enjoy in the book.

Many parents like the idea, but still many like to send in cupcakes and cookie cake. I also get children don't like sweets, so I keep a big thing of pretzels in the classroom (not that pretzels are great either, but... ). Some parents of students who have allergies have sent in a supply of snacks for their child to eat during party times b/c of either nut allergies, or allergies to blue dye #2...when the sweets come out, they go and get one of their granola bar packs or applesauce cups.

I hope this maybe offers some help...

[Verity]

This is one of my pet peeves. Parents are allowed to bring in sugary snacks for birthdays. They are served after lunch, but it's still not a good idea, IMO. Also, the school/PTO sells ice cream at lunch. It is available every day! WTH? At least when they did it at my ds's old school, it was one day a week. Plus, the "a la carte" line in the cafeteria has junky things such as chips and fruit roll-ups. I don't give my kids money for that (they bring their lunches from home most days, anyway) but, again, WTH???

I just don't think schools should be in the business of supplying junk food.

[bdavis337]

My son's first kindergarten day was Friday, and they had COOKIES for their morning snack!! Parents rotate sending in snacks for the classroom, and when my turn comes up I'll be sending in granola bars, trail mix (she says they have no nut allergies, yippee!), dried fruits, etc. She claims she'll refuse the sugary stuff, but on the very first day they had cookies.

[Victorian]

my sister had an idea ash...

she suggested instead of birthday treats, maybe they could pick a subject for a birthday video...

Little Suzie wants to watch a 20 minutes show about Bugs for her birthday!

or

Little Billy wants to share with you a video from his trip to disneyland

[wildmonkeys]

Our school system sent out a letter yesterday with a new county wide policy saying no more food for birthday celebrations. It seems things are going that way.

I realize I am in the MDC minority on this one, but it actually makes me sort of sad. One of my favorite memories of elementary school was bringing cupcakes in to class on my birthday and ds had a GREAT time with his school party last year.

Anyway, lots of public schools have this policy already so if you want to make a case you could probably do some online search of nearby school systems and see what you come up with...

BJ
Barney & Ben

[brookely ash]

good thinking victorian's sister!

wildmonkeys, i too remember having cupcakes at school, and it was soo much fun and such a treat, however my ds has a seizure disorder and we have found that corn (found in all forms of sweets as corn syrup) is a trigger for him. plus, its just not necessary - there will still be fabulous memories, but maybe they'll be about strawberries, or kiwi, or stickers or books!

i'm going to take all these ideas to her on thursday... i'm guessing she'll understand - she has been very very kind about my ds's medical issues last year... and ultimately i think she'll probably agree, and i'm also guessing some parents probably would be releived as well.


thanks everyone!

[wildmonkeys]

I do understand that...my ds2 is actually HIGHLY allergic to eggs, milk, nightshade veggies and ironically...strawberries. Last year I brought in egg and nut free cupcakes since that covered the allergies in the classroom that ds1 was in...his closest friend is allergic to eggs and when people didn't send in egg free desserts he had his own special "treasure box" and the birthday kid got to pick a treat out of his treasure box for him.

Anyways, good luck with your efforts. If I was going to change the policy I would probably strive for nonfood celebrations since you never know who is allergic to the fruits or veggies you might bring instead, you know?

BJ
Barney & Ben

[brookely ash]

well, i talked to the teacher and her response was awesom!!!!

i offered to write a letter to send home on the first day... here it is


Birthday Celebrations!

We've started the new school year with a birthday!

wow~!

I wanted to send this note out to Ms. ****'s class in hopes of convincing some parents to celebrate birthdays in a way that doesn't always include sugary snacks. The end of last year was full of birthdays, almost every day it seemed the kids' were enjoying treats like cupcakes and cookies. Which is such a fun treat for kids, however, some have food sensitivities and allergies and cant partake in the fun.

Here is a list of ideas that aren't related to sugary food.... fun things to honor your child on their special day!

treats for kids...
stickers
pencils
erasers
rings
nuts
fruit
veggies
yogurt
fruit leather / fruit snacks

other ideas...
-bring in a poster board decorated with your childs' name and have all the kids sign it.

- donate a book to the class in honor of your child and have the teacher read it to the class

- have all the kids sign a t-shirt

If you have any other suggestions or ideas, please share them with ms. ****!
thanks,

[raksmama]

DS (8) was in Alternative schools before and there were thank god no sweets allowed.Now he has just started a more traditional School this year.I justfound out that the children can bring anything they want in their lunch boxes.there are no restrictions!
I was so shocked I asked them if the kids even could bring candy bars and they said yes!
I hope they don't! I don't want to become the only mean mom who doesn't put sweets in her son's lunch!
If this is the case I am just going to try my best to convice everyone that sugar is BAD.
It makes kids hyper,it causes candida over growth,it causes tooth decay
some children have allergies to it.
anyone got any more reasons why refind Sugar is bad??????
better yet,it would be great to have a good article (s)about the adversities of
sugar to show the teacher and even the other parents.
I don't have any does anyone else????

[Hayes]

Our school board solved the problem for us!
Birthday party once a month.
One sweet
One salty/savory
One fruit
One beverage, REAL juice or water only.

[hippiemom]

Sorry, but if you sent me that letter as a parent in the class I would think you quite self-righteous. Telling other parents what to do in the form of a "suggestion letter" does not always go over well.. better to go to the teacher with your concerns and let her make the suggestions to the class. I do agree BTW that they do not need the sugar overload, and I am disgusted with how other folks feed their kids, I hear ya, but I do not tell them what to do in any way shape or form. There are kids in my son's kindy class with peanut allergies, and we are encouraged by the teacher to think up non-food ways to celebrate birthdays. This is a drag but I sympathize with the parents of the allergic ones. I have fond memories of the cupcakes my mom would make for my birthdays at school, so fun (and I am allergic to chocolate) but the reality is most people do not make their kids' snacks or food for that matter. Those of us who actually cook and put any thought into the healthfulness of it are a minority.

[brookely ash]

Originally Posted by hippiemom

better to go to the teacher with your concerns and let her make the suggestions to the class.

thats what i did. i talked to her last week, like i said in my earlier post, and she agreed completely! i wrote that letter to give to her and i was going to ask her if she wanted it to be from her, from the class in general, or from me.

turns out she wrote her own letter and sent it home! i know some people may be frustrated or bummed, but i'm willing to take the scorn to try and help my kiddo.

our school district doesn't allow home made foods into the school. this rule came about in the 80's when i was in school and its still in effect - health reasons.....