Let Them Eat Cake
My new renter is The Fifth Column . This is a blog after my own heart. It makes fun of random things, but it does so with purpose. It also references Mr. Furley. Go over and knock on their door, won't you?
There's one time every elementary school student cherishes. That time, is lunch time.
No doubt, no matter when or where you went to school, lunch was hands down, one of the best times of the day. For one thing, there's the obvious reason; you got to eat. But while you were eating, you also got to talk, something that mean teachers like me prevent you from doing most of the day.
Of course, some lunches were better than others. If you were smart, you got the school menu ahead of time and planned your course of action. Then and only then can you decide on any given day whether to brown bag or buy it.
Fridays are a given in almost every school. This is because Fridays are usually pizza days. I can still remember how the line would wrap around the outside of the cafeteria at my school on pizza days. Back then I would always get pepperoni pizza and orange juice. In my defense, the choices were usually milk or oj. There was no soda option. There wasn't even a water option. I also thoroughly enjoyed taco day. For some reason, overdosing on acidics seemed like the perfect meal to me.
When it came time to purchase a snack, I also knew what I wanted. I almost always got the little cup that contained a mix of peanuts and raisins. Such a simple snack really, but it made me so very happy. I also enjoyed those strawberry shortcake bars which, back then, you could only get at school or through an ice cream truck. Now they're everywhere so they aren't nearly as special.
The days I brought my own lunch also hold a special place in my heart. Sometimes my mom would make my salami on rye or liverwurst on rye. When I think back to my favorite foods then, I cringe. Other days I would get my sandwich in a plastic, tupperware like container. These were the days I dreaded because that meant I either had tuna, roast beef or peanut butter and jelly. Any guesses why the container? I'll give you a few seconds to sort it out.
The reason my mom put them in that container was because all three of those sandwiches had a tendency to smush easily, thus ruining the eating experience. It was a good idea, in theory, only on these days it also meant I had to carry the stupid container with me onto the playground which is never fun when you actually want to I don't know, PLAY.
Now I watch my students head off to lunch and I notice not a hell of a lot has changed. In fact, school lunches are just as unhealthy now as they were back then. 15-20 years ago we can say we "didn't know" but now, what's our excuse?
Getting healthier school lunches has been a complaint of a lot of parents. As a compromise, some schools have started providing salad or fruit along with the main course of say, cheese sticks. Let's pretend you're eight again for a minute. I don't know about you, but most eight year olds are going to see the cheese sticks and the salad and toss the salad, no pun intended.
The sharing or swapping of lunches is also prevalent in elementary school. Some kids hate what their moms make them at home, so they give their lunch to someone who got the school lunch. Other kids eat both, school AND home lunch, and nobody stops them. Others eat nothing because they don't like any of the choices.
In my school this is an even bigger problem because most of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch. When I take lunch count in the morning, sometimes I slip up and say "whose buying?" You should hear the gasps of horror that come from the kids! Buying!? Lunch?! What's that about???
Even funnier is that plenty of times these kids that "qualify" for free or reduced lunch will also bring in lunch from home. Not rinky dink lunches from home either. I'm talk top of the line, home school lunches. Lunchables. Hot ravoli. Cold pizza. You name it, they got it. Call me crazy, but I would think the same family that can't afford the $2.35 or so for a school lunch also couldn't afford the $4.00 a day Lunchable habit, nor the designer clothes and cell phones their kids carry to school, but I digress.
A few months ago I heard about this one district in New Jersey that has said that children can no longer bring cupcakes in anymore for birthdays. I don't know what the reason was, but my guess it's either the allergy factor or the time factor.
Nowadays, more and more kids are developing food allergies, which makes it even harder to figure out who can eat what. Peanuts are a big problem in schoools, not only peanuts, but peanut oil. It's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Then there is the time factor. With all of the pressure on teachers these days to "teach to the test" there simply isn't enough time to stop and celebrate Samantha's birthday for an hour. For me luckily this hasn't been a huge problem. When someone does bring in something for their birthay though I try to multitask. Eat while you work or at least get the work out of the way, then eat. As you can imagine, it's not always very effective.
One time this year a mother did not schedule anything with me and sent in an ICE CREAM birthday cake for her child. That's all fine and good, but ice cream, as you all know, has to be eaten right then and there or it will melt. So I had no choice but to have the party when the cake arrived. She also sent in no lifter, but remembered the candle. Right. Like I'm going to light a candle for the child in a classroom full of kids who mostly would burn the school down if given the chance.
Healthy school lunches might not be the most popular choice with kids, but if that's all they ever knew, then they probably wouldn't complain as much. So many parents spend so much time trying to limit their children's sugar intake, but little do they know what they are taking when they are at school. And you wonder why these kids are so hyper.
Talk about having your cake and eating it, too.
There's one time every elementary school student cherishes. That time, is lunch time.
No doubt, no matter when or where you went to school, lunch was hands down, one of the best times of the day. For one thing, there's the obvious reason; you got to eat. But while you were eating, you also got to talk, something that mean teachers like me prevent you from doing most of the day.
Of course, some lunches were better than others. If you were smart, you got the school menu ahead of time and planned your course of action. Then and only then can you decide on any given day whether to brown bag or buy it.
Fridays are a given in almost every school. This is because Fridays are usually pizza days. I can still remember how the line would wrap around the outside of the cafeteria at my school on pizza days. Back then I would always get pepperoni pizza and orange juice. In my defense, the choices were usually milk or oj. There was no soda option. There wasn't even a water option. I also thoroughly enjoyed taco day. For some reason, overdosing on acidics seemed like the perfect meal to me.
When it came time to purchase a snack, I also knew what I wanted. I almost always got the little cup that contained a mix of peanuts and raisins. Such a simple snack really, but it made me so very happy. I also enjoyed those strawberry shortcake bars which, back then, you could only get at school or through an ice cream truck. Now they're everywhere so they aren't nearly as special.
The days I brought my own lunch also hold a special place in my heart. Sometimes my mom would make my salami on rye or liverwurst on rye. When I think back to my favorite foods then, I cringe. Other days I would get my sandwich in a plastic, tupperware like container. These were the days I dreaded because that meant I either had tuna, roast beef or peanut butter and jelly. Any guesses why the container? I'll give you a few seconds to sort it out.
The reason my mom put them in that container was because all three of those sandwiches had a tendency to smush easily, thus ruining the eating experience. It was a good idea, in theory, only on these days it also meant I had to carry the stupid container with me onto the playground which is never fun when you actually want to I don't know, PLAY.
Now I watch my students head off to lunch and I notice not a hell of a lot has changed. In fact, school lunches are just as unhealthy now as they were back then. 15-20 years ago we can say we "didn't know" but now, what's our excuse?
Getting healthier school lunches has been a complaint of a lot of parents. As a compromise, some schools have started providing salad or fruit along with the main course of say, cheese sticks. Let's pretend you're eight again for a minute. I don't know about you, but most eight year olds are going to see the cheese sticks and the salad and toss the salad, no pun intended.
The sharing or swapping of lunches is also prevalent in elementary school. Some kids hate what their moms make them at home, so they give their lunch to someone who got the school lunch. Other kids eat both, school AND home lunch, and nobody stops them. Others eat nothing because they don't like any of the choices.
In my school this is an even bigger problem because most of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch. When I take lunch count in the morning, sometimes I slip up and say "whose buying?" You should hear the gasps of horror that come from the kids! Buying!? Lunch?! What's that about???
Even funnier is that plenty of times these kids that "qualify" for free or reduced lunch will also bring in lunch from home. Not rinky dink lunches from home either. I'm talk top of the line, home school lunches. Lunchables. Hot ravoli. Cold pizza. You name it, they got it. Call me crazy, but I would think the same family that can't afford the $2.35 or so for a school lunch also couldn't afford the $4.00 a day Lunchable habit, nor the designer clothes and cell phones their kids carry to school, but I digress.
A few months ago I heard about this one district in New Jersey that has said that children can no longer bring cupcakes in anymore for birthdays. I don't know what the reason was, but my guess it's either the allergy factor or the time factor.
Nowadays, more and more kids are developing food allergies, which makes it even harder to figure out who can eat what. Peanuts are a big problem in schoools, not only peanuts, but peanut oil. It's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Then there is the time factor. With all of the pressure on teachers these days to "teach to the test" there simply isn't enough time to stop and celebrate Samantha's birthday for an hour. For me luckily this hasn't been a huge problem. When someone does bring in something for their birthay though I try to multitask. Eat while you work or at least get the work out of the way, then eat. As you can imagine, it's not always very effective.
One time this year a mother did not schedule anything with me and sent in an ICE CREAM birthday cake for her child. That's all fine and good, but ice cream, as you all know, has to be eaten right then and there or it will melt. So I had no choice but to have the party when the cake arrived. She also sent in no lifter, but remembered the candle. Right. Like I'm going to light a candle for the child in a classroom full of kids who mostly would burn the school down if given the chance.
Healthy school lunches might not be the most popular choice with kids, but if that's all they ever knew, then they probably wouldn't complain as much. So many parents spend so much time trying to limit their children's sugar intake, but little do they know what they are taking when they are at school. And you wonder why these kids are so hyper.
Talk about having your cake and eating it, too.
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