You Fed Her What????

My daughter's tuition bill came in the mail yesterday.  No sticker shock, the tuition has gone up but I expected that.  I like her school, I believe she is receiving a quality education with enough extras to make the tuition money worthwhile.  I picked her up from school feeling like such a good mommy making the budgetary prioritzations necesssary to pay for her education.  "How was your day sweetie?" I ask, still basking a bit in my aren't-I-just-a-Nobel-prize-winning-self-sacrificer glory.  "Fine."  (I was reduced to one-word answers a few months ago..the tween years are fully upon us).  "What did you have for lunch?" I ask, not at all dissuaded by her monosyllable.  Her face lights up a bit, I smile in anticipatory see-even-the-lunches-are-worth-the-money joy..."Mozzarella sticks!" she answers.  "Mozzarella sticks, canned peaches, and carrot sticks!" My child is overjoyed at what she considers to be a culinary masterpiece. 

Mozzarella sticks as an entree?  At my pricey-little-bastion-of-education?

Let's face it: as a society we don't prioritize teachers highly enough to pay them well enough to get consistently high quality teaching.  (Especially our substitute kindergarten teachers, but that's another post...)We don't prioritize nutrition enough to make it imperative that under no circumstances would mozzarella sticks be considered anything more than an occasional addition to an otherwise healthy meal.

My daughter's school generally does really well with meal planning.  She has an amazing salad bar available to her every day, fresh fruit and vegetables are always plentiful and fairly varied (especially considering they are catering to an audience of 5-13 year olds), and most of the entrees reflect an attempt to keep lunch interesting as well as nutritious.  And, as in any job, some days the lunch crew drops the ball.

I don't blame the school, per se, I hold our society responsible for letting things get to the lowest common denominator where lunches like this are even considered.  Our children will (eventually) eat what they are given.  If we give them junk, well...what do we expect?  Of course they will want more junk!

Moderation.  Perspective.  I don't think mozzarella sticks for lunch are a great choice but that is one meal one time.  I am in charge of what she eats for breakfast, morning snack, afternoon snack, and dinner.  She is still young enough that I control most of what she eats.  It is my job to ensure that even when the school drops the ball, I don't.

It's my job to be a parent.