A mother is shocked when her son’s preschool teacher calls her to criticize the “disgusting and inappropriate” lunches she packs for him, which are causing a distraction and an unpleasant odor in the classroom. Despite her friendly relationship with the teacher, the mother refuses to change her son’s lunches and is unsure how to proceed.
Source: Reddit
I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher. She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such “disgusting and inappropriate” lunches. I felt absolutely appalled when she said this, as me and the teacher have, up until now, always maintained a very friendly relationship. She added that the lunches I’m packing my son are “very distracting for the other students and have an unpleasant odor.” I told her that I understand her concerns, as the lunches I pack are definitely not the healthiest, but the lunches are according to my son’s preferences.
The usual lunch that I send him to school with is small celery sticks with blue cheese and goat cheese, kimchi and spam (we are Korean and he absolutely adores this dish), and spicy Doritos marinated in Sriracha (I know, I know, but he deserves a snack, and I don’t put that many chips in the baggy.)
I ended the call by saying that I very much appreciated her worries, but that at the end of the day, I am not going to drastically change my sons’ lunches all of a sudden, and that it’s not my fault if other students are “distracted” by his meal. It is very important to me what my son enjoys, and I want him to like my lunches.
The teacher sent an Email to me an hour ago saying that my response was “unacceptable” and that his lunches are “just too inappropriate to be sent to school any longer.” I haven’t responded yet and don’t want to. I want to maintain a healthy relationship with my son’s teachers. I am confused as to what to do. AM I WRONG ? WHAT SHOULD I DO ?
Here are a few comments on the story where it was originally posted:
