My son’s teacher mum-shamed me over his lunchbox – so I made it EASIER for him to tuck into his ‘unhealthy’ snack
A FURIOUS mum was left stunned when her son’s teacher made comments on his packed lunch – so she found a simpler way for him to enjoy his “unhealthy” snack.
Ashy, from Queensland, Australia, took to TikTok to reveal the bizarre interaction between her five-year-old and his teacher at school.
The mum began by explaining how she sent her kid to school with an individually wrapped cake slice in his lunchbox, but was surprised when he returned with it uneaten.
“When I asked him why he hadn’t eaten it he said that teacher on duty at lunchtime wouldn’t open it for him because it’s not healthy,” she said.
The 36-year-old mum was confused and told her followers how she didn’t remember asking the teacher for her opinion.
“My son’s lunchbox is very well balanced, he gets everything from dairy to fruit to sandwiches to cold meats and lots of selection,” Ashy said.
“And that’s because we believe, in this house, it’s our job as adults to provide enough food and variety for our son’s nutritional needs to be met and to allow him to listen to his body and make decisions accordingly – which means he’s allowed to have sweet things sometimes.
“I know some people call them ‘treats’ or whatever, we just call it ‘food’ in this house. We do not attach a moral value to food, we just provide food.
“It’s our job as adults to make sure that we’re providing enough of the ‘right foods’, whatever that means, for my son’s nutritional needs to be met.”
The mum explained how she felt “a little bit annoyed” over the teacher’s decision on what her son “can or can’t eat based on her own diet”.
“As far as I’m concerned, if my son has eaten his ham and cheese, yoghurt, fruit and his sandwich, he can have the f***ing cake if he’s hungry,” Ashy said.
“He can eat the f***ing cake because it’s not in there to be a decoration. I made the decision to put it in there for him and now I feel really bad that this teacher shamed him in front of his friends for not having ‘healthy’ food in his lunchbox.”
But the following day the mum got her own back on the teacher and made her son’s life easier in the process.
She sent her son back to school with the same cake – but she removed the packaging herself beforehand.
“I unwrapped it so that he could scoff that in at 9am if he wants to, because we don’t put a moral value on food,” she said.
Ashy’s post racked up over one million views and her followers were left in stitches at how she handled the situation.
One agreed: “I work in the education system and I agree with your beliefs and I can’t stand teachers etc saying a child can’t “have” something!”
Another said: “I cheat and open the wrapper in the morning before school, the kids know it’s done, so hopefully the teacher stays out of it”.
One more commented: “I wrote emails to teachers saying similar. I don’t provide anything they can’t open now or pre open. I tell them to ignore the teacher”.
In a follow-up video, the mum confirmed she had a “really calm, informal discussion” with her son’s teacher.
“I felt listened to, I have walked away from that feeling quite confident my point has been made and my point has been made and heard,” she said.
“She was quite empathetic to my explanations for why I do certain things.”
Ashy said she was informed about the guidelines and how teachers “teach kids about healthy and unhealthy” food.
“She [the teacher] understands my objections to those but I also understand that she has a job to teach as per the curriculum,” she said.
“I do feel, at least for now, we all understand that what is in my son’s lunchbox he can eat in whatever order he chooses to eat it.
“I feel that’s the outcome for today and that is what I wanted to happen and I’m happy.”
But in her most recent post, Ashy revealed that a TV news crew has even showed up on her doorstep to interview her as the wrapped-cake drama continues to unfold.
This comes after a mum caused uproar after sharing a video of her child’s lunchbox which was seen stuffed with a ham sandwich, jelly, crisps and a can of Coke Zero.
Another mum was slammed by teachers after packing “too much food” in her son’s lunchbox.