A mother has divided opinion after putting a note in her daughter’s lunchbox to mother put a note in her daughter’s lunchbox – which some have blasted as ‘passive aggressive’.
The mum, who goes by Caroline, believed to be from the US, claims she left the note after a nursery teacher was telling her three-year-old daughter how to eat her lunch.
The teacher allegedly made her thee-year-old student finish the ‘good’ foods such as her sandwiches, before she could tuck into what she deemed ‘bad’ foods.
The worried mother sent her daughter to school the next day with a firm note scolding the teachers and informing them her little girl was allowed to eat her lunch in whatever order she wanted.
She added that she was proud to have raised her daughter knowing that it was important to eat a balanced meal and was frustrated the teachers were undoing all her hard work.
In a TikTok clip Caroline lifted the lid of her daughter’s unicorn lunch bag to show a hand-written note taped to her daughter’s blue lunchbox.
The note read: ‘HI! Evelyn has our permission to eat lunch in any order she chooses. None of her foods are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ – they are just food! Thank! Caroline & Joey.’
In the caption alongside her TikTok, the mother wrote: ‘My three-year-old came home from school yesterday, telling me that her teacher told her that she had to eat all of her ‘good’ foods before she ate her ‘bad’ foods.
So Caroline took matters in to her own hands and told the nursery staff her little one had permission to eat her meal in whatever order she wanted
‘She couldn’t have her cookie before eating her sandwich and cucumbers.
‘In this moment, I felt a little frustrated by the antiquated instruction from the teacher, but I responded saying, “Well that’s silly.
‘There are no good foods or bad foods.
‘Food is just food!”
‘I will say, this was not my internal dialogue growing up, but because of the information that I have from so many great accounts created by moms and experts, in the field of childhood and nutrition, I am armed with better responses, knowledge and practices for my kids.
‘Three years old.
‘At three years old someone has told her that foods are good or bad. I am so proud that she had sensed something was off – to know that was not right enough to tell me about it.
‘We talk about it all the time at home…
‘If you only eat carrots or broccoli your body won’t have protein it needs to grow strong muscles.
‘If you only eat chicken, your body won’t have enough energy to do things like run and play all day long.
A furious mother put a defiant note in her daughter’s lunchbox to shame a bizarre meal time rule being enforced in her school which meant her three-year-old daughter had to eat her lunch in a specific order
‘We need little bits of everything to make sure that we are able to learn and play and grow all day long.
‘So to the accounts that make sure we have the words, knowledge and confidence to write the note and practice it at home, I thank you, thank you, thank you.
‘It has changed our family for the better. What you do and what you share is so important to young families.
And other parents and even teachers weighed in on the debate.
One supportive parents wrote: ‘Good on you!’ while another congratulated Caroline for being firm.
One teacher even wrote: ‘As a teacher, if their belly is full, that’s all that matters.
‘And trust me, we’re so busy they’re gonna eat it all!’
While another said: ‘As a daycare teacher I will always try to encourage kids to eat at least some of their ‘foods that give them energy to play’ but I can’t imagine telling a kid that foods are good or bad’.
However, other parents weren’t convinced, with one arguing: ‘That’s great until they’re in the 3rd grade and still as small as a kinder. I beg my son to eat his sandwich first he needs to grow’.
Another added: ‘I’m sure the teacher wasn’t trying to be cruel. Maybe you could have talked to the teacher instead of a passive aggressive note on your three year old’s lunch?’
Someone else questioned: ‘Why send your kid to a school you don’t agree with? Also, I guarantee other kids will tell her the same. Are you gonna write notes to them too?’
Meanwhile, another chimed in with: ‘And why did we need to see this note? What did posting this online do for anyone?’
The heated debate comes just after another parent sparked conversation online after sharing a snap of the vegan lunch box her son was given at a birthday party.
British mother Emma Lougar had shared a tweet to X, formerly known as Twitter showing off a very thoughtful vegan lunch box made for her son at a birthday party.
The content of the personalised meal was clearly labelled, consisting of a ‘vegan’ chicken burger, mini ‘no eggs’, sweet potato falafel bites and a vegan sausage roll.
She explained that she offered to supply her son’s own meal and was delighted that his dietary requirements were met – but not everybody in the comments agreed.
