Featured Image Credit: Gareth Fuller/PA Archive/PA Images
Topics: Social Media
Rachael Davis
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and one teacher learned that the hard way when she was sent a note by a disgruntled parent.
When business-owner Caroline’s daughter came home one afternoon, she alleged that her teacher had told her she could only eat the “bad” foods once she had eaten the “good” ones in her lunchbox.
More specifically, the teacher told Caroline’s daughter that she should eat her sandwich and cucumber before eating her cookie.
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Caroline’s business, Pezzi, specialises in making food utensils for small children, so she’s perhaps closer to the subject than most mums.
Posting on TikTok under her account @pezzi.shop, Caroline shared how she took matters into her own hands with the teacher in question.
In her video’s caption, she said: “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.
“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.
“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 sensed something was off - to know that was not right enough to tell me about it.”
"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." she continued.
"We need little bits of everything to make sure that we are able to learn and play and grow all day long."
Incensed by the suggestion that her daughter should eat her main before her dessert, Caroline stuck a note for the teacher to her daughter’s lunchbox.
It said: “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!
“Thanks, Caroline and Joey.”
Reactions were mixed, to say the least.
“As a teacher, your response is 100 percent right,” said one commenter. “The narrative of 'good' and 'bad' food can actually encourage harmful eating habits to develop.”
Another said: “As a former teacher, my thought was the parents packed their kid's lunch with the intent they eat it; in whatever order or amount.”
There were some who came to the teacher’s defence, however.
“I’m sure the teacher wasn’t trying to be cruel,” said one comment. “Maybe you could have talked to the teacher instead of a passive-aggressive note on your three-year-old's lunch?”
Others noted that the teacher was right to make sure Caroline’s daughter was eating properly as it’s part of her duty of care.
While her phrasing may not have been immaculate, it seems to many that she was simply suggesting the child should eat her food in the conventional main-first, dessert-second order.
It doesn’t seem as though the teacher suggested that she shouldn’t eat the so-called “bad” cookie, after all.
In response, Caroline said: "I don't think she was trying to be cruel! I don't get to see the lunch teacher and didn't think the note was passive-aggressive."