We all want to make sure our kids eat healthy and balanced meals while they're at school, but trying to juggle snacks that are good for them with snacks they actually enjoy eating isn't always an easy task - and it can be even harder if you don't have much time in the morning to make their packed lunch.
But one mum has been left fuming at her son's teacher after she was told to stop giving the five-year-old boy the lunch she makes for him every day, because the educator thinks they are "disgusting an inappropriate".
The mum explained she gives her son fairly balanced meals that include celery sticks, cheese, and kimchi, but his teacher isn't a fan of the dishes - as she claims they are "distracting" other students because of their "unpleasant odour".
In a post on Reddit, the mum fumed: "I have a son who attends pre-school. 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 the teacher and I have, up until now, always maintained a very friendly relationship. She added that the lunches I'm packing for my son are 'very distracting for the other students and have an unpleasant odour'. 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)."
The mum said she refused to agree to the teacher's demands and told her that she wouldn't stop giving her son lunches that he enjoys - especially when it's vital that he eats while at school.
But after their phone call, the mum then received an email telling her that her response was "unacceptable".
She added: "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 son's lunches all of a sudden, and that it's not my fault of 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."
Commenters on the post were firmly on the woman's side, as many of them called on her to report the teacher to the school's headteacher, as they believed her comments about the boy's lunch were rooted in ignorance over them consisting of traditional Korean dishes.
One person said: "You need to go straight to the Principal or school admin with this. It's literally spam and kimchi. It's the teacher's responsibility to explain that different cultures have different foods and different smells, but that doesn't make it disgusting, inappropriate, or distracting."
While another wrote: "This teacher is completely out of bounds. You need to bring this to the administration. This could easily be seen as discriminatory based on his ethnicity and I can't imagine the school wants to open that can of worms. Keep feeding that baby what he likes. You're a good mama."
But others said that although the teacher was wrong to handle it in the way she did, they agreed that the boy's lunch probably does have a strong odour - especially with the combination of kimchi and blue cheese.
Someone noted: "I'm Korean and I'm baffled that you would send your kid to school with kimchi. I would never send kimchi with my kid to school or take it with me to work, just like I wouldn't pack fish, because of how smelly it is and how rude it would be for me to do that to my coworkers."
As a second added: "Also BLUE CHEESE? C'mon, why did you have to pack the most offensive cheese? I HATE how the teacher handled this but dude, this lunch would REEK in an unrefrigerated backpack by lunchtime!"
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