There is a new hurdle for parents to cross when it comes to packing lunches. Most schools nowadays are putting the nix on peanuts, peanut butter or tree nuts of any kind. Some schools are even going as far as saying that you cannot pack your child something that was created in a factory that has processed peanuts. I have a bit of a sarcastic comment when I state, what if I make it in a kitchen that also processes peanut butter sandwiches?
I have no problem with this for the most part. Does it make it more difficult to come up with things to pack for my kids in their lunches? Yes. Does my daughter constantly lament that fact that she does not get to have peanut butter? Yes. But I understand that there are a few kids out there that are SO allergic to peanuts that they cannot have it even in the air. I respect that. I don't put peanuts, peanut butter, tree nuts or the like in the lunches that I pack. I don't want anyone getting sick, and I think it is healthy for my daughter to learn to put her own wants aside to protect the health of some of her friends.
The problem lies in the fact that there is no way for the schools to really regulate this, not sending peanuts in is left up to the honor system for the most part. They asked us not to do it, and we are supposed to listen. I do. I listen. I have bought a new kind of granola bar, and I make bagels and cream cheese, or turkey sandwiches instead of your typical PBandJ. The new rules have even forced Phebe, my daughter, and I to be creative. We bought a thermos and she packs soup, mac and cheese, leftovers, and even oatmeal. There are parents that don't follow these directions. My favorite example is of one family that has one daugther who cannot have peanuts, and their other daughter who brings a bag of peanuts in her lunch every day. Way to advocate your own cause, right?
No comes the beef. Excuse me, but I do NOT appreciate getting a note home saying that you, the lunch mom, assume that the granola bar I packed has nuts in it. It does not. I am not stupid. (You might be a few crayons short of a box since it said right on the granola bar DOES NOT CONTAIN NUTS.) I am following your no peanut laws and I do not appreciate you sending her lunch back with a little note telling me that my daughter was not allowed to finish her lunch, and to stop sending peanuts in. If they had just put away the granola bar it would have been one thing, but she was not allowed to finish her apple, or her granolar bar which means she only made it through a yogurt. I should send a note attached to my daughter. "Dear Lunch Mom, I would appreciate it if you sent me home with a happy, and fed child just as I sent her to you. Yesterday's version was cranky, starving, and hard to get along with. Thanks. The nonpeanut packing mom"
Phebe and I have discovered now, SunButter. It is basically just like peanut butter, goes great on sandwiches, tastes good with jelly or honey, and is delicious on an apple. The best part, it is sunflower seeds and is even processed in a plant that does not process nuts or tree nuts. Oh Happy day! Let's just hope that nosy Lunch Mom keeps her nose out of my kids lunch.
I would send a note in her lunch when you use SunButter to prevent that lady having a panic attack. I've given sunflower seed butter to Gabriel before and had people flip out thinking I forgot he couldn't have peanuts. You could probably even just leave a little note card explaining it and a label from the jar in a baggie that stays in her lunch box all the time.
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