Thursday, July 29, 2010

Nathan's lunch time at school/daycare

Today, while I was at work I got a call from daycare/school. I was unavailable and my husband got the call. This is the second time they called about Nathan not eating his lunch and then getting very upset and even sick.

The first call was a few weeks ago, about how Nathan is not eating his lunch and then he gets upset and will even cry, cough, gag and vomit a little. This is what he does when he gets upset. Well the director goes on to tell me that maybe I should try sending foods that the other kids are eating, so if they are having chicken nuggets to send some allergy-free chicken nuggets for Nathan. She seems to think the reason that Nathan is having a hard time eating lunches is because he wants to eat the same thing as other kids. Maybe, maybe not. As a result, this call made me feel like a bad mom and Nathan was feeling left out.  I sat at my desk at work in tears. When I picked him up that day I told the director I would try to find foods to match the daycare menu but I also told her not to call me at work about this. It is something that she can tell me when he is picked up.

Last week I sent chicken nuggets, he didn't eat them. He hasn't liked them at home, I don't know why she thinks he will eat them at school. But then she seems to think she knows everything.

Fast forward to today. My husband gets the call from the director about how Nathan didn't eat his lunch again (a lunch that is the same as the other kids) and he got upset. She tells him that Nathan is small and how he needs to eat more, he is acting out at lunch and she can't have that, etc. My husband calls me at work to tell me this and again I sit at my desk in tears wondering if he isn't getting enough to eat, am I bad mom, what am I going to do?


Then I get a little angry, this is something that she doesn't need to call us about at work, it can wait until we pick him up, who is she to tell me what to feed my child. She isn't a doctor. Things were better at lunch time until she told me to make lunch items to match her menu. I guess I will bring this up to our pediatrician next week at his 4yr old appointment.  And send Soy nut butter and jelly sandwiches every day. He is a picky eater, I thought most kids were.

I am looking forward to Nathan starting a 4k and a new daycare next fall. And I am sure new problems.

2 comments:

Victoria said...

Jeanette, is there any way you can speak to his teacher personally? I have taught pre-k for almost 7 years now and my students were all mostly picky eaters. It's an age thing, not an "allergy thing" just like you suspect :) Maybe when he starts his new school you may want to speak with his teacher and the director, let them know how you feel. I always appreciated when a parent took the time to speak to me about thir child and concerns! Good Luck!

Jenny said...

Do you think that maybe he's feeling anxious at lunch? If you are trying to make his lunches look like his friends, maybe he thinks that they are unsafe for him and he's afraid to eat them (as opposed to having something completely different that he knows is safe). Or maybe there is another child he sits by that he doesn't trust because they try to touch him or something. I hope you can figure out what is going on and can remedy the situation in the best way possible.