At the beginning of the school year, all parents signed up to bring Kleenex, school supplies and a snack. The teachers were adamant about food--only healthy snacks. No sugar treats that gave the kids the jitters for the rest of the day.
When my turn came, I packed the carrot and celery sticks, apple slices, raisins and bananas. The teachers did specify healthy snacks, no sugar. Diet soda, not regular, and juices.
But my kids returned home, embarrassed and ashamed. The popular room mothers brought brownies, donuts. . . . .soda with all the calories. The class was happily wired. Sugar-infused behavior seemed the norm.
I was out of the loop. There was an unspoken conspiracy, a discrepancy between school rules and daily practice.
Then I remembered all those lunches my mom carefully packed. The little bags of healthy carrots and apples, the long pretzels or a few saltines. She wanted us to have good strong bodies and minds. We chomped away on our snacks, but at times we worked at trading these with friends, who had lunches packed with sweet treats--small pies with marshmallow topping or cakes with cream filling.
What snacks did you bring or trade?
No comments:
Post a Comment