Lunch Shenanigans
Back in April/May I noticed that Colin was coming home from school with much of his lunch uneaten. This isn't normal for him since he's typically a bottomless pit, and will eat everything in sight unless it is a) something he doesn't like or b) he gets distracted or runs out of time. I kept it in the back of my mind, but saw a red flag when during the drive home he brought out a snack-sized bag of potato chips.
I asked where he got the chips and he got the classic "deer in the headlights" look and then quickly insisted that his friend Jared didn't like the chips and gave them to Colin. Now Jared is a good friend, but I have seen that boy devour chips so this didn't add up.
My dad was coming into town for his 80th birthday celebration (which was fantastic, and included a not-so-surprise visit from his sister Barb), so I kept things on the back burner.
On Monday morning I logged into the MyMealtime account, which is an online account view of Colin's cafeteria activity at school. I was shocked to see that he had quite a bit more money than I expected. Close to $16, when we had only deposited around $10 and I knew he bought lunch a couple of times. So I went to look at the details...
April 22 - Cash Deposit $6.00
April 22 - Cookie
April 25 - Cash Deposit $4.00
April 25 - Chips
May 2 - Cash Deposit $1.46
May 2 - Chips
May 4 - Cash Deposit $1.55
May 5 - Cookie
May 6 - Cash Deposit $5.00
May 6 - Meal Sale Lunch, Cookie
May 11 - Cash Deposit $6.00
May 12 - Pop Tart
May 13 - Cash Deposit $2.00
May 13 - Meal Sale Lunch, Slushie
May 16 - Slushie
May 16 - Cash Deposit $4.00
May 17 - Cash Deposit $1.00
May 17 - Chips, Fruit Snacks
May 19 - Chips, Pop Tart
May 20 - Meal Sale Lunch, Chips, Pop Tart, Cookie
WHAAAAAT????? Where were all these deposits coming from? We certainly hadn't made them! And he was buying a whole lot of junk food. No wonder his fruit and sandwich were uneaten... he was filling up on pop tarts and slushies!!!
I called Hari and gave him a brief description of what I found. He went to the breakfast table and began grilling Colin about what happened. Colin was clearly overcome with guilt, but kept trying to say something about his brother.
Hari stopped that immediately. Ryan is in preschool - he couldn't have anything to do with YOU purchasing snacks at YOUR school. And yet Colin kept insisting... "but Ryan...."
And then... Hari noticed... Ryan was looking straight down at his breakfast. Keeping extremely silent. Not butting in as the boys usually do when the other one is in trouble. What???
Hari dug deeper. And there were levels upon levels within this scam. It went something like this:
OH. MY. GAWD.
My 4-year-old son was running a racket at the elementary school while he was still miles away in preschool.
We read the boys the riot act and Colin was not allowed to make any further purchases for the remainder of the school year.
Speed forward....
It is now September 2016. Colin has started 2nd grade and Ryan is now in Kindergarten at the same school. Both boys are doing well, enjoying school, and behaving quite well. We have a process at home where they make their own lunches Monday through Thursday, and then are rewarded on Friday with the option to buy lunch at school. Friday is pizza day so that is a big motivator, and I'm happy because I'm not making lunches for anyone. HOORAY!
At the start of the school year I made a deposit into each of their accounts, and figured they would have enough money to buy lunches for most of the year. I checked the accounts once per week, and the boys were being good. Just buying lunches on Fridays as we had discussed. Colin occasionally bought a cookie to go with his lunch, but I let it go since it was no big deal.
Then last week I got a call from the school nurse. Colin wasn't feeling well - he had such a bad tummy ache that he was crying in class and was sent to the nurse. I left work early, picked him up, and took him home. He seemed better, but to err on the side of caution I notified the coaches that he wouldn't be at football practice that night.
The next day he again had a tummy ache after school. And again the next day.
And Friday when I checked his account, I found that on Tuesday, and Wednesday and Thursday he bought both a slushie and a cookie. And they have recess after lunch. No wonder the kid had a stomach ache... he was jacked up on junk and then immediately ran around like a crazy person.
I carefully led into this and Colin fessed up, but was adamant that he wasn't taking any money into school. He just checked his account and there was money there so he figured he could use it. I then explained that I had deposited money for his lunches for the whole year - and he went and blew that money on junk that made him sick.
So now Colin doesn't get his Friday reward for a few weeks while he works off his debt, and hopefully he's learned a lesson.
On the flip side of things, though, I can't help but wonder why an elementary school cafeteria (grades K-3) has so much junk available. Do the teachers really want kids to be jacked up on sugar and then coming to class? So far I've heard that they have Pop Tarts, Cocoa Puffs, slushies, and cookies available in addition to a whole host of chips and other salty snacks. I understand it is a school cafeteria and not Whole Foods, but the school is supposed to educate these children. Why on EARTH are they giving kids foods that undermine the students' ability to sit still and concentrate, not to mention fostering obesity and poor nutrition?!?
Part of me wants to write a letter to the school about it, but I don't want to come off as the crazy mom. Then again, maybe we NEED some crazy-mom to help the kids and teachers.
I asked where he got the chips and he got the classic "deer in the headlights" look and then quickly insisted that his friend Jared didn't like the chips and gave them to Colin. Now Jared is a good friend, but I have seen that boy devour chips so this didn't add up.
My dad was coming into town for his 80th birthday celebration (which was fantastic, and included a not-so-surprise visit from his sister Barb), so I kept things on the back burner.
On Monday morning I logged into the MyMealtime account, which is an online account view of Colin's cafeteria activity at school. I was shocked to see that he had quite a bit more money than I expected. Close to $16, when we had only deposited around $10 and I knew he bought lunch a couple of times. So I went to look at the details...
April 22 - Cash Deposit $6.00
April 22 - Cookie
April 25 - Cash Deposit $4.00
April 25 - Chips
May 2 - Cash Deposit $1.46
May 2 - Chips
May 4 - Cash Deposit $1.55
May 5 - Cookie
May 6 - Cash Deposit $5.00
May 6 - Meal Sale Lunch, Cookie
May 11 - Cash Deposit $6.00
May 12 - Pop Tart
May 13 - Cash Deposit $2.00
May 13 - Meal Sale Lunch, Slushie
May 16 - Slushie
May 16 - Cash Deposit $4.00
May 17 - Cash Deposit $1.00
May 17 - Chips, Fruit Snacks
May 19 - Chips, Pop Tart
May 20 - Meal Sale Lunch, Chips, Pop Tart, Cookie
WHAAAAAT????? Where were all these deposits coming from? We certainly hadn't made them! And he was buying a whole lot of junk food. No wonder his fruit and sandwich were uneaten... he was filling up on pop tarts and slushies!!!
I called Hari and gave him a brief description of what I found. He went to the breakfast table and began grilling Colin about what happened. Colin was clearly overcome with guilt, but kept trying to say something about his brother.
Hari stopped that immediately. Ryan is in preschool - he couldn't have anything to do with YOU purchasing snacks at YOUR school. And yet Colin kept insisting... "but Ryan...."
And then... Hari noticed... Ryan was looking straight down at his breakfast. Keeping extremely silent. Not butting in as the boys usually do when the other one is in trouble. What???
Hari dug deeper. And there were levels upon levels within this scam. It went something like this:
- Ryan found out from Colin that it was possible to purchase snacks at the cafeteria.
- Ryan started filtering money out of their piggy banks. He would move some to the front pocket of his suitcase and leave it there for a while. Then when he felt it was "safe" he would give a handful of money to Colin to take to school.
- Colin would be told to deposit the money and purchase something for Ryan (probably Cool Ranch Doritos). He was given the OK to purchase things for himself, and also for Jared since that friend is also on Ryan's T-ball team.
OH. MY. GAWD.
My 4-year-old son was running a racket at the elementary school while he was still miles away in preschool.
We read the boys the riot act and Colin was not allowed to make any further purchases for the remainder of the school year.
Speed forward....
It is now September 2016. Colin has started 2nd grade and Ryan is now in Kindergarten at the same school. Both boys are doing well, enjoying school, and behaving quite well. We have a process at home where they make their own lunches Monday through Thursday, and then are rewarded on Friday with the option to buy lunch at school. Friday is pizza day so that is a big motivator, and I'm happy because I'm not making lunches for anyone. HOORAY!
At the start of the school year I made a deposit into each of their accounts, and figured they would have enough money to buy lunches for most of the year. I checked the accounts once per week, and the boys were being good. Just buying lunches on Fridays as we had discussed. Colin occasionally bought a cookie to go with his lunch, but I let it go since it was no big deal.
Then last week I got a call from the school nurse. Colin wasn't feeling well - he had such a bad tummy ache that he was crying in class and was sent to the nurse. I left work early, picked him up, and took him home. He seemed better, but to err on the side of caution I notified the coaches that he wouldn't be at football practice that night.
The next day he again had a tummy ache after school. And again the next day.
And Friday when I checked his account, I found that on Tuesday, and Wednesday and Thursday he bought both a slushie and a cookie. And they have recess after lunch. No wonder the kid had a stomach ache... he was jacked up on junk and then immediately ran around like a crazy person.
I carefully led into this and Colin fessed up, but was adamant that he wasn't taking any money into school. He just checked his account and there was money there so he figured he could use it. I then explained that I had deposited money for his lunches for the whole year - and he went and blew that money on junk that made him sick.
So now Colin doesn't get his Friday reward for a few weeks while he works off his debt, and hopefully he's learned a lesson.
On the flip side of things, though, I can't help but wonder why an elementary school cafeteria (grades K-3) has so much junk available. Do the teachers really want kids to be jacked up on sugar and then coming to class? So far I've heard that they have Pop Tarts, Cocoa Puffs, slushies, and cookies available in addition to a whole host of chips and other salty snacks. I understand it is a school cafeteria and not Whole Foods, but the school is supposed to educate these children. Why on EARTH are they giving kids foods that undermine the students' ability to sit still and concentrate, not to mention fostering obesity and poor nutrition?!?
Part of me wants to write a letter to the school about it, but I don't want to come off as the crazy mom. Then again, maybe we NEED some crazy-mom to help the kids and teachers.
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