His teacher gave him money for the canteen

[Wrangalove]

i think it would be best to have a discussion with the teacher. get the whole story and her side also. she may not have realised how much food you packed or he consumed.

i would be upset also as i feel she stepped over a boundary. why give your child money? how could she "feel" he was hungry, did she ask him?

definately have a talk to her openly about it but let her know that it did not please you to hear what had happened.

[OceanPrincess]

I find that really odd. Really.

I'm a bit upset that they let him choose a slushie. Like really, how is that appropriate?

I'd be having words. Nice ones - I'm sure she meant well. I hope, anyway.

[MummyNaomi]

Just talk to her, it sounds like it was a well intended gesture and I would assume that the money given wasn't intended for a slushee. I feel teachers have it rough and we need to be supportive, they are trying to balance 25 or so kids so it would be unrealistic to expect her to know exactly what goes into your LOs lunch box and how it is being consumed over the day, she would have probably just been aware that at that particular time, he didn't have much food left and appeared hungry, not realising how much he may have eaten earlier in the day

My DS is 5, on the odd occasion he has canteen money, most of the time he makes good food choices, sometimes not. Some days he eats like a horse, other days he's too busy playing to bother.

I think the appropriate thing would be to thank her for her good intentions, but just give her a friendly heads up that you'd prefer she didn't give him money in the future.

[*Ang*]

I think Mummy Naomi expresses my sentiments perfectly

"Just talk to her, it sounds like it was a well intended gesture and I would assume that the money given wasn't intended for a slushee. I feel teachers have it rough and we need to be supportive, they are trying to balance 25 or so kids so it would be unrealistic to expect her to know exactly what goes into your LOs lunch box and how it is being consumed over the day, she would have probably just been aware that at that particular time, he didn't have much food left and appeared hungry, not realising how much he may have eaten earlier in the day"

I would definitely get her side of the story first. I am sure that the money was not intended for a slushy but perhaps she herself was unable to supervise the purchase from the canteen. Teachers cannot be everywhere at the same time and sometimes have to make quick judgement calls based on what they see and hear at that time.

[surprised]

TBH I do think you're overreacting. A teacher did something kind for your child. If it happened all the time that's one thing, but she's unlikely to make a habit out of it since it probably came out of her own pocket.

Your points are all valid, but you've got a lot of years ahead of you at this place - if it were me I'd suck it up, thank the teacher if you see them (or send $1 in with your son tomorrow) and start packing more food (veggie sticks?), or label food in a way that he knows what to eat when. You don't want to become known as the mum who got angry with a teacher for doing something kind.

Sometimes people give my kids food that in an ideal world they wouldn't eat. But I would rather my children experience being shown kindness than be the lolly police.

FWIW i think you are sending plenty of food... Growth spurt? Parasites? Is he cold or bored?

[MrsFabuloso]

I'm not angry at all. I'm not going to go in all guns blazing or anything. I have given DS the money and told DS to give the teacher back and to say thank you. FWIW, this is not the first time this teacher has given my child money. But the first time she did it was for a special day when the kids had a sausage sizzle, and DS lost his money, and was upset about it, so she gave his the $2 to get a sausage sandwich. Another really lovely and kind gesture and again appreciated by myself (and him). In that instance, I didn't mind because it was kind of 'healthy' substantial food, and for a special school day to participate in. And again, I returned the money and thanked her for her kindness.

As I said in my OP, I get that she was being kind and didn't want him to be hungry, I really do appreciate that. But he brought a slushy with the money. That is not going to fill his belly at all, it's just junk food and it's not something I would feed my child. I don't let him buy slushies when I give him canteen money, and I supervise his choices when I do let him eat canteen food, because he's 5 and doesn't know better yet. I just think, if she wants to be generous for her students like that (and it really is lovely that she cares so much about 'her kids') she should take a little more responsibility in it and either tell him what to buy, go with him to make sure he made a decent choice, or get something healthy to give to him herself.

Being an early childhood teacher myself, I know the difficulty first hand in caring for 20 or so children. I know that it can be tedious and hard to monitor that the children have enough food, are eating healthy foods each day, or are not scoffing every morsel in the lunch boxes in one sitting. I've done it. We always had a little stash of healthy, low allergen foods to give to the kids who either didn't have enough foods, or brought in inappropriate foods.The teacher would have to be checking lunches to ensure they're allergy free (egg and nuts are not allowed in their lunch boxes) so surely she would know what sorts of food and how much he generally gets.
.
I will talk to the teacher this afternoon. I sent extra food for DS, some more fruit and some rice cakes with cream cheese as extra (unfortunately, he won't eat vegetables with dips or anything like that). His lunch box was overflowing. DD laughed at it, and scoffed at him 'I bet you can't eat that much food'! I told him not to eat it all at once, and to leave at least one or two things for recess.

[nothing2lose]

The first conversation I'd be having would be to ask the school why the hell are they selling slushies there at all??!!! Many canteens have a healthy food policy, as it should be IMO. What possible nutritional or other benefit are slushies to children who are trying to learn??

[MrsFabuloso]

Yep, I know n2l. They are supposed to be a part of the healthy schools thing, but seriously, so much of the food they serve leaves a lot to be desired.