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Post by nevaehsmom327 on Jan 20, 2014 12:56:56 GMT -6
DD has a hard time understanding that she can't buy the whole cafeteria when she goes to lunch at school. We get reduced lunches, so having her spend 40 cents a day I can manage, however she will buy 2-3 lunches some days and end up spending like $6 (per day)! I understand it is not the lunch ladies or the school that can control this or tell them what they can and cannot buy. Does anyone else run into this issue with their kids, and how do you handle it? We've done home lunches and that works well, but DH has a hard time with that sometimes because he's getting our 3 kids ready in the morning, as well as 2 of my friends kids who are dropped off as well.
Any tips, tricks or ideas to figure out how to get her to stop spending so much would be greatly appreciated!
TIA!
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Post by fungirls on Jan 20, 2014 13:11:50 GMT -6
Do you fund her lunch account? When she is out of money in her account, then she gets home lunch until you are willing/able to fund it again. Make home lunch right after dinner, when you're cleaning up. We do that and it makes the morning much less stressful. When I buy fruit/veggies, I cut it up and package a bunch of portions in snack/ziplock sandwich bags. That way DD's can just grab what they want in the morning. I limit them to 3 hot lunches per week each, so I can keep it affordable. They aren't big eaters, so one lunch is plenty for them and I haven't run into this issue. We go through the lunch menu as soon as we get it so we know who is having hot/home lunch each day and look at the menu each night so we can make lunches if needed.
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Post by nevaehsmom327 on Jan 20, 2014 13:47:50 GMT -6
We did that the last time. I just put money back in her bank account after the new year. She had gone a number of weeks with home lunch.
I agree that making it right after dinner would probably help. I think looking at the menu would probably help too! haha.
I love my DH, but I know that would be something that falls on my plate, and unfortunately I just have too much stuff on there already. I will definitely have to have a talk with both of them to figure out what we can do so we're not spending so much on lunches.
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Post by fungirls on Jan 20, 2014 14:27:08 GMT -6
My DD1 is 8, and sometimes we have her help make the sandwiches. My DH works part-time and is always home in the morning, and struggles with this too. He thinks for some reason that at 8 and 5, our DD's should be completely self-sufficient in the morning, including making their lunches. Even having easy things to grab and throw in a lunch box helps a ton - cheese sticks, yogurt, crackers in individual serving sizes. Then if time and money are short, they can grab-n-go Good luck!
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Post by nevaehsmom327 on Jan 20, 2014 14:40:18 GMT -6
My DD is 8 as well, almost 9. There are definitely some things she can do on her own, but I'd rather him make it so we know what she's eating, not just having her grab a bunch of junk lol
But, as I said we'll talk and see what we can all do, AS A TEAM, to either make sure DD is spending like crazy or that lunches are being made the night before. I think one of her big complaints was about her sandwiches being soggy by lunch the next day, but I think that's a fair trade if she's going to be spending so much on lunch at school!
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Post by cissy on Jan 20, 2014 14:49:12 GMT -6
Get a thermos you can send almost anything in them, no more soggy sandwiches. I have sent soup, spaghetti, meatballs, enchiladas, hotdogs, oatmeal. My almost 8 yr old did not like pizza in it though.
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Post by bunsy on Jan 20, 2014 14:50:10 GMT -6
She's old enough to understand and respect those limits. I would tell her she is allowed to get ONE lunch and one extra item. That would keep the cost respectable. Find the time on Sunday evening to look at the menu ahead and pick what she's going to have.....
I also think it is ridiculous that the schools refuse to maintain some controls on this issue. Just because they were able to computerize it, doesn't mean that kids should have free rein. Elementary students shouldn't have that kind of responsibility or control.
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Post by nevaehsmom327 on Jan 20, 2014 15:00:07 GMT -6
Hmmm. Never thought of a thermos.
Oh, even if she doesn't have money in there they can spend away. There was a point last year where we were sending her to school with a lunch, then she would go buy a lunch, and then go buy one for her friends. Which is super nice and sweet of her, but we simply cannot afford it.
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Post by bunsy on Jan 20, 2014 15:17:23 GMT -6
Technology has certainly complicated that situation. Plan ahead. Set limits. If she continues after that, you may need to ask her to pay. Maybe if it was HER money, she'd learn more quickly. Good luck.
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Post by lilmermaid on Jan 20, 2014 15:38:05 GMT -6
I am shocked the school does nothing about this! I could see it at the junior high/high school level but at the elem. level they should still have control over this. Have you asked the school to see if they have a way to flag her account and put a limit on how much she spends?
I know at our school both the lunch ladies and cashier check to make sure the kids can have more than 1 meal or an extra helping of the entree.
Good Luck!
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Post by dara1012 on Jan 20, 2014 16:41:26 GMT -6
Can you send a healthy snack and limit her to one lunch?
We haven't run into issues with DS yet, but we just have money automatically added to his account when it gets too low, so I might not even notice if he started buying more than one lunch unless it was really often. $6/day is way too expensive for kid in elementary school.
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Post by bunsy on Jan 20, 2014 17:14:39 GMT -6
You know darn well they would limit it if she was on FREE lunch. They have the controls; they just don't want to use them.
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Post by lilmermaid on Jan 20, 2014 18:27:33 GMT -6
I would think with reduced they would step in too!
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Post by nevaehsmom327 on Jan 21, 2014 8:34:16 GMT -6
So here's what we've done in the past...because she says the school lunch is not enough food for her. We've sent her to school with her snack, usually an apple or something healthy for her "in class" snack. THEN, we also send her with a sandwich to eat at lunch along with her lunch that she buys. That worked for a while, but then she went back to buying the Ala-carte lunch (which is where it gets expensive). I don't care if she buys milk or a drink, but all the extra food is just ridiculous.
I can't imagine that there are many people on free and reduced lunches in our district. Most of the kids she goes to school with look pretty well off, if you know what I mean. I guess I haven't talked to the school about it to see what they can do to help, so that might actually be my first step. Maybe they can step in.
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Post by apryllraye87 on Jan 21, 2014 22:17:37 GMT -6
We had the same issue this year. DS was eating breakfast at daycare before going to school, then eating breakfast at school, plus lunch & a snack & a drink. I talked to his teacher about the breakfast but he was saying his lunches weren't enough. I had a talk with him and told him I don't mind if he has a snack if he's still hungry ($0.40-$.60 extra) but that he had to limit it to one snack a day or else I would not fund his account anymore. It worked for us because when his account gets below $10 they put a sticker on his hand each day until it is funded again and this is just the end of the world for him I told him if he only buys his lunch and one snack, his account won't ever get that low.
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