Preschooler's homemade lunch replaced with nuggets

[Robin Garr]

Here's some reading a a related topic for those with some interest and stamina.

Thanks! I don't have time today, but I would like to read that, and appreciate you posting it. I often feel - though it's easy for me to say as a non-parent - that today's parents are way too protective and that it can't be that good for kids. Crime rates today are actually lower than they were a generation ago, but to see the SUVs lining up after school to give Dick and Jane a safe right home, you'd think there was a thug hiding behind every tree.

(A lot of people don't remember this, but a lot of the hysteria over children stolen by strangers - a tragic but vanishingly rare event - was generated by none other than our own Mitch McConnell, back in the '80s when he was Jefferson County Judge-Executive and looking for a meme to adopt as his own and ride to the Senate. )

Here's some reading a a related topic for those with some interest and stamina.

Thanks! I don't have time today, but I would like to read that, and appreciate you posting it. I often feel - though it's easy for me to say as a non-parent - that today's parents are way too protective and that it can't be that good for kids. Crime rates today are actually lower than they were a generation ago, but to see the SUVs lining up after school to give Dick and Jane a safe right home, you'd think there was a thug hiding behind every tree.

The reason that parents drive SUVs and minivans is because of government regulations requiring individual infant or booster seats. Long gone are the simple days when it was alright to pile all the kids on the bench seat in the back of a sedan or wagon. I'll not comment on whether this change is good or bad other than to say that there are always tradeoffs about changes like this, and maybe government one-size-fits-all solutions might not be best for every family.

It's the same thing with over parenting these days. These days, parent's who don't constantly monitor their children, could well find themselves on the wrong side of a meeting with child protective services, and their children taken away, or even charged with a felony.

Had the same government intrusion happened back when I was raised, I have no doubts that every parent in the neighborhood would have been in trouble. We kids roamed all over the neighborhood, in and out of building sites, in and out of stores, and during summer, very late into the evenings. All this without any adult supervision, without any fuss from anyone.

Not to sound like an old fuddy duddy, it's clear that the current times are not an improvement over that state of affairs.

Not to sound like an old fuddy duddy, it's clear that the current times are not an improvement over that state of affairs.

At least we can all agree that Louisville, in current times, has a ton of fantastic restaurants. We're all happy about that state of affairs. Liberal, conservative, commie pig and socialist nanny-stater scum alike.

Not to sound like an old fuddy duddy, it's clear that the current times are not an improvement over that state of affairs.

At least we can all agree that Louisville, in current times, has a ton of fantastic restaurants. We're all happy about that state of affairs. Liberal, conservative, commie pig and socialist nanny-stater scum alike.

Tell me you don't miss Pizza Inn.

Here's some reading a a related topic for those with some interest and stamina.

Thanks! I don't have time today, but I would like to read that, and appreciate you posting it. I often feel - though it's easy for me to say as a non-parent - that today's parents are way too protective and that it can't be that good for kids. Crime rates today are actually lower than they were a generation ago, but to see the SUVs lining up after school to give Dick and Jane a safe right home, you'd think there was a thug hiding behind every tree.

(A lot of people don't remember this, but a lot of the hysteria over children stolen by strangers - a tragic but vanishingly rare event - was generated by none other than our own Mitch McConnell, back in the '80s when he was Jefferson County Judge-Executive and looking for a meme to adopt as his own and ride to the Senate. )

I couple of months ago, I would have agreed with you. Then my niece was walking her dog while the nanny worked with my nephew on his homework, and a man approached in a van. He parked and started asking her questions about herself, then he stepped out and tried to grab her. She ran into a neighbor's garage and began pounding on the door. He hasn't been caught, and they live in the NY suburbs, so he's got plenty of areas to move to if he thinks the police suspect him. I know it sounds like a ridiculous movie of the week plot, but it does actually happen.

You say the problem is vanishingly small. Maybe. But I had horrible nightmares of what could have happened to that dear child. I think that if you had a child, you'd understand the sort of fierce love a parent has. Now I bring my computer to the patio and watch the children every minute they play. Maybe some people see that as overprotective, but the downsides are just too great compared to the little bit of freedom the children are losing.

[Robin Garr]

Now I bring my computer to the patio and watch the children every minute they play. Maybe some people see that as overprotective, but the downsides are just too great compared to the little bit of freedom the children are losing.

I certainly respect your feelings, Eliza, and understand that you can't be too careful.

Did you miss the part where the funding was supplied by the Federal government? Or that the inspections of home-made lunches were required by that same government? Or the fact that the parent had to complain to a State Representative to be taken seriously?

To quote from one of my favorite movies Office Space,
" I'm going to have to disagree with you there Bob."

If you hadn't noticed, earlier in this thread I had posted a link to the new USDA recommendations and guidelines. I saw nothing in the 300+ pages stating anything about "required inspections" of lunches brought from home. Feel free to look through the document yourself and if you have any questions about it, I will be happy to answer them to the best of my ability. By the way, I'm not an elected offical, but I do my best to be fiscallly responsible with your tax dollars as a government employee.

Uneatened is not a word!!! I thought the first one was a typo, but then I saw it again, sorry, but it is uneaten.

And here's a few more thoughts...

What if the disallowed lunch just had a baloney sandwich and chips, No cheese, no whole grain bread, no milk. We all know that some children are picky eaters, so suppose this is all the kid would eat.

This would not be a valid lunch under these government guidelines. So what happens?

The school forces the child to buy a school lunch everyday. It goes uneatened, and the kid just has their baloney sandwich and chips. The parent complains about continuing to pay for the uneatened school lunch and refuses to pay anymore.

What happens then?

Does the child get removed from the parents custody for not making an approved lunch?
Is a lien place on their house so that the dept for uneatened school lunch will get paid?
Would the parents wages be garnished to pay for the uneatened school lunches?
Would the kid be punished somehow for never eating their approved school lunch?
Would there by mandatory counseling with social workers and dietitians?
Would the school just ignore the madates of the Federal government?
Would some bureaucrat in Washington have to approve a waiver?

Seriously, what would happen?

The Blaze has a story of a second mom from the same school saying the "lunch police" inspected and rejected her daughter's lunch.

that today's parents are way too protective and that it can't be that good for kids. Crime rates today are actually lower than they were a generation ago, but to see the SUVs lining up after school to give Dick and Jane a safe right home, you'd think there was a thug hiding behind every tree.

Hmm....is it just me or is the "Food Guy" starting to sound like the "Food Curmudgeon" ?

Did you miss the part where the funding was supplied by the Federal government? Or that the inspections of home-made lunches were required by that same government? Or the fact that the parent had to complain to a State Representative to be taken seriously?

To quote from one of my favorite movies Office Space,
" I'm going to have to disagree with you there Bob."

If you hadn't noticed, earlier in this thread I had posted a link to the new USDA recommendations and guidelines. I saw nothing in the 300+ pages stating anything about "required inspections" of lunches brought from home. Feel free to look through the document yourself and if you have any questions about it, I will be happy to answer them to the best of my ability. By the way, I'm not an elected offical, but I do my best to be fiscallly responsible with your tax dollars as a government employee.

I may be mistaken, but I thought the rules under question were specific to daycares and preschools? From the way I read the article concerning the original story, this wasn't a "school".

I wanted to respond separately to the curmudgeon part of the conversation.

My 6yo has taken a sudden interest in climbing the tree in our front yard. For about a week or so she made a point of finding a different branch to sit in while waiting for her dad to get home from work. She would sometimes want to go out in the cold and wait in a branch with a water bottle for up to 30 minutes.

Since she was having so much fun doing this I gave her the illusion of independence. I had the front door open, but not the storm door. I could hear her as plain as day, but I was sitting out of line of sight in the living room.

I heard a neighbor gentleman outside walking his dog stop to speak to her. "Where is your mom?"

She answered, "She's in the house."

"Does she know you're out here all by yourself up in a tree?"

"Yeah. She's fine with it."

Anyway. It made me giggle. Clearly I was paying attention and knew where my child was. I'm not comfortable letting my 6yo roam the streets on her own. But that little tiny bit of independence I gave her apparently was too much.

but to see the SUVs lining up after school to give Dick and Jane a safe right home

Or, parents here, don't want to deal with their kids bused half way around Louisville, have them transfer buses at a depot, and bused some more. But that is for a different thread...

That's the problem with a hugely powerful and intrusive government.

Sweet Jayzus! We're talking about an overbearing lunch lady, a situation that any reasonably confident parent ought to be able to handle with a visit to the principal! It's a mighty long stretch to take that to national government.

As for the "small government" thing, the Southern states tried that argument in 1860, and they tried it again in the 1960s. We saw what came of that.

Below is a quote from The Blaze:

"Barnes confirmed there was an agent from Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Child Development and Early Education at the school Jan. 30 who examined six student lunches and determined one did not make the nutritional cut".

The last time I checked, The Department of Health and Human Services isn't a an overbearing lunch lady, but an extension of our federal government.

That's the problem with a hugely powerful and intrusive government.

Sweet Jayzus! We're talking about an overbearing lunch lady, a situation that any reasonably confident parent ought to be able to handle with a visit to the principal! It's a mighty long stretch to take that to national government.

As for the "small government" thing, the Southern states tried that argument in 1860, and they tried it again in the 1960s. We saw what came of that.

Below is a quote from The Blaze:

"Barnes confirmed there was an agent from Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Child Development and Early Education at the school Jan. 30 who examined six student lunches and determined one did not make the nutritional cut".

The last time I checked, The Department of Health and Human Services isn't a an overbearing lunch lady, but an extension of our federal government.

The agency in question was a STATE government agency.