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Home / Lifestyle

Mother abused over son's healthy school lunchbox

news.com.au
24 Jan, 2021 07:02 PM3 mins to read

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The unnamed parent shared her disbelief at being accused of "showing up" the other parents with her choice of lunchbox items. Photo / Getty Images

The unnamed parent shared her disbelief at being accused of "showing up" the other parents with her choice of lunchbox items. Photo / Getty Images

A mum has been left baffled after revealing she faced backlash from other parents at her son's school over healthy snacks.

The unnamed parent shared her disbelief at being accused of "showing up" the other parents with her choice of lunchbox items, posting her ordeal on Reddit.

"My youngest son, Sam, is in second grade and they still have snack time," she wrote.

"My family has a history of obesity, diabetes, and high cholesterol, so I've tried to instil healthy eating habits since he started eating real food.

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"Don't get me wrong, we still have plenty of unhealthy things in our house [chips, candy, ramen noodles, etc.], but they're eaten in moderation.

"He luckily loves fruits and veggies, so I try to incorporate them as much as I can.

"Lately he's been asking me to pack extra, and since he's going through a growth spurt I didn't think anything of it and just figured he was hungrier than usual, no biggie. This has been going on for a couple weeks now."

The mother then said she was approached by a parent of one of her son's friends after school.

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A mother has revealed she was accosted for giving her son fruit to give to friends. Photo / Supplied
A mother has revealed she was accosted for giving her son fruit to give to friends. Photo / Supplied

"Yesterday I got out of work early and decided I would surprise Sam and pick him up from school. He came out with his friend, whose mum was also there to pick him up, and the friend's mother asked if I was Sam's mum," she said.

"I said I was and introduced myself, and she said 'So you're the one who thinks you're better than all the other mums.'

"I was extremely confused and asked her what she meant and that there must be some kind of misunderstanding."

"She told me that Sam has been sharing his snacks with other kids, and her son has been asking her to pack him the same sort of stuff. She said that since she can't afford it, it makes her look like a terrible mum."

After failing to see eye-to-eye and having her offer of packing more for other kids every day turned down, the surprised mum said the abuse only got worse.

"This just seemed to make her angrier and I finally asked what her solution would be for this and she told me to start sending in more 'appropriate' snacks for my son.

"I told her that wasn't going to happen, we encourage eating healthy and these are the snacks my son asks for each day.

"I am not going to make him take something he doesn't want because it's offending her. She called me a b**** and I just walked away."

The post gained a fair bit of traction, with a number of Reddit users on the mother's side sitting baffled at the response she earned for healthy snacks.

"So you should send your son to school with potato chips for a snack to make some stranger feel better?" one posted.

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"The sheer gall and absurdity ... good for you on standing your ground."

"This woman is obviously insecure about her income/parenting and is looking for someone to blame for it," another posted.

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