Monday, May 11, 2009

Jelly Beans

I've been so busy, I haven't had time to rant and rave about this one. My son came home from school a week ago and sobbed on and off for a couple of hours. Several things were going on that he was upset about, but his reaction seemed unusually severe (very much like a food dye reaction). He swore he had not eaten anything. I'm finding it a little too coincidental that he has reacted twice to handling dyed foods at school (Easter eggs and now jelly beans). That was part of what he was crying about. The class did a jelly bean activity. He was supposed to sort, count and taste jelly beans and then write about it. I was not informed they were doing this, or I would have sent dye free jelly beans for him. Jelly Belly and Surf Sweet both make dye free jelly beans.

He was upset that he had to make up which flavor he liked and that he had to watch the other 2 boys on his team consume 144 jelly beans, since he couldn't have any. Now am I just a mean mom that I would not consider letting my child have 50-75 jelly beans in one sitting? And even if I did want my child to eat that way, should my school promote that as an academic task? I like teachers who make education fun and interactive. But isn't there a way to do it without sugar and food dyes? Now I think this is a good teacher, who does a nice job most of the time, but when I have sent my request in writing and made several reminders about my son needing to be "dye free" I just wish I didn't have to continually start over. It's always one step forward, two steps back.

3 comments:

Kim Snedden said...

I'm always baffled that teachers aren't willing to buy in to the dye-free idea. I've never been a teacher, but knowing what 20 kids hopped up on "kiddie crack" could look like, I would think they would be the first ones to adopt the program since they would benefit the most dramatically. Imagine a classroom of 20 attentive children, each excited about learning and sharing ideas......

Mom4Change said...

That really stinks!!! My son came home today happy to have four pretzels instead of the three M&M's that the other children got after their kindergarten performance. They were given them as they were leaving. I'm sure the other parents won't have a clue why "Johnny" is acting so crazy today. Not all of the kids have the visible reactions, but there are a few in there that could be affected. I am so glad that the teacher takes our request seriously. Generally, only dye-free snacks are offered for all - probably because she was a former OT and really understands dye-induced behavior. I'm sure a well-intended parent brought those M&M's in. My children have always announced that they don't want the red dye foods and they have even told others that they are bad for them. My three year old cracks me up whenever we go to a store he says - "oh those are the red dye candies....yuck I don't want to eat them!" It used to be hard for my oldest to see the candies passed out and reject them but now he is an advocate too. I really want to get schools on the healthy foods bandwagon!

The girl who painted trees said...

I found this when I googled dye free jellybeans. We try to keep our 3.5 yr old and 20 month old dye free. It can get hard when we go to friends' houses. The 3.5 yr old especially finds it challenging to see her friends eat candy so I try to find her better alternatives even though personally I'd rather she eat no candy at all. So back to my hunt for dye free jellybeans for her easter basket.

Julie
http://theadventuresofbear.blogspot.com