September ended up being a very stressful month. I thought we were starting off a really great school year, but soon found a long list of problems with one particular school staff member. I've been so busy, I feel like I blinked my eyes and the month is over. Oh, yeah, we've also had one kid in a cast and many other interesting adventures.
On the food dye front, one of the funniest, and at the same time most pathetic incidents was when an intervention person at my school told me she gives the kids the red and white mints to help them concentrate. Oh, yeah, that will do it, I thought.
Another person gave my son a Dum Dum at school on a Friday and we dealt with that for a whole weekend. That was a "fun" weekend, to say the very least. Hopefully others are being more successful in their journey to remain "dye free." Hopefully life will settle down a little and I'll get back to posting more often.
Showing posts with label food dye at school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food dye at school. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Friday, October 3, 2008
Here we go again...
I might as well just copy my old posts because it's the same old story every week. No matter how many times I put it in writing or call, someone forgets and gives my kids food they are not supposed to have.
I picked Lindsey up from Preschool and she was literally spinning in circles and shrieking. That 's not how my daughter usually is. Her routine for the past year is to run up to me and hug me sweetly. Even the teacher commented that she didn't know why she was so wound up. Hmmm, I know what that looks like. My immediate thought was that she had some sort of food dye. There was not supposed to be anything on the menu that day. But her regular teacher was out so who knows. They probably forgot to substitute my cheese crackers for the off brand dye-added brand they serve.
Alex had "puppy chow" for his after school snack. He is only supposed to eat foods I provide. He had 2 healthy snacks in his bag. Instead they gave my lactose intolerant/gluten free child something that probably has both milk and wheat. At least they've insisted before that there is no artificial dye in that snack. The poor little guy was so sick to his stomach he barely ate a few rice crackers for dinner and was in bed an hour early at his own request. How sad is that?
Ben had chocolate cupcakes at school this week, so 50/50 chance he had red dye. What happened to the alternate treat I sent in? Who knows, but it absolutely was not offered to him. At least he was on the ball and scraped off the sprinkles.
If I had met a parent who talked about this stuff a few years ago I would have written her off as a total nutcase. I just don't know how to make people understand how important the link is between children's food and their behavior. Not to mention the links to cancerous tumors and other health problems. I've sent emails to both Oprah and Dr. Phil. Maybe they'll get interested and do a story some day.
I picked Lindsey up from Preschool and she was literally spinning in circles and shrieking. That 's not how my daughter usually is. Her routine for the past year is to run up to me and hug me sweetly. Even the teacher commented that she didn't know why she was so wound up. Hmmm, I know what that looks like. My immediate thought was that she had some sort of food dye. There was not supposed to be anything on the menu that day. But her regular teacher was out so who knows. They probably forgot to substitute my cheese crackers for the off brand dye-added brand they serve.
Alex had "puppy chow" for his after school snack. He is only supposed to eat foods I provide. He had 2 healthy snacks in his bag. Instead they gave my lactose intolerant/gluten free child something that probably has both milk and wheat. At least they've insisted before that there is no artificial dye in that snack. The poor little guy was so sick to his stomach he barely ate a few rice crackers for dinner and was in bed an hour early at his own request. How sad is that?
Ben had chocolate cupcakes at school this week, so 50/50 chance he had red dye. What happened to the alternate treat I sent in? Who knows, but it absolutely was not offered to him. At least he was on the ball and scraped off the sprinkles.
If I had met a parent who talked about this stuff a few years ago I would have written her off as a total nutcase. I just don't know how to make people understand how important the link is between children's food and their behavior. Not to mention the links to cancerous tumors and other health problems. I've sent emails to both Oprah and Dr. Phil. Maybe they'll get interested and do a story some day.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
dealing with dyes in school snacks
It's hard enough to avoid the food dyes at home and at restaurants. They are hidden in products you would never expect. It's an even more complicated mess to try to keep my kids from eating all the tempting colored treats at school. Ben has gotten tired of having the "melt downs" after eating red so he's pretty good at avoiding things, or asking about ingredients before eating things. At the "meet the teacher" night we explained that our son cannot have food dye and other parents seemed interested. I told the teacher that safe treats are white cakes without the sprinkles, glazed donuts, and chocolate or chocolate chip cookies.
Last week, one parent contacted me to check what Ben could have. She happens to be a former colleague so that may make her more willing to go the extra mile. She decided to make white cup cakes, but her daughter was really hoping for some chocolate sprinkles. I emailed back to leave a plain one for Ben, but also added that if she was shopping for sprinkles anyway, that the Mr. Sprinkles clown bottle is dye free. I heard back from that Mom today that while others were running around the store restocking milk and meat from the massive power outages, they were looking for the clown sprinkles and found them! How blessed we are when someone is willing to go out of their way to include my son so he can eat what the rest of the class eats. If you read this, Thanks Laura!
For the times when other treats are sent in, I have supplied the teacher with individually sealed cakes that don't have dye. Most "Little Debbie" snacks are fine, but it's best to read the label.
Last week, one parent contacted me to check what Ben could have. She happens to be a former colleague so that may make her more willing to go the extra mile. She decided to make white cup cakes, but her daughter was really hoping for some chocolate sprinkles. I emailed back to leave a plain one for Ben, but also added that if she was shopping for sprinkles anyway, that the Mr. Sprinkles clown bottle is dye free. I heard back from that Mom today that while others were running around the store restocking milk and meat from the massive power outages, they were looking for the clown sprinkles and found them! How blessed we are when someone is willing to go out of their way to include my son so he can eat what the rest of the class eats. If you read this, Thanks Laura!
For the times when other treats are sent in, I have supplied the teacher with individually sealed cakes that don't have dye. Most "Little Debbie" snacks are fine, but it's best to read the label.
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