Sucker that I am...

[alison]

Has Carbs...

True.... I keep forgetting that not everyone is trying to fatten their kids up.

ETA: Didn't read Peggy's reasoning behind the carbs until just now, and meant no offense with my post!

[Pollyanna]

I'm amazed one person is doing all of that. Our party responsibilities are VERY CAREFULLY DIVVIED UP , documented, turned in to the teacher, the coordinator of the room coordinators AND the school nurse for approval (not freaking kidding one bit). 1 person is assigned to "host" (which means nag everyone else to turn in their info), 2 people are in charge of games, 2 people are in charge of drinks, 2 people are in charge of snacks (one healthy, one "fun"), 1 person handles paper products ... again NOT kidding. Food, drinks and game choices must be turned in a week ahead of time for approval. As far as chaperoning, these folks take these parties so seriously that there are often more parents than kids. The parking lots are full, parents leave work early, it's a freaking nuthouse.

Holy crap Jenn!! That would drive me nuts. Clearly these people have WAY too much time on their hands,

Holy crap Jenn!! That would drive me nuts. Clearly these people have WAY too much time on their hands,

It DOES drive me nuts, so I often don't go to the parties at all. I have absolutely no desire to be there -- but my kids do like it if I go, so I try to suck it up for them. Last year I tried to split the time of a single party between classes, but then I got the evil eye from the parents in Jacob's class (the one I went to for the 2nd half) as though I'd just been tardy. Couples seriously will BOTH leave work and mom goes to one class, dad to the other.

[Pollyanna]

It DOES drive me nuts, so I often don't go to the parties at all. I have absolutely no desire to be there -- but my kids do like it if I go, so I try to suck it up for them. Last year I tried to split the time of a single party between classes, but then I got the evil eye from the parents in Jacob's class (the one I went to for the 2nd half) as though I'd just been tardy. Couples seriously will BOTH leave work and mom goes to one class, dad to the other.

Wow! I'm pretty sure if dh went to one of those parties we would stand in a corner and make rude and sarcastic comments, oh wait, we do that at most events I once got in trouble for suggesting that kids would really be happy with a cupcake, juice, and an extra break. Parents were horrified that their little ones would b deprived of crafts and games,

[diggitydot]

Holy shit, people need to unclench.

[HouseofWool]

Holy shit, people need to unclench.

Word!

[PrincessFiona]

Word!

That's exactly what I was going to say! LOL

People are so nuts ... and seriously, it raises kids' expectations so much! I, too, remember when a cupcake and juice was a fun break from school for a celebration! Now kids expect bigger, better, more. I blame this new culture on the reason that my kids are "bored" when they aren't being constantly entertained.

meh

Kris

[diggitydot]

Heh. My kids learned a looooooong time ago that "I'm bored!" means they'll spend the next two hours cleaning their bedrooms and scrubbing bathrooms.

[HouseofWool]

Heh. My kids learned a looooooong time ago that "I'm bored!" means they'll spend the next two hours cleaning their bedrooms and scrubbing bathrooms.

Yep - when C tells me he is bored, I hand him a microfiber cloth and send him to dust the balcony railing. It is full of stiles - 6" on center and it is ~30" linear feet. I hate doing it and it is a huge deterent for him.

[PrincessFiona]

Well, Andrew's Saturday afternoon I'm bored turned into him doing homework or cleaning. He picked homework. LOL

[peggyfromwastate]

True.... I keep forgetting that not everyone is trying to fatten their kids up.

ETA: Didn't read Peggy's reasoning behind the carbs until just now, and meant no offense with my post!

No worries Alison! You would be surprised how many people in the health care industry don't connect carbs to diabetes-- we had an endocrinology fellow suggest to us CRACKERS for a snack for Steven. Granted, she was a new endo fellow- so really her experience had been with peds before then, but... DH gently told her that crackers have lots of carbs so that is a snack we can't give him unless his blood glucose is low...

Anyway, food restrictions are one thing, avoiding nuts for a snack is pretty standard, but when it gets to more *exotic* allergies (like eggs, milk, etc) it gets a lot harder to avoid, and then I am absolutely shocked that a teacher would ask a parent to provide a snack for a diabetic too. That's just crazy talk. I think the teacher doesn't understand the diabetes either, or she would not suggest this. She needs to be educated. This is for the young class right? First graders??

[v-girl]

All the diabetic kids I've known (and lactose intolerant ones) would bring their own snacks for parties. Even for b-day parties! I can't imagine going through all of that for one Halloween party.

[DCJenn]

Buy yourself a bottle of wine and forget the classroom snacks.

J.

[HouseofWool]

Buy yourself a bottle of wine and forget the classroom snacks.

J.

this is sage advice.

[houseelf]

As a post script to this bit of drivel... Mom of diabetic kid was totally cool. She emailed me and said, "not your problem to have to deal with all this. Bring in whatever and let the chips fall where they may". She comes in on Fridays to administer shots to her son so we met and hit it off.

Lactose Intolerant kid took ownership of his own dietary needs saying, "no thanks on the cheese, it makes my stomach feel bad".

Tree nut mom was a real piece of work directing me to provide the packaging and making a BFD out of how these parties should provide healthy snacks...blah, blah, blah. There is one in every crowd.