October 6, 2009

Birthday Treats

Kellen and Cortlen recently had birthdays. In honor of the special occasion, their teachers agreed to let them bring in a special treat to share with their classmates. Kellen's first choice was miniature bean burritos , but he made it clear that he would also be okay with shrimp cocktail or grilled salmon and peas.
Unlike his brother, Cortlen wanted something much more sensible--boiled pot stickers with wasabi dipping sauce.


"How about brownies?" I suggested. "Or what about cupcakes?"

With some gentle nudging, Kellen took the bait. Cortlen on the other hand, would have none of it.

"I want that," he said firmly, pointing to a picture of a loaf of pumpkin bread in one of my cookbooks.


I tried to explain that most children had a hard enough time being talked into eating regular bread, much less bread that was orange.

He could not be deterred and I wasn't about to rain on his parade so I made two loaves of the said bread and sent him on his way with a cautious reminder.

"Don't be offended if people don't like your snack," I told him.

I shouldn't have worried. The bread received rave reviews.

"Everyone ate one bite of bread," Cortlen told me when he came home.

"That's good," I replied, slightly encouraged.

"Because the teacher made them try it."

Suddenly, I felt less encouraged.

"Then they spit it in their napkins and threw it away," he continued.

"That's okay," I replied, trying to find the silver lining in so much waste.

"I should have brought the pot stickers," he said solemnly.

I couldn't help but agree.

******
Has your child ever insisted on bringing an unconventional snack to school? If so, what?

45 comments

TheQueen@TerrorsInTiaras said...

Fudgesicles. Luckily it was February and -78 degrees outside, so we had an easy place to leave them until it was snack time--just outside the window on the window ledge. All the kids wore their coats to eat them. Brrr.

Jen@Scrapingirl said...

My kids LOVE pumpkin bread. Send it over here. :)

Stephanie said...

Hey, the schools here don't allow ANY homemade treats. Once I sent cookies to preschool that I made myself because my son has allergies and most of the store-bought cookies came with allergy warnings, and the teacher sent them all back home with him. Apparently mothers lace homemade goods with arsenic in a attempt to knock of small civilizations of school-aged children? Anyway, all treats must be store-bought. So dumb.

WILLIAM said...

I would take potstickers as a birthday treat any day.

Nicole Marie said...

So would have taken the shrimp cocktail with potstickers on the side! Love how "sophisticated" their taste in birthday treat food is. lol

Tricia said...

You can send in homemade items? Not here...

Michelle said...

How funny! They do have sophisticated food choices. Good for them. I LOVE pumplin bread. My kids are simple, cookies or cupcakes and they are happy.

My kids new school is supposed to have store bought treats only. I guess I am a rebel because last year I made homemade and got away with it. Homemade tastes better and is about 1/10 of the cost.

j and s (but mainly s) said...

My brother insisted on brining a popsicle in his lunch. I kept telling him not to, but he did anyway. He later told me that I was right and the popsicle melted, but at least his sandwich tasted like cherries.

The Four Week Vegan said...

ROFLOL! This was so funny. Your children have very good taste :)

MamaOtwins+1 said...

Your children have such good taste - can you send some to my kids???
We are only allowed to bring store bought items to school - but I've never had a problem since their birthday is during summer break.

Anonymous said...

hmm..potstickers...all the talk of it is making me hungry for some !!! And its 2 more hours till lunch break...

Parenting Ink said...

Potstickers--I found a new frozen bag of them at Costco and can seriously devour the whole thing.
My daughter, on the other hand, like to eat the outside (the pasta) and leave a nice green blob of veggie/chicken mush on her plate. It's really appetizing.
She, who will turn 5 next month, thinks that cheese puffs are great birthday treats. Should I risk sending a bag of those to school for the class to share?

mamagale said...

My daughter asked me to make peach cobbler for her kindergarten class (this was back in the day when they allowed homemade treats). It's a pretty messy snack for 5 year olds but the teacher was a good sport. That daughter is 23 now and we look back and laugh about it: "Why didn't I just ask for cupcakes like a normal kid?" I see you were blessed with 'not normal' kids too!

Unknown said...

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THOSE CHILDREN?!?!?! Pumpkin bread is the BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You can send it to me, I'll eat a whole loaf in one sitting.
Pot stickers are also delicious.
We weren't allowed to bring homemade goods. Parents would most likely poison them or accidentally stick their crack pipes in them. Store bought only, can't be opened until they are in the class.

Mindi D said...

I am upset after reading your post, our schools will only let them bring store brought treats!! What the heck?!?!? I thought it was a rule all over, guess not, just here. That bugs, i need to have a talk with the district leader. I love pumpkin bread, i would've eaten it. That's funny the teacher made them all try it!!!

Kim Woodruff said...

I'm actually a huge fan of the store bought treat only policy in schools. Ever since my daughter found the birthday boy's little brother's lost tooth in her cupcake, oreos and hostess don't look so bad.

Sarah said...

Both my children are in love with liverwurst. Its a family thing!

love2seeclay said...

Well, not for birthdays - but for summer camp my daughter had to bring her lunch every day. I KNOW those kids thought she was the weird kid. Shrimp caesar salads? Big mixed salads? Shrimp cocktail? chicken and broccoli pasta?

She hates sandwiches and doesn't like most "kid" food. SIGH.

However, birthdays are especially exciting because she doens't like cake or pie. Who's kid is this??

Janille said...

I personally think tubs of frosting are the way to go. The day someone invents individual serving size frosting tubs will be an amazing day. Then I can stop throwing out licked cupcakes and cake pieces.

Colette said...

we're not allowed to send homemade treats to school. They must be pre packaged bought treats. takes all the fun out of it.

Anonymous said...

We can only send in healthy foods for birthdays! Now what grade school kid wants to bring in carrot sticks for their birthday treat? My daughter would be thrilled with cupcakes or brownies. I keep having to explain to her that it has to be healthy and she comes back with so can I bring ding dongs for my birthday. Shes not getting it quite yet.

Rocket Ma'am said...

My kids once insisted on pumpkin orange muffins. They got pretty much the same reaction.

Angie Christensen, RDN said...

At least your kids' school still allows homemade treats or treats at all. In California, parents can't bring diddly squat to school for their child's birthday. Instead, we can pay the school money to provide our child and his class a nutritious treat on his special day. When I was in fifth grade, our room moms brought chocolate fondue. How times have changed!

Chief said...

YOu are such a good mom to allow them to pick such creative snacks!

Connie said...

In my special ed class, we had a mom who brought pineapple empanadas and styrofoam cups filled with jello. The pot stickers would have been a bigger hit in this case too.

Anonymous said...

My son used to take a Ziploc baggie full of frozen mixed vegetables! I'm sure he was made fun of daily...

Amy said...

Dude, I would have been thrilled with pumpkin bread! My kids love it too, obviously you're raising kids with mature pallets over there!

Amy E said...

Our school system is messed up and my daughter can't even take something fun...they do a low-cal, low-fat plan, so they do not allow any cupcakes, brownies, ice cream, etc. to be brought in for birthdays or holidays. YET the school breakfasts often contain pastries and the school lunches are typically filled with carbs (what kid needs a turkey deli sub AND a soft pretzel together for lunch???) and often has a brownie, cookie, etc. to go with it. Does this make sense to anyone?? Teaching them to eat right does not mean give them junk daily but not allow treats for holidays/birthdays! The most treat-related item on their "approved list" is rice krispie treats. I'm going to coat them in chocolate...haha.

thepedaller said...

Nothing to do with school snacks, but my niece has been caught sneaking kalamata olives from the fridge from time to time. Kids can have the wierdest tastes somtimes!

Deirdre said...

Our area also doesn't allow home-made treats, but the neighboring district doesn't allow any sweet treats. Everything has to be below a certain percentage for sugar/fat content. They encourage fresh fruit or veggies, but again, you can't buy the stuff and cut up your own. Last time I even looked at those fruit or veggie plates, I almost freaked out at the price! A friend of mine got around it by buying sugar-free jello cups and topped it with fat-free cool whip. The kids almost cried in gratitude.

The Crazy Coxes said...

When my youngest was in kindergarten, he was invited to bring a "treat" for his B.I.P. (Beary Important Person) day.

He insisted on bringing his favorite food - steamed artichokes.

When asked what kind of "dipping sauce" I should bring along, he said, "Ohhhh......you better bring the drawn butter AND the mayonnaise. They'll probably want to try both."

Jaima said...

Yes. My daughter started kindergarten with very eclectic food tastes. I could pack her snack from anything in the fridge (Except, for some reason, anything with raisins). She went to school with dried figs with brown sugar mascarpone on the side, prosciutto, almond stuffed olives, carrots cut into "pennies" and plain yoghurt. Her food tastes have narrowed considerably as time has passed and peer influence has exerted herself. She no longer likes prosciutto, cottage cheese, any kind of dried fruit, and has wondered why the cheese I buy doesn't look like her friends (i.e. it isn't orange). Finally she broke down and informed me that her lunches were "embarassing". I asked her to clarify what this meant. She explained by saying "well, nothing comes in little packages . . . "
So now I simplify my life by buying string cheese. You can't buy that at the European deli!

Post-it Note said...

THE PREGNANT WOMAN WANTS POTSTICKERS AND PUMPKIN BREAD!!! Thanks for the post, now I know what to crave this week. Let's see, I have some cream cheese, and pumpkin...

-Paige

Anonymous said...

DYING! I have the pickiest 9 year old eater, but with VERY good manners. He would have taken a bite, but spit it into the napkin without anyone else seeing.

Aurelia said...

Our school banned homemade treats... I am so bummed out about it. Last year my son requested I bake a few sweet potato pies for his class

Deidre said...

When my daughter was in fourth grade, she insisted I bring spinach quiche as a Christmas 'treat'. The teacher liked it so much she took home most of the leftovers. There were A LOT of leftovers.

pan x 8 said...

Whoa, I guess for the conventional treats - cupcakes, donuts, a goodie bag with their favorite candies... but in our district we are only allowed to bring store bought treats!

I have to say your kids have a great pallet!!

Stressed said...

That is the funniest thing I have heard in a long time. Thank you for making my day!

The Florist said...

I bet your kids like tofu. What kid turns down cupcakes? The tofu loving kind, that's who. Love the blog!

Anonymous said...

I think I was being smart and taking the easy route with making rice krispy treats for my daughter's first grade class for her birthday. When I picked her up at the end of the day and asked how it went, she informed me taht they were good but the majority of the kids had no front teeth and had a hard time biting them. I hadn't thought that one through enough i guess..

Thany said...

When I was in 4th grade, my mom let me go into the store with a $10 bill all on my own to pick up the juice to share with my class. Not knowing a whole lot about juice, I got the pretty pink container. I could tell it was Sunny Delight and I remember that everyone in the class looooved Sunny Delight.

When the juice was served, kids started spitting it out and asking who brought the juice. I confessed and was teased for the rest of the school year for bringing the Sunny Delight GUAVA juice.

Years later my mom told me she saw what I had bought but I was so excited to have Sunny Delight for everyone that she didn't want to crush my spirit. I told her that I would have rather had my spirits crushed by my mother than being called "Yucky Juice Girl" for the rest of 4th grade.

Man, 4th grade sucked!

Anonymous said...

funny.... funny.... funny.... my daughter actually asked me to bring in shrimp tempura rolls, chicken nuggets, and french fries in to her class holiday party! You have some funny kids if they dont like pumpkin bread thats the best stuff especially with chocolate chips.Potstickers is a nice choice too......lol:)

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