I'll say it. Fire all the nuts that implemented a peanut free rule. As a parent that grew up eating peanut butter in schools and at home (as I'm sure most of us parents are), I think its a load of nonsense to impose a universal policy as a result of a few. I am writing this blog in the wake of the recent lunch shaming incident, where a mother packed Oreo Cookies in her pre-school daughter's lunch, only to find the cookies returned with a nasty-gram from the school telling mom that they only allow healthy food items for the kids. This infuriates me, because as a mom constantly in a pinch to run errands, if I only had a few items to put in my daughter's lunchbox (i.e. before my grocery run to the store), then I would have done the same. I mean, I guess I could make her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, except that nuts aren't allowed in most schools anymore either. So now because of other kids' allergies, my daughter can't eat peanut products, and because more than half of America is overweight, my lean daughter (who could stand to put on a few pounds) also can't bring cookies?!! What a joke!
Why should other kids' allergies and weight problems be mine? If schools are going to impose such strict requirements based upon a few, then the districts should provide the option of free lunch to everyone, so they can regiment what the child consumes. Odds are the allergic and overweight kids aren't eating all that healthy out of school, particularly if they have all these dietary restrictions, which I consider issues anyway. I'm no doctor but say the reason kids today have so many allergies is due to lack of exposure. I'm no parenting expert, but it annoys me when at the first sign of a kid not liking or perhaps having a less than great experience with something, "Maybe s/he's allergic." Well maybe as parents we should slowly introduce the food(s) to build immunity and tolerance, as opposed to allowing them to be allergic (yes I said allowing them to be allergic). If I left it up to doctors (many who love to diagnose something over nothing), my daughter would be allergic to peanuts, seafood, grass, pets, and lactose intolerant. Guess what? I slowly continued to introduce the items, and ironically she loves them all, eats them regularly, and what a miracle, she's no longer "allergic" to any of them. We live in a society where pills and allergy medications are handed out like candy, and quite frankly, it's the reason people are so unhealthy in America. It's nuts…actually I'm saying it's not nuts…you get what I'm saying!
Why should healthy and thin to average weight kids have to modify their diets and lunches to accommodate the unhealthy kids? Why should a staple like peanut butter and various other nut products, also considered the source of countless health benefits, be banned from schools on account of a few? It seems counterproductive. It's kind of like the overweight co-worker that tells everyone how much they workout and are dieting, but she never loses an ounce and you're certain the foods she brings to work aren't close to the calories she's packing on at home when no one is watching. Schools feeding into these "allergies" and accommodating the kids with countless dietary restrictions is harming them. How will we ever build up a tolerance and immunity to truly be healthy? How will kids experience diets that include an array of foods and flavors? Schools accommodating the few will not change what the child eats at home. Genetics play a part in health, but parents and lifestyle play an even bigger part. I can assure you that stopping the fat kids from eating a few cookies at school will have no bearing on the bags of chips, soda, and cookies they eat when the get home. If schools will not offer free lunches to my child to ensure the meals I pack meet school standards to counter the ludicrous standards they have to accommodate the allergy ridden and overweight children, then I should be able to pack whatever the hell I want my child to eat. I'm paying for it. It's not my fault that some kids are overweight or in the school's terms, "unhealthy." It's not my fault that some kids have allergies. Call me insensitive, but I cannot for the life of me understand why an entire school chooses to modify such dietary standards for the few.
And with that, I'll digress and randomly say thank you to the few allergy ridden folks that ruined me getting free peanuts on the airplane! #OnlyinAmerica
-OzzyMommy
Please email ozzy@ozzybaby.com or check out our website ozzybaby.com
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