I just put my dad hat on…

Little Ms. Shortstack is attending an awesome pre-school not far from where we live. She’s head over heels about this place. Her teachers are all great, and I dig all the stuff this tiny person tells me about when I pick her up. It costs a bit more, but it’s well worth it. Except for the food.

As a busy parent, one of the perks of this school is they provide breakfast. I prefer to cook breakfast for the two of us, partly because I know what I’d prefer she eat, but also because it’s a few moments of guaranteed time with her holding (relatively) still. But, being busy and still getting settled in the area, I’ve made use of the school breakfast a handful of times now. The first time I dropped her off with the intent on her eating breakfast at the school, they were having plain scrambled eggs, toast, fruit, and milk. Not horrible, not awesome either. The next time, she got Fruit Loops and fruit. Another time, after staying at her mom’s, it was pancakes with syrup. Noticing the trend? So I looked back at the menu they send us each week, and it’s awful. Sugar, highly processed foods, and very little quality protein (dairy included). Breakfast, lunch, and snacks, all the same.

Take today, for example. I had planned for the two of us to go to dinner after school and have a little frozen yogurt afterwards because she filled up her little responsibility chart dealio this week. We were bantering about her day, when she told me, “Dad! I had a donut with jelly inside!” She’s 3. This was amazing to her. I thought, odd, a donut in the morning. “No, for snack, Dad. The kids had pancakes for breakfast, with syrup and blueberries.” Yesterday was ice cream day, kicked off with more Fruit Loops. Holy Mary…

As a nutrition student, I’m highly engaged right now with what I’m eating and how my daughter eats. I’ve got her to the point where she asks me to cook breakfast because, “Fruit Loops are bad for us, Dad.” I’m proud of that, yet I don’t force her to eat as strict as I do. I don’t deny her sweets here and there, she isn’t reprimanded for her cravings, and I try to teach her moderation when we do splurge. I want her to eat healthy, and I’m at a loss with the disconnect here - awesome intellectual preparation, horrible nutritional foundation. This school has been open for several years; have other parents not thought it odd? There is so much effort towards preparing these kids for a bright future, yet they are being short changed nutritionally. The habits they form now around food will be carried with them into adulthood.

Nutrition in schools has long been a mess, we all know that. I suppose now that I’m staring at it, that it’s my child, and I’m paying top dollar for it, my blood is heating up. Take note parents and educators alike - healthy food is NOT more expensive, and the only way to see change is to demand change. I’m starting simple, with a polite letter to the school director this week. Who knows where that will go, but if it comes down to me providing our own food for her to take to school, so be it.

Taking the hat off…

Today’s Workout

Standing Press

2 x 5, 1 x 8 @ 83#

Front Squat

2 x 5, 1 x 10 @ 135#

Conditioning

4 rounds for time of:

25 x dumbell thrusters @ 20#/arm
200m sprint 

Screwed up the clock but I think I finished right around the 10 min. mark, maybe a little longer.

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