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Health & Exercise
abbyful
member
Parents who are paleo/primal, vegetarian/vegan, etc. - daycare/school eating
abbyful
member
Any parents who follow a non-standard diet/life-style, what do your kids eat at daycare or school?
Do you have them just eat whatever the standard meal is and then feed them your way at home? Do you send their lunch? Do you request a special diet be provided for them?
How do you balance what you feel is best for your kid's nutrition versus not being singled-out from his peers for being "the kid who has to eat special food"?
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Re: Parents who are paleo/primal, vegetarian/vegan, etc. - daycare/school eating
We have been paleo/primal now for almost 5 years. When they are little it is easy because they eat what you tell them to. We just found a daycare and then a preschool that already provided homemade, organic food and they were more than willing to work around our diet.
Now that our oldest is 5, it is more challenging with the birthday parties and playdates. When we aren't at home, I try to be more flexible. A few corn or potato chips at a party isn't going to be the end of the world. I try to always have an alternative for her to choose (gluten-free cupcakes/cookies, larabar) instead of cake. 90% of the time she makes healthy choices. We bought her the Paleo Pals book and it has helped her (along with our own discussions) understand why we eat the way we do and feel proud about it.
I know it is only going to get more challenging and I am a little stressed about it to be honest. Next year, we have to deal with group snack at school (parents take turns bringing in mostly crappy snacks) and I think I will have her bring her own snack. I am just going to keep focusing on educating her on nutrition and hopefully she will make good choices when I am not around to help her make them.
We also do mostly paleo/primal. DD is only 2 but my thought is to teach her how we eat and what we feel is healthy (which she sees us doing at home) but not be so super-strict about it that we force her under all circumstances to conform. She eats the regular food at daycare because I really don't see her eating a special meal that's different from everyone else. She eats great at home.
I feel like food allergies and/or religious restrictions notwithstanding, you can only control your kids' diets to such an extent. Teaching them and modeling the behavior is the best way to influence them long-term. I have to learn not to stress when daycare or my parents give her cheesy rice with a side of corn and bread as an entire meal!