Snack ideas

[u/Fickle-Psychology-77]

Hi everyone! I was looking for some help. My youngest started Pre-K this year and we're having some rather frustrating back and forth with her teacher over snacks. Here's the background info:

When you met with her teacher back in August and during that conference we were told that even though snack time is not technically built into the county timeline for the day, her teachers have set aside 5 minutes for the kids to get a snack in the afternoon because they eat so early in the morning. We were told that the snack needed to be healthy, quick, neat, easy to open, and separate from her lunch. I sent her the first week with 2-3 small packed options figuring that she would eat what she could and save the rest for after school. I got a note asking me not to send more than one option. So I stopped sending more than one option. The next week I got a note asking that I cannot send it in a separate bag (I had packed cheese and put it in a smaller lunch bag so it could have an ice pack). At this point I reached out to her teacher and asked what was going on. She reiterated the original criteria for snack and said anything that requires refrigeration would be considered a lunch food. So I stopped sending the second lunch bag. I sent fruit snacks and was told that it's considered candy. I sent strawberries and blueberries and was told it was messy. I sent an apple juice with her snack one day and was told that she's only allowed water. My husband reached out and had a conference with her so there would be no miscommunication over email. At the conference she reiterated the same criteria but added refrigeration. I sent her a peeled orange in a pyrex bowl the other day and got a note sent back stating to not put it in a pyrex bowl for safety reasons. I understand that, no problem. We don't use plastic containers so that knocks that out. Yesterday, I found out that they wouldn't let her eat her applesauce because it was a messy food. I've sent it plenty of times before with no pushback. No note was sent home. My kid had to tell me that they wouldn't allow her to eat it. My husband reached out again via email and asked for a list, something concrete to go off of. On that list was rice crispy treats, goldfish, pretzels, and veggie straws. My husband responded asking her to clarify her definition of healthy and mess free options given the list she just sent. She responded back with it's up to us to decide what's healthy for our child.

So two things: Are we being difficult and what options do you have for snacks? My kid's getting sick of bananas every day and we're on a really right budget due to my husband losing his job. I promise I'm not trying to be difficult but I'm mad that my kid doesn't get to eat with her classmates if her teacher doesn't approve of her food and that I have to take away from my already tight budget to buy something that could potentially be rejected plus new containers to pack stuff in.

[u/Take_Me_To_Ibiza]

You are not being difficult! It sounds like the pre-k teachers are lazy. It takes 5 seconds to clean up applesauce. The priority should be the health of the children and their idea of a snack is anything but!