Mom Upset By Son Left 'Starving' After School Lunch Mishap Sparks Debate

Mumsnet users are divided over a poster's lunchbox dilemma that left her son "starving" on his first day of school.

Posting to the parenting site's Am I Being Unreasonable? (AIBU) forum on 5 September, user charley39 said she was upset that her son's lunch had been eaten by another child, as well as how the teacher handled the situation.

"Just collected my son from his first day of school. On our way out of the school my son told us that he didn't eat his sandwiches," she said.

"He's told me that he didn't get his lunch, another child ate it all and he was given a baguette instead."

The mom spoke to the teacher, who said another child had picked up her son's lunchbox. The teacher assumed her son didn't have a packed lunch, so they gave him a ham baguette. However, her son doesn't like ham, so he only ate half of the bread.

Once they realized another student had his lunchbox, they gave it back to the boy, but by then all of his food had been eaten.

"Teacher then said 'oh I don't think we picked up on it quick enough,'" she wrote.

"Now that I've come home, I'm getting more and more upset about the situation. He's come home starving and it has stressed him out the fact he didn't get his own lunch which is a big thing for him. And the fact it's his first day of school."

"Also extremely concerned in terms of allergies etc if the other child who had his lunch had allergies. I feel like it is a big issue?"

Although missing lunch once or twice is unlikely to have any long-term effects, skipping meals regularly can lead to health issues. A 2021 study discovered that irregular eating can make children and adolescents feel tired, low and irritable, along with causing headaches, stomach pain and dizziness.

It can also make it harder for young people to fall asleep, as well as increase anxiety levels.

Getting three healthy meals a day is also crucial for ensuring children and teenagers get the right balance of nutrients, which is also important for brain growth.

Some Mumsnet users felt that the woman was overreacting, with Oysterbabe saying "It's not a big issue at all. Just one of those unfortunate things."

However, Brefugee agreed the incident needed addressing. "It is an issue if the lad is hungry, nobody apologised to him and he just had a bit of flipping dry bread," she said.

"What are they going to put in place to ensure this doesn't happen again?"

Other users sympathized with the poster's predicament, but said it would be easier for her son to just let it go.

"I know the first day of reception is a big step for you both: it's just one of those things that happens in the chaos of the first day back," wrote SirChenjins.

"Just be very breezy about it, don't mention it again to him and get him to tell you all about the very exciting things that have happened to him instead."

While FruitPastilleNut commented: "When your [son] is eating his own lunch tomorrow, he won't even be remotely bothered by it anymore, unless of course you make it out to be a bigger deal than it is, in which case he'll feed off your anger and upset."

Newsweek wasn't able to verify the details of this case.