M-O Elementary...producing eating disorders since 1984

Rogit has always been a picky eater. He has always been a skinny little guy, verging on something you might see in a commercial involving Sally Struthers. But his dad, The Canadian, was the same way. I mean the man had a 28" waist when we got married. It has taken me 10 years to put some meat on his bones. Rogit eats well at home, but has never eaten well in public. In restaurants he freezes up because he's afraid he'll gag, or something might not taste right. At the dreaded playdates he continues to play while the others eat so he won't have to eat food prepared by someone else. The child has issues, I know, but nothing he wouldn't grow out of if left to work through it in his own time. But this school doesn't believe in natural eating habits.

A little background. I attended the same school, started Kindergarten in 1983. Back before they invented Pre-K and decided our children shouldn't experience any childhood outside of school. But I digress. Our cafeteria food was horribly disgusting. I remember the boiled potatoes literally bouncing like a SuperBall if you "dropped" them hard enough. There was some nastiness they called burrocks that looked like they'd been stuffed with the lunch lady's dog's vomit. No matter what kind of horrid slop they served, we were expected to eat every single bite of it. Full? Who cares. We clean our plates here, and we do it in 10 minutes or less. (And we wonder why left there with horrible eating habits.) I remember my friend throwing up all over the lunch table in first grade, only to be forced to clean it up herself and get a fresh plate of food, which she was expected to eat before she could leave the room. I took my lunch every.single.day. I took my lunch so I had decent food, and because the teachers didn't inspect what I had eaten before I could go to recess.

So when Rogit started school last year I sent his lunch. I knew he wouldn't eat the school food, and I knew they'd force him to do it. And I was right, that policy hadn't changed a bit. But something had. Now they inspected the lunches brought from home. They told them what order they could eat their food in, and they weren't allowed to go outside until they cleaned their plate. There were tears in the lunchroom, tears at home, and my child who loved school changed into the child that screams and clings to his mother's leg, begging her not to leave him at that horrible place. We made it through the year but he suffered physically and emotionally. He was literally skin and bones by the end of the year. I had never been so glad to see Summer break arrive. As soon as school was out he started eating again. He ate like he hadn't eaten in...oh NINE months maybe?? He gained weight, he gained muscle back, he was vibrant and energetic, and closely resembled that bubbly little guy I had sent to school on the first day.

Fast forward 4 months and here we are again. My child has lost 4lbs since August 16th. FOUR pounds! He is 5 years old! There should be no talk of weight loss at this point. He's moody and exhausted and comes home each day to grab a snack and crash on the couch for several hours. It's infuriating. I have complained until I'm blue in the face, but it seems that decades old habits are hard to break. Especially when no one sees the need for the breaking. I am seriously at such a loss as to what my next step should be. I'm all ears if ANY of you have any suggestions. Until then, only 8 more months to go. I'm not sure what will be left of him by then.