Not Mowgli. Me. He loves it!
What did I expect from school? Facilities similar to his daycare minimum. He leaves home at 8.45 am and returns by 2.45 which in itself is too tiring for a small kid. He has a bus commute of close to two hours both ways. The school doesnot have a snack break, instead they ahve just one break for lunch at 12 pm which I feel is too late for kids who have had a small breakfast at 8.30 in the morning. By the time he comes back, he is tired, cranky and hungry and is just waiting to explode. The tantrums can sometimes start from the bus stop itself or once he reaches home. Most days the lunch is brought back untouched; good days are those where the lunch is half finished. I cannot give him rice/chapathi because both come back untouched. He doesnot eat fruits/raw vegetables. I dont want to give him chips/biscuits and stuff like that. So that limits the options for the lunch box. I try to make him have a proper lunch when he gets back and that is a battle in itself. I'm tired over this battle over food. Breakfast, because I know that is the only thing that will keep him going till evening and most days it is a shouting match and threats to take away his toys and what not. Peaceful breakfasts where he eats whole heartedly are very less. The late lunch that he has is even more stressful. He wants to watch Tom and Jerry, he wants to play. I know he is hungry and tired. The more I insist that he finish his lunch the more he dawdles with it. Extremely tired, I ask him to take a nap, at least lie down quietly on the bed with a book, he refuses. Every refusal is accompanied by tears and howls and throwing things. It ends with me shouting at him or spanking him. In the midst of all this is Bambi who most always has been rudely awakened from her afternoon nap by all this noice would be crying non stop.
Today I left him at the table and went to change Bambi's nappy. Came back to see him nodding off at the table. I picked him up and put him on the bed and he was fast asleep in seconds. Its all I can do to not cry in front of the maid, but I'm this close to losing it! Either the school should take responsibility about lunch, ensure that all kids eat their lunch or else send the kids home by 1 pm. With this timing, he has no proper lunch and no nap in the afternoon and remains a grumpy boy throughout! He has always been hyperactive and underweight, now he is even more skinnier and falls sick at the drop of a hat.
We have talked about this to his teacher, but she tells me that he is very stubborn and doesnot eat his lunch! (Then how did he eat in his daycare??? There all the kids were made to sit down in the dining area for lunch , they couldnot run about. They had to finish what was in the plate.) Here either the teachers do not know how to control kids or else they are just not paying enough attention to the kids.
