They gave her milk!!!

[Shannon]

At daycare today, Elly's regular teachers were both out for prof. dev. classes and the substitutes gave her a carton of chocolate milk because my bf dropped her off w/o her lunch!!! She didn't get sick or anything, since we've only recently become vegan, but still, I told her regular teachers and the director when we became vegan. I told them personally and I sent a note. Has this ever happened to you? I don't know whether to be angrier at the daycare center for screwing up or at Will for sending a 2.5 yr. old to daycare w/o her lunch. Grrrrrrrr! I guess I should be grateful they didn't give her a bologna sandwhich or anything! (They keep bread, pb&j for forgotten lunches). Well, thanks for letting me vent!!

Shannon

[Erin Pavlina]

That's a nightmare! Substitute teachers are often completely unaware of things like this. What if a kid had an allergy to nuts or something and they gave the kid peanut butter?

I would be really upset too. I'm educating Emily's new teachers on her vegan lifestyle now and it's tough. They don't always undrestand what I mean. I'm going to give them alist of what she can have and what she can't and post it in the classroom.

If I ever saw a sub, I would go up to the sub and make sure he/she understood about my child's needs.

[Will]

I think you shouldn't be at all angry at poor Will. Save it all for the school. A list of "Can't Eats" might be a good idea, though, as Erin suggested.

[Shannon]

Originally posted by Will
I think you shouldn't be at all angry at poor Will.

Ha! Poor Will indeed. Ha! Ha! (Just kidding, I'm not really angry at 'poor Will') Good idea though, Erin, about the list. I'm going to make one after I get the girl in bed. One of my housemates is studying law so maybe I can get her to put some scary language in there for me!!

[Erin Pavlina]

Oh yeah, also get them to put the list somewhere where a sub could find it, like near the food prep area. At Emily's school they have a list of the food allergies of each child. It's very noticeable.

It's also unusual to have two subs, so at least that won't happen often. All we can do is educate and hope for the best. :)

You might want to buy my new book, "Raising Vegan Children in a Non-Vegan World." I have an entire chapter in there devoted to daycare and school situations. Lots of great ideas!

Go to www.vegfamily.com/bookstore to check out the book and order.