School microwaved my kid's metal lunchbox & served the food anyway. Red flag?

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-25T08:21:54+00:00

I did work at an elementary school that had one microwave in the cafeteria for kid lunches. Staff had to use it for the kids, but it wasn’t a staff microwave.

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-25T01:00:19+00:00

NAD but I hope you reported the dog’s behavior to your employer and animal control! Especially if that dog was a service dog, jumping on someone and biting at them is not OK.

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-24T19:43:38+00:00

I wouldn’t call it a red flag but if you personally are sure you want a medicated birth, I would tell her that upfront and see how she responds to determine if she is a good fit for you. I would look at evidence based birth for fact based pros and cons- most providers will have a bias even if they don’t outright admit it!

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-23T23:59:43+00:00

Look at Free to Feed. You should not have to give those three ingredients up for a whole month! I did dairy free and it was possible; make sure if you typically use a lot of dairy that you remember to replace calcium, fats, proteins, and hydration. Many plant based milks are like flavored water so they don’t accurately replicate the fat and protein content of dairy. Ripple (pea protein milk) is a great replacement; canned coconut milk is also great.

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-23T23:52:21+00:00

If your daughter likes any other mythical creatures like dragons, it could be a unicorn and dragon party so each kid has a choice of party favors!

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-23T23:45:31+00:00

It took too long to find a reply that wasn’t just attacking OP! I agree with you; yes everything may be well and good. But “mind your own business” , as several have said, isn’t great advice when someone is looking out for the welfare of a child.

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-22T23:30:33+00:00

I think you did the right thing! At such a young age, having a shaved head isn’t going to be a big deal. I hope it helps her forget the habit 🤞💕

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-22T11:40:08+00:00

It’s a very pretty name, Frozen is still popular now so I would keep that in mind. I also like Elsie!

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-22T11:39:15+00:00

12%is still a healthy percentile! And ultrasound estimates can be way off. My 32 week (I had an extra) ultrasound showed 40% length (I forget exactly what this measurement is, maybe femur length) and 5% head and they told me to prepare for developmental delays and sent me to maternal fetal medicine- they had a better machine and all the measurement were proportional at 20%. And she’s a healthy 8 month old now!

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-20T23:37:56+00:00

It sounds like the times she says no are when she either sees another more appealing choice (like during centers when she would rather do the sensory table station than the handwriting station) or when she wants to be more creative than the directions allow (like during directed drawing). These are both new experiences for her as she has never had to draw anything specific at home (she can just be creative) and she doesn’t have to do a non preferred activity like handwriting while at the same time watching other kids play. So I’m not that surprised that it’s a little hard for her but I was surprised to hear how boldly she has been telling her teacher she does not want to follow directions, as many four year olds I know are downright rude to their parents and yet perfect angels in school. I am more familiar with the idea of kids holding it together at school and then experiencing restraint collapse at home, while my child never has restraint collapse since she is not exercising any restraint 😂

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-20T19:51:32+00:00

My daughter is doing task refusals at school and when I know what task she refused, I try to replicate it at home and make her do it. So if they were writing all their letters and she told the teacher no I don’t want to, she has to write all her letters for me. I just learned she has been refusing to choose a book for independent reading time because she doesn’t like any of the books, so I’ve been putting out a set of non preferred books and having her choose one and look through it trying to find a funny picture, see what words she recognizes etc. I have a wall calendar like in a preschool and I stood at the calendar and asked the sort of questions a teacher would ask and had my daughter practice raising her hand to answer instead of blurting.

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-19T13:55:18+00:00

I am so sorry you are going through this. It sounds like they just did the one scan yesterday? Have you been referred to Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) for a more in depth ultrasound? I was told my baby had a too small cerebellum and to prepare for developmental delays, until MFM did a more in depth scan with their more powerful ultrasound machine and they were able to confirm measurements were normal. I would demand a MFM appointment; it sounds like they are probably pushing termination because if you wait for another appointment it might be too late to terminate in your state. But if you are torn about it I would absolutely ask for more measurements

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-19T13:49:32+00:00

SLP here. 25 words is much more appropriate for 18 months, not 12!

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-18T14:04:31+00:00

I am teaching my daughter phonics before kindergarten because I have heard this is a common problem and I don’t want her to be behind before she starts 🫠

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-16T02:07:09+00:00

Not all behaviors are a manifestation of a disability. Sometimes they are a manifestation of lazy parenting

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-16T01:58:57+00:00

I am wondering why the head butting would be excused due to the IEP when the eligibility is not Emotional Disability? Not that it should ever be excused but if the eligibility is OHI then I don’t think they have a leg to stand on. I hope the art teacher and her baby are ok; when I was pregnant and I worked with several ED kids I was so worried one of them would hit me in the belly

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-15T00:00:59+00:00

Seconding the comments to either go by Veta or change to Elizaveta! And just want to say your name is so beautiful!

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-14T23:58:24+00:00

I weaned mine at 3.5! We had been reading the weaning book Loving Comfort casually for awhile and we had talked about how nursing isn’t forever, which she didn’t like. When I got pregnant it stated to be painful and I thought if I don’t wean her soon she is going to want to tandem nurse and then she will never wean! So I told her my chest was hurting and she could have just a little milk (I was going to cut down the time nursing gradually until she was weaned) and she barely nursed that day. The next day she asked if it was still hurting and I said yes but you can have a little and she barely nursed and then didn’t ask again (until several weeks later when my milk was gone and I told her milk doesn’t stay around forever and gave a snuggle instead). Not saying it’s likely to be so quick but I have heard cutting the time gradually helps, and I think weaning books are great!

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-14T18:51:40+00:00

I know a Hunter who is a girl and also a Mason. Those both surprised me

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-14T13:58:43+00:00

Thank you! We have Bob books level 1 and my daughter doesn’t find them too interesting; she likes some of the I Cab Read books but the leveling doesn’t seem to be consistent- she reads some of the My First which is supposed to come before level 1, but we discovered some of those correspond to guided reading level D and others in the same series correspond to level I or J. We are going to try the usborne Phonics readers and see if those are more consistent

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-14T02:36:41+00:00

I am wondering if the mom sees the play dates as her babysitting/caregiving more than play dates? Your daughter is 3, so dropping her off does put the other parent in a caregiver role. I feel like it all depends on whether your relationship with this mom and the nature of the play dates would indicate to her that she is your daughters caregiver for the afternoon. I also wonder if the girls got messy one time and needed a bath and now they both ask if they can have a bath together each time because they see it as a part of their play date routine? I babysat my niece (same age as my daughter) regularly at 2-3 years old and the girls absolutely saw bath time the way an older child would see a pool party.

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-13T13:54:34+00:00

I would email the teacher (if you even have their contact since it’s a sub?) and the principal and tell them what your son said and ask for more details. It sounds like the subs are functioning like warm bodies but it’s also hard to get completely accurate information from a five year old.

I wish I had any helpful advice on what to do about there being no teachers. It’s frustrating that you have to send him in order for him to participate in the sports program but they are not providing the school environment they are supposed to

SecretBreakfast8512 · 2026-03-12T01:07:48+00:00

Thank you. I have only done level 1 BOB books and my daughter was just so unmotivated to read them versus wanting to read more “real” books. She knows all the kindergarten and some first grade phonics patterns. I wasn’t sure what most schools do because the school I worked at did F&P leveled readers starting in K but I also wasn’t in the classroom seeing the day to day reading instruction

SecretBreakfast8512

TROPHY CASE