It is a blessing to enjoy home cooked food

I admit it. I am picky about food. The way food looks, how it is presented and definitely how it tastes.

I spent a large part of my childhood living with my maternal grandma who's of Cantonese origin and who dedicated a large part of her day ensuring that we were well fed with fresh and nutritious food. She would go to the wet markets every other day and consistently be ordering groceries from the neighbourhood grocer who delivers (though we suspect it may have been more to do with the gift-with-purchases that came with the washing powder/milk/bleach as well).

She would actually spend 3 hours over a charcoal pit slow cooking fish porridge for my brother and me each day and would separate vegs and stir fries into 3/4 portions, only cooking each portion when dad/mom/uncle/auntie arrived home from work - all at different times. That was the extent of her dedication in getting the family the best food she can offer and a key reason why I place so much emphasis on food.

This is true for my family as well. You just can't imagine how much time we spend talking about food and how much we spend each week on groceries. Our favourite pasttime is checking out supermarkets, even on travels.

As a result of having such high food requirements, I bring lunch to work, almost daily. Besides being able to lunch in and save time on work so that I can get home in time to put kiddo to bed, I love being able to look forward to eating what has been packed for the day. The idea that the food is homemade just warms my heart, not to mention the fact that it is probably more nutritious than the food bought elsewhere. Besides, lunching on mass produced food 5-days a week can't be good for me - its simple common sense: mass cooking vs. home cooking. The latter is sure to be better.

Because of this, I have been packing lunch for R each day, with the help of nanny who drops lunch at her class just before lunchtime at noon. R takes lunch with her classmates before heading home after school daily, even though she breaks school at 12:30pm, as we have a long journey home. It is not an easy job - even for me who is able to delegate this task to a helper - since we have to plan menus, buy fresh food (I think we hit the supermarkets at least 2-3 times a week) and rush through the motions of preparing packed food, even for myself - when I find myself packing 2 breakfasts and 1 lunch every morning while trying to get everyone changed and ready to leave for work/school.

So it is rather ironic queer that we have been getting flack for bringing packed lunch to school. Not from the school authorities, but from others around us. They started from last year when she was in Nursery 1 and continue even till this year and I'm sure I'll continue to hear such comments for years to come.

Comments range from pointing out how unrealistic it is to not 'force' my child to eat school food, to how much trouble it must be to prepare fresh food for her each day, to hints of how I am raising a spoilt child who will not 'get used' to eating 'outside' food.

So allow me a few moments to rant:
Tell me, how can wanting to give my child nutritious food be spoiling her? What is so "unrealistic" about bringing homecooked meals to school everyday? Don't many of us grow up bringing packed meals to grade school, high school? I work full time and just want to do what I can, given the resources I have, for a child that I hardly am able to spend time with - is that a very bad thing? We eat out every weekend and little R has no problems eating out - either at friend's place or at restaurants.

Mr B brings breakfast from home. At times snacks too - as I will prefer for him to snack healthily if possible. I bring lunch from home. My dad brings his lunch to work. Mom and my mom in law bring food to their weekly church activities. And no, we are not given flack from the people around us as we are supposedly adults.

In fact, I get a lot of comments saying how blessed I am to be able to bring homecooked food. Since not everyone cooks and has the time to even pack food. But my child, who's dealing with a growing body and mind, is given flack for bringing food from home. Makes any sense to you? Certainly not to me. In case you wonder, she does eat the hot snack that school provides each day. So its not like I am on a anti-school-meal-crusade.

I do periodically ask R if she will rather I stop her packed lunches and for her to take meals in class, and she has always given me a firm no. And the funny thing is the other kids in class show no interest in what she eats, nor does R eating her own food in class seem to create any distruption during common meal times. So I'm not even sure why these comments arise.

R will soon start a full day program as she moves to Kindy 1. I've asked her yet again if she wants to bring lunch to the "big girl class" and she has told me yes. My task is to now train her to unpack her own lunch from her lunchbox so that she doesn't need help from the class assistant. For me, the fun part has just begun - searching for insulated lunch boxes and planning menus, knowing that it is a good thing I am doing for her. I will continue to tag food along with R as long as she wants them - as it is another form of love that I can show her.

I am grateful that R is in a school environment where they respect choices and allow me to be able to parent my child in this manner. I just wish others around us could be more respectful of my/daughter's choice too.

End rant