A mom has gone viral on TikTok for sharing the passive aggressive note her son's school wrote on the snack she sent in with him one day. Megan PV, who goes by @peaveymegan on TikTok, shared a photo of an empty snack-size Pringles package she gave her 3-year-old.
On it the school had written, “Please help us make healthy choices at school.”
At the end of her video, she asked TikTok users how they would respond, and the mom ended up receiving a lot of support in the form of more than 300,000 views and thousands of comments.
Toddlers are notoriously picky eaters, and many times they go through stages of only eating certain snacks and favorite foods, as many parents and teachers should be aware. Snack shaming is not OK and does not take into consideration that each family’s situation is different, whether it’s financial or having a child who only eats certain foods. Any snack is a good snack, and TikTok users agree.
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It was a perfectly appropriate snack for a 3-year-old.
“OK, look what happened to me today,” Megan starts her video. “I sent my son to school with Pringles today, which is a very age-appropriate snack for a 3-year-old, and this is what his school sent.”
She then shows the note her son’s school wrote on his empty snack container. “Please help us make healthy choices at school,” the note read.
Megan says, “They snack-shamed my 3-year-old and they snack-shamed me by writing that passive aggressively on his trash.”
The mom said at her home they don't ‘label’ foods because that can lead to eating disorders.
“What would you do?” Megan asks. She proceeds to explain that she messaged the school personally and said that it was snack shaming.
Megan told school officials why her family doesn't label foods as healthy or unhealthy. “We at our house do not label things as healthy or unhealthy because that starts eating disorders,” she said.
According to the Center for Discovery, certain behaviors and actions parents engage in, such as controlling what their children eat and labeling foods as “bad” or “good,” may unintentionally lead to disordered eating.
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Unfortunately, the situation with her son's school escalated quickly, the mom explained in a follow-up video.
The mom posted a follow-up video on the situation several days later, explaining that she had a talk with the school director after dropping off her son and that she shared how she was disappointed in how things were handled.
She also gives examples of items she packs for her son for school in the video, such as "Pringles, granola bars, yogurt, fruit — all that kind of stuff."
“So I didn’t think the message, ‘pack healthy snacks’ was applicable to me,” Megan notes in the follow-up video. “Anyways, there was no apology. No taking responsibility for that behavior. My son has been there for quite some time and we had him registered for their summer program three days a week," Megan explains.
But after the conversation, the director said the center no longer had a part-time spot for her son for the summer, she shares. Megan says in the video that it was “uncalled for and disrespectful.” She withdrew her son and they are still paying for the two weeks he had left in the program.
She ends her video saying, “This is the truth of parenting — these battles you have to fight for your children.” She also explains that as a working mom sometimes it's just easier to send Pringles to school.
TikTok users were furious over how her son's school handled what happened, and they offered advice and support.
TikTok users were outraged that the school retaliated by taking away his summer spot.
“You should make a complaint with the state,” one user commented, and the mother replied that she had.
“Also as an educator — I’m so glad you’re not sending them back," another person wrote. "I’d be afraid of how they’re treating him.”
“I have had kids in daycare for 30 years. I have never seen any school do this, ever," someone else chimed in. "it's the craziest thing I have heard.”
