Teacher Shamed a Mom for Sending Her Kid to School With Chocolate Cake

When you pack your kid's lunch, you usually throw together a sandwich, drop in a piece of fruit and maybe add a little dessert if he actually got out of bed without you having to beg.

Not a sin, right? Well, according to one Australian teacher, this horrifying act of negligent parenting is worth sending home a warning — marked with a sad face on top in case there's any question as to how you should feel upon delivery.

Here's the deal: In Australia, a mom sent her 3-year-old to kindergarten with a slice of chocolate cake in the lunch bag. Unfortunately, a slice of this kind falls within the school's "Red Food Category," which encompasses unhealthy foods "that may contain excess energy (kilojoules), saturated fat, added sugar and/or salt." The list also includes sodas and deep-fried foods and is part of a full set of nutrition guidelines that all schools follow Down Under.

A friend of the



officially-warned mother, Melinda Tankard Reist, who is also an author and advocate for women and girls, took to Facebook to back up her pal. Her post clearly hit a nerve, with more than 600 comments to date:

"My friend (mother of 8 healthy children, what follows relating to no. 7) received this today from her 3-year-old's kindy," Tankard Reist wrote (kindy = kindergarten). "I told her to put in two slices tomorrow and tell them to get lost."

"My child once got a note like that for graham crackers!" wrote one commenter, Nicole Renee.

Another commenter, Lena Giroux, voiced a different tactic for dealing with strict nutrition rules at school. "My kids' Elem school had the same kind of rules. I obeyed them. They ate what they wanted at home."

Either way, this makes us really, really want a slice of chocolate cake.