Eating Lunch at School with Your Child.

She spends all day with these kids, 5 days a week. You are talking about eating lunch with her every once in a while. Not a big deal, and it will be a great memory for both of you.

Definitely go! It's a treat for her! My kids always loved it when we did it! (we got to sit w/ them and their friends and that always warranted extra attention from friends!) Enjoy it...it makes her feel special because her mom took time out of her day to spend extra time w/ her daughter!!!

Enjoy it while their young - my daugher used to love this when she was in elementary school, but now that she's in middle I think it would not be cool to have parents eat lunch with the kids! Even though we have a great relationship, I wouldn't even want to at her age now.

not at our school - a parent comes to eat lunch with their child? They sit at the same table as the rest of the people...how incredibly rude to be "shunned" to the hallway!!!

I go to school to have lunch with my boys about once a month - if they ask - I'm usually there volunteering so I can slip on over when they have lunch...my kids and their friends enjoy it! So do I!

If she asks, you have the time - go...i just don't like being told to sit in the hallway!! YUCK!!

I finally had the chance recenlty to go eat with my daughter...

I can't believe they put you in the hall! We do have a separate table for parents and kids but it's still in the cafeteria. I never understood why parents do this either until I went and did it myself.

I will say I am very invovled in my daughters "social life" and ask lots of questions regarding school and her day. I found that during this lunch time with her I learned so much more about her day to day activities than I do at home. She was so proud and so full of life during this 25 minutes, not that she isn't any other time but I noticed a big boost in her confidence that day.

I will now try to do this at least once a month.

Weird that the school makes you sit in the hallway. This last Tuesday, I ate lunch with one of my daughter's at school. It was fun. I think you should do it at least once. Why don't you see if you can get some of your daughter's friends' moms to come on the same day? That way, you'll have a nice little group in the hallway together!

The hallway thing is weird. My husband goes to eat lunch with our second grade son about once a month, and they both love it! It's a great way for my husband to get to see how our son interacts with his friends, and our son thinks it's so cool to have Dad there. He did the same thing with our oldest when he was younger. There are always many other parents there. I get to go about once a year, but I'm a teacher, so it's rare for me to have a day off when our son is in school; occasionally it works out if I have a doctor's appointment or something. Go have lunch occasionally and enjoy! :)

My son LOVES when I eat lunch with him, but we get to sit with the rest of the class. I love getting to know the other kids, too. Maybe you could ask why they put you out in the hall?

Yes, I did this just a very few times when our daughter was in kinder and then 1st grade when she asked me to go and eat with her.

I loved hearing the conversations of the children. I liked getting to know their personalities. Our daughter was excited to have me there.

I wish you did not have to sit at a separate table you end up missing out on seeing your child with her classmates while they are just being themselves.

Are you kidding?! I LOVED when my mom came and ate with me. She'd even bring food for a friend and yeah we sat at a different table but everyone thought it was SO cool that she would come eat with me and they all came and sat with us. When my daughter gets to be that age I can't wait to surprise her at school! I was a mascot and on game days my mom would ALWAYS send a gift basket and that made me feel so freaking awesome! When my DD is in school I'll send her flowers for her birthday, we'll randomly pick her up to go on a mini vacation or bring her lunch/eat with her. You should be SO thankful that she's wanting you there to eat with her and not irking the idea of being seen at school with you! Go have lunch with her, trust me it will mean the world to her!

How old is your kid? I have never done this, what is the point/purpose? I have always felt like school is the place for kids to be free of us, spread their wings, do their own thing with their friends, especially during lunch break. I don't get it so I guess I agree with you. =)

It is hugely popular here, the kids love to have parents eat with them, it's almost a status thing, lol. I work from home so I go up a couple times a month. Usually they let the kids pick friends to sit at the special parents table with us, so it's a chance for your kid to introduce you to their friends and show off a little. Harmless fun, I know in a couple years they'll be asking me to drop them off around the corner so I'll take this while I can get it : )

Bit odd that they put you in the hall, but if she wants you to come, and you are able to - go! Like Christy P said - it won't be long until she won't want you to come. You don't have to make it a daily thing, maybe just a once in a while special thing. She can still have the socialize with her friends during recess.

I just got back from eating lunch with my son. But we don't have to sit out in the hallway.

My son says when your parent comes for lunch AND brings McDonalds or Chick-fil-a, etc. You are considered so cool...because hey, your mom cares enough to come up and eat and bring a special treat.

Today we all ate home packed lunches, it was a Grandparent's Day event and some of the grandparents brought treats, but I didn't.

However, I told my son for his birthday his sister and I would come up and bring McDonalds.

If you child wants you to go...then go!!

Well if she wants you to then you totally should. I'm sure she gets enough time with her friends at recess. It is kinda odd to have you sit in the hall, maybe they think it feels special or something. I used to go eat lunch with my son and I would just sit at the table with all the kids.

That's kind of weird that they make you sit separate from the class.
At our school parents sit with the child and the rest of the class.

I think it is fun every now and then. Make it a special time..not a weekly occurence.

I have been asked by our principal to host "Picnic with your Child" days. This will only be held a couple times a year. Parents bring brown bag lunches and eat with their child and then the PTA(this is where I come in) provides a cookie for everyone at lunch time...whether your parent is there or not.

I think it is fun on occasion but definitely not all the time. Lunchtime at school may appear to be simply an alloted time to shove food in one's mouth. But, really so much learning is happening. They learn to socialize in a meal setting with friends. They learn to eat on their own without a parent directing them to eat their dessert last or eat all their food. They get a sense of freedom over their mealtime.

Pack a lunch or bring in take out and have a fun mealtime with your kiddo...but I would make it only a handful of times during the year.

Good luck and best wishes at making some fun brown bag memories!!

I think once in a while would be just fine. Maybe not every single day, but maybe say once a week or something

Your child is being social with the kids all day long. It's a special treat to have mom or dad come down in the middle of the day! When I have gone with my son though he throws his food down his gullet and races out the door to go to recess. Maybe girls are different, but be ready for a short lunch! lol
L.

If your daughter wants you to you should.

I agree with you.
I find it odd that a lot of people do this.
Maybe it's a regional thing?

That is kind of strange that they put you in the hallway. My mom only came once to eat with me, in 4th grade. I have no idea why, but I was really proud about that. Made my day, and I'm almost 36 and still remember it! She ate chicken fried steak from the lunch line, same as me, at my table.
My bff occasionally goes to school to eat with her son, and she eats at the table with him and his friends. A few times a year, I'll swing by my son's preschool and take him out early to go eat out, just the 2 of us...or surprise him by taking him to something special if I score tickets somewhere. I will have lunch with him a couple times a year when he starts "real" school too, if he'd like. It won't cut into her social time for you to go every once in awhile, especially if she asks, because it's a 30 minute deal, and she's with her peers 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. It'd be different if she was like "Oh moooooooom" if you suggested it, but if she's asking you to come, I'm inclined to think you should go! That may not be the case "forever", so take advantage of the opportunity, and soak it up, while you can.

When my daughter asked me to come up for lunch when she was in elementary school..... I went. You don't have to go everyday, maybe once every couple weeks or so, whatever you decide.

There are plenty of times for them to socialize, be with friends, etc.

This give you a chance to interact with her friends, teachers, etc.

I never told my daughter "no I can't go to lunch" because there might be a day when she didn't want me around.

I think that it is weird they sit in the hall and not with everyone else. But aside from that, I think you have a lot to learn and are a bit naive about how school lunches work these days. Every school I have ever had my kids in (including private) lunch is NOT social time. They are very restricted about whom they sit beside, there is not choosing where to sit or whom to sit with. They don't have a lot of time to eat (many kids don't have time to eat all their lunch) and they are typically not allowed to do much talking. In the private schools our kids were in, they were not allowed to talk until the first 10 minutes of lunch was over--to get the kids to EAT and not talk. Otherwise, they'd just socialize and not eat their lunches. They actually can get into trouble for talking too much during lunch.
They get more leeway with this when YOU go and sit with them. :)
So go!

I'm with you, school was my daughter's time at school. She's 18 now but it wasn't the thing to hang out with your kids for lunch unless it was a party or something. I still met her classmates when I helped out in the class.

My son is in 2nd grade and he absolutely loves it when one of us goes and has lunch with him. Luckily, they don't put us in the hallway! That's just crazy.
Go, have lunch with her while she still wants you to :)

Since tons of your friends do this, maybe her friends are all out in the hallway with their parents. If you think it takes away from her socialization, then compromise and do it on occasion only.

By the way, I have never heard of this before. My son is not yet in school, but when I was in school, nobody's parent's ever ate with them. The closest we had was when a parent would drop off a happy meal or check them out for the lunch time and return them when class started again. Things change so quickly!

They eat lunch at school with their friends every school day. A couple times in the year wont stop her social activities for you to eat with her. It might be a real eye opener for you to see what happens. Go, enjoy it.

I'd want to know why they separate you from the rest of the kids. That seems rather silly.

Perhaps a weekly lunch date, if you can do it? I think it'd be really nice, since it won't be long until she won't want to be seen with you.

:o)

I think it is so sweet that your daughter wants to eat lunch with you. She wants to share that part of her world with you so let her! I'm not saying go every day, just once as a special treat or once a month if you both end up loving it. One lunch with you isn't going to make her miss this "social time" you mention.

I think that if she is inviting you, she does not feel like you are invading her space. She wants you there. (Sometimes it's is actually a cool status to have parents who will come and hang out.)

When I was growing up, I begged my parents to come to my stuff at school. If it wasn't parent teacher conferences or some award ceremony, they didn't make or find time to come. My dad missed my band concerts and neither of my parents would come to my speech tournaments, though all of my peers had their parents come at least once or twice a year. In the end, I gave up doing the things I enjoyed at school because my parents made it clear by action that they did not care about what was important to me.

So, from my experience and after learning from my adopted son, if she's asking you to come, she will not consider it an invasion of space. She's inviting you to know her every day world.

I sit at the same table as my daughter and her classmates. I think she sort of likes showing off her mommy.

Do it. It's fun!

E.

I go about 2ce a year. The parents sit in the cafeteria with all the kids...you just sit next to your child. My son LOVES it and he wishes I would do it more often. He gets plenty of time with his classmates all the other days of the school year!

We can do this at little one's school - we sit w/the kids in the lunchroom at the tables. And if it's special like Grandparent's Day, there are usually a few tables a bit more decorated for the event!

However, there is NO bringing in Subway, McDonald's or such AT ALL! While some folks can afford this, many others cannot - and this rule keeps that little bit of 'stuff' out of school!

I go have lunch with daughter probably 4 times a year and take her a special lunch. Happy meal, subway, something like that and she loves it!

I don't do it often, but I just did it with my girls. I brought up treats and my daughters fave lunch for her bday. My two girls go to the same school, but have different lunch times. So I was able to bring them both something and share a little bit of their day. The kids love it, and its nice to get to know the kids in their classes...

Why NOT do it...unless SHE doesn't want you to?? Have to agree the hallway thing is really odd.