Freakin' Twinkies!

As I have mentioned, I cut Ariana's hot lunch consumption back to twice per week this year (our school has not caught onto this whole 'healthy eating' fad yet.) I give her a variety of food each day and then monitor what she brings back home to better suit her lunches to her taste.

On Monday I noticed she still had a lot of lunch left so when I asked why she replied "Well I didn't eat any of my stuff at snack time since Mrs. Williams lets us share or trade snacks... and I LOVE her for that."
"Oh, so who did you trade with?"
"Amy." (name has been changed to protect the innocent snacker.)
"What did she give you?"
"A Twinkie."
"A Twinkie?????" Now, I am pretty sure Ariana has never had a Twinkie before this. She went on to extol the virtues of the Twinkie and it's golden goodness. I let it drop at that....

Move on to yesterday where she, again, had not eaten her snack. "What did you eat today?"
"A Twinkie."
"Are you kidding me? From Amy?"
"Yes. She like to share."
"Does she have Twinkies every day?"
"Yes."

What the hell is wrong with her parents? Who sends their kid to school every day with that processed crap to snack on? I am all for a sweet treat once in awhile. Had Amy shared a homemade cookie with Ariana I would have been fine. I sometimes send Ariana in with muffins or a mini candy bar after Halloween. But to send your child with a Twinkie every day to sustain themselves? Bizarre. Even if we ate that stuff here, I wouldn't sent it to school for fear of the gossip in the teachers lounge: "Do you see what Michele Horne sends her kids to school with for snack every day??"

And now, not only are these parents compromising their own children's health, they are sabotaging my efforts for a nutritious diet for my kids. I can't compete with a Twinkie, for God's sake! You know those insipid 'Nut Free' classrooms where my child cannot have any product resembling a nut (or even made in a town that grows nuts) with 50 yards of a allergic child because that that child can not be trusted to keep their hands to themselves and not touch my child's lunch? Well, I am going to ask the school if they will declare my daughter's class a crappy-preservative laden-unnatural-barely categorizable as food free classroom, since I clearly can not trust her to keep away from the temptations of the corn syrup solids and artificial flavors.

Oh, and Amy's mom, when I see you at Applefest, I am absolutely going to give you a good tongue lashing and quick education on childhood obesity. Ok, not really... but I will be cursing you in my own head as I give you the evil eye.