Korean mom has epic response to teacher who downgraded son's cultural lunch as 'disgusting'
Parents know the struggle of getting their kids to eat at a young age. With all the fuss, preferences and specifications, there isn’t much of an option available for kids' meals. Parents often have to choose between getting them to eat healthy or getting them to eat at all. When a Korean mom, u/flowergardens0, made her decision, her son’s teacher reacted rather harshly. However, the mom had a confident and apt response. The mom began sharing her experience by explaining that her 5-year-old son is in preschool and makes a lot of fuss about his meals. Getting him to have lunch at school was undoubtedly hectic.
The mom mentioned that she received a call from her son’s teacher who was upfront but reckless about the conversation. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches,” she wrote. The mom was disheartened at the language used by the teacher. She made unruly comments about her son’s lunches, which the mom did not tolerate. “She added that the lunches I’m packing my son are ‘very distracting for the other students and have an unpleasant odor,’” the mom recalled.
Trying to explain her bit, the mom pointed out that she chose meals that weren't so healthy because they were the only dishes her son would eat. Her son’s fuss caused her to come up with lunch ideas that would ensure he ate something during his break. “The usual lunch that I send him to school with is small celery sticks with blue cheese and goat cheese, kimchi and spam, and spicy Doritos marinated in Sriracha,” the mom said. All of the items were Korean meals since the family was Korean and the son had his preferences. However, the teacher disrespected their culture by labeling their meal “inappropriate and disgusting.”
Although the mom tried to be understanding, she also assured the teacher that she would not stop sending Korean items for her son’s lunch. “I ended the call by saying that I very much appreciated her worries but that at the end of the day, I am not going to drastically change my sons’ lunches all of a sudden, and that it’s not my fault if other students are ‘distracted.’” She also let the teacher know that she wishes to prioritize her son’s eating habits.
The mom was upset to find another email from the teacher calling her reply out as “unacceptable” and persisted in saying that the lunches were inappropriate for school. Several people applauded the mom for her bold and rightful response to the careless comment from the teacher. u/thatshygal717 said, “Report her to the principal. Her comments regarding your son’s food are ‘disgusting’ and ‘have an unpleasant tone’ - racist tone. She’s too inappropriate to be teaching at the school any longer.” u/mamabird1993 added, “This teacher is completely out of bounds. Keep feeding that baby what he likes. You’re a good mama.”
