I live in Sweden. I have now lived in Sweden for approximately 12 years, with a brief break back in the US in the early part of this century. I even have dual Swedish and American citizenship now! Yet, despite this, I still seem to fail at basic things such as packing a childrens lunch for a school field trip.
The normal note comes home: on such and such a day the whole school will be going to a science museum for the whole day. Please pack a nutricious lunch and snack to send with your child.
Now, when I think nutricious I think sandwich, carrot sticks,, a small bag with half a cup of potatoe chips, a banana and one homemade oatmeal raisin cookie. And water to drink. Could anyone do any better?? To up the nutricious, I actually made a vegetarian sandwich on homemade wheat bread, with avacado, tomatoe, lettuce, onions, etc. etc. (Those years in high school working at Subway really paid off practically come motherhood!)
I was thinking I must be about to win the mother-of-the-year award in Sweden. Instead, my child came home from school in tears, and starving to death. Why? His teachers did not let him eat his lunch - because of the cookie!
According to said child, every other child had three items in their lunch and snack: cinnamon buns for snack, Swedish pancakes (like crepes) for lunch, and a drink of saft (like homemade Koolaid). When I asked the teachers about this, their response was, "Well, that is nutricious." I have cooked all of the above, and there is no way they are more nutricious than the lunch I packed and one cookie. When I pointed out that it was no nutricious, they shrugged, "Well, it's what we are used to children eating here in Sweden."
