Son is 11. School started a small canteen this term and he has discovered veg puffs. Tiffin comes back almost full three or four days a week and his pocket money is gone by Wednesday. Not a disaster, I know. But I'm packing food nobody eats and he's having a puff and a juice for lunch. Do I stop the pocket money, pack less, or let him run out and figure it out himself? 🤷
Pack less. If the tiffin is half the size, at least it gets finished and you stop throwing food away. The puffs will lose their charm in a month or so.
Our 13 year old went through this in class 6. What changed it wasn't anything we said, it was running out of money on a Thursday when his friends still had some. He started keeping it for Fridays after that. Can't promise it works on every kid though :)
Would a middle path work, where he gets canteen money for one or two fixed days a week and tiffin the rest? That's where we landed. He picks the days. It ended the daily argument, though Friday is always canteen day, obviously.
From the school side rather than as a parent: lunch-box waste usually goes up in the first weeks after a canteen opens and then settles somewhat. I wouldn't assume it stays like this all year. It may also help to ask him what he likes about it. With some children it's the food, with others it's standing in the queue with their friends.
mine's 17 and still does this, so i'm not sure it ever fully stops. we just stopped packing the tiffin on the days he says he won't eat it. less food thrown out, fewer arguments.
That is the most practical idea in this thread for me. If he says it in the morning, at least nothing gets wasted. Our 8 year old doesn't have a canteen yet, but I'm keeping this in mind for when he does.
Puffs are a rite of passage. For my daughter it was the Friday samosa. We agreed she can spend her own money on it but the tiffin still goes and has to come back at least half eaten. She mostly sticks to it. Mostly.
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