I am a small person
I am very normal
I am not important
You would not remember my face.
I have an ordinary life
I work hard for the kids
I like my job
I am a parent
I am a wife
I am a daughter
I do the best I can
I am tired
You are just like me.
I am not out to get anyone
I am not an expert
I had an idea
I decided to go for it
I am out of my comfort zone
I am in over my head
I am just blogging
You can comment below
Our house is mess
Our rent is too high
Our cars are beat up
Our lives are joyful
You can see we are happy
I walked by you today with a screaming child
I shook your hand at church
I smiled and said hi to you in the park
I was kind to your elderly parents
I dined at the table next to yours
I took your order
I high fived your daughter, my student
I wrote a letter to your cousin, my friend
I accepted your help
I was in line behind you at the grocery store
I baked you a casserole
I went to a conference where you spoke
I gave you $10 when you needed it most
I had your family over for dinner
I read that book you love
I taught your kid something new
I ate what your son ate at school
I took a picture of your lunch
I could be anyone
I am anonymous
You can see I am you
Keep it up. Every line.
I would want my daughters to be in your class.
I think you are amazing.
I support you 100%.
I don't have the guts to do what you are doing.
I want you to continue the blog.
I hope people start to ask questions because of you.
I am looking at things differently because of you.
Seems like today's been a rough day for you.
I'm sending high fives across the country … or maybe just right next door! 🙂
That is beautiful! Authentic, heart felt, honest. Thank you!
Keep up the good work!!! We need these so called good school lunches exposed!!! Continue to make a difference. You are so brave!
Keep going, Mrs. Q. 🙂 I'm a blogger, a school staffer, and a Mom. I've started Food Revolution Fridays on my blog if you want to join.
Hang in there. You are bringing a lot of attention to a very real issue.
🙂 You rock! You forgot that one 🙂
That was lovely! Do not let people bring you down. Your blog is great, you are making a difference!!
Mrs. Q, as a stay at home mother with two children entering into the school system over the next two years, you are a hero to me. I don't quite understand why people are getting their panties in a bunch over this. Personally, I want to thank you for your bright idea, your courage and your authenticity. It is my wish and hope that there were more educators and school officials that had the care and love for their students as much as you do. Thank you.
Love it love it love it.
Once again, I can't thank you enough for taking this issue on. You've been able to do what I was unable to do in 14+ years of school advocacy. Thanks to you, Mrs. Q, America is getting a cold hard look at what kids are eating every day.
Please keep up the good work.
Parents who are reading this blog, please go visit your child's school cafeteria, buy a meal, photograph it and EAT IT.
It's #1 on Better School Food's Action Plan
http://www.betterschoolfood.org/what_you_can_do/action_plan.cfm
Mrs. Q, keep up the great work!
(and I enjoyed speaking with you on Wisconsin Public Radio the other day. Hope we get to chat again sometime soon!)
With your blog, you are doing something that many of us are afraid to do. Yes, you are me. You are a better, stronger, more determined, smarter, braver me. For all the lives that you will touch with your blog, and for the changes that your writing will inspire, thank you. I'm sure you have received a lot of press and a lot of attention, positive and negative. Please keep up the good fight. You inspire me and I think you are amazing. Change doesn't happen overnight and it's never easy.
Just want to show my support for you. I'm pulling for you. I can't remember how I found your blog, but you started me acting on something I had seriously been worried about since my daughter started first grade this year. For me, faith is what keeps me going. Faith in people who care. Faith that in the end I will have done my best. But that faith won't get me there unless I act on it. Thanks for helping me find more courage in myself to act on this issue. And if things seem like they aren't working out right now, I have faith that we can look back after the trials have passed and realize why we needed to go through that. It's the hard things in life that show us what we're made of, that give us something to be proud of, and that make the good things seem that much sweeter. It might sound romantic, but it's what keeps me going and keeps me smiling and trying to help others along the way. Take care.
I loved that. I can tell from that and your more recent posts that its been overwhelming as of late. I hope you're doing okay with this project and everything else in your life!
support from Texas!! what your doing is awesome. awesome and brave.
I think you're neat. Don't let the trolls get you down.
You are the loudest voice making a huge difference with such a small action. You're teaching us all a lesson about speaking up.
Thank you.
You are doing an amazing job. Please keep it up.
You are wonderful.
Vc tah de parabens. We are happy to follow you down here in the southern hemisphere.
I think that your success has become an insurance policy of sorts against the risk that you might be found out by your employer. If they even TRY to fire you, there are hundreds of us who would make noise in every media format available. They'd be shamed into not only making sure you kept your job, but into making immediate changes in a grossly inferior lunch program that you've exposed to the world. You're going to be fine, brave lady.
From an RN and a mother who packs her child's lunch every day.
Oh man. I just read some of the newer comments on the other post.
Mrs. Q, it's just the nature of the internet. It's an easy forum for bullies to get their kicks. The mean comments reflect on them, not you. I was one of the people disagreeing with the comment on the obesity post but you know, you can disagree with someone and be polite about it. Hateful posts and empty threats are just bullying. That's it.
I'd suggest seeing if you can block the IP addresses of the worst offenders and ignore the rest.
Hang in there! And keep eating that nasty stuff for us 😉
Nice work Mrs. Q and good timing too, as April is
National Poetry Month.
Mrs. S
First thing's first. This title totally reminded me of the anti-pretty-much-everything-especially-Scientology group Anonymous from the /b/ at 4chan. Second I now know more about you and am ever closer to exposing you! *laughs evilly*
Elemenatry teacher in Illinois (I think Chicago…), Christian, Lady, 25-35 y/o, last name probably doesn't end in Q, you live in a rented home (didn't see that one), you haz kiddies, you have hair, you have a mother (shocker), you have screaming kiddies, your car sucks and we need to buy you a new one, you eat school lunch everyday, if the government requested it Google would give up your address in a heartbeat to the authorities (so don't do anything illegal..okay?), you are no fan of meat and you visit doctors. You don't like pbj-cracker-sandwiches, GMA folks know your real name and maybe so does JamieO (have to kidnap these people). With every post I am ever closer.
We are everywhere.
We are anonymous. (not really)
We will find you.
@stepshep Thanks buddy! You are increasing my paranoia! 🙂 I just twittered you. Just so you know, I KNOW you are in LIMA and I've been there before. I'm not joking. So I will find you first 🙂 Ohio is a fantastic state by the way
You are an inspiration.
You are brave.
You are amazing.
I'm glad I stumbled across your blog. Thank you for doing this – it's caused me to take a long hard look at my daughter's lunches. It was so easy to just let her get a school lunch and have one less worry.
Now I'm making her lunches every night (with her help while teaching her about the importance of the food groups and a healthy, balanced meal)… So that I have one less worry.
Thank you thank you thank you for doing this.
This is a wonderful piece. Thank you for sharing it. My friend actually came across this blog first and told me to check it out for the publication that I currently work as an editor on. It is a smaller sized literature journal based out of Santa Clara University. Upon reading this I would really like to strongly encourage you to send your work into our poetry section. I think you are very talented and have a great chance of being selected. If you would like to do so you may by going to our website, "santaclarareview.com"(just click on my hyper-linked name above) – the submission process is quick and very easy to navigate. Though the deadline for the next edition has recently past, don't worry, it is still quite flexible. I hope you choose to submit to us, if chosen it would be a pleasure to put such work to print. Well, again, great job and thank you for sharing!
I sit with my students every day at lunch. The work you are doing w/ this project is so important.
Keep it up. xo
Thank you for your efforts on behalf of our children.
As a former teacher in a public Chicago high school (where, sadly, most of the lunches were far worse than what I've seen you post about), and someone who really cares about kids- THANK YOU. What you are doing is so important!
It must be hard to read all the negative comments. I get riled up and they're not even directed at me. Take it as a sign that what you're doing is very important. It's inspiring impassioned debate from intelligent (and sometimes not-so-intelligent) people. You're bound to hit a few nerves, but you really are part of a vital movement. The best and most lasting victories are those that are slowly won! Much support from Canada (where, perhaps thankfully, the common practice seems to be packing a home-made lunch!)
You are a pioneer.
You are one of the first.
You are not alone.
Ignore the trolls. They are mad because you are dragging the nasty dirty laundry that society has kicked into the back of closet hoping to god that it would never see the light of day but unfortunatly the it started to smell really really bad…. and now we have to do the wash.
My little one is going to kindergarten in the fall with a tasty home packed meal each and every day if it kills me… and if I have to make it for all her friends…then so be it.
Maybe another option is groups of parents get together and share the cost of buying and the cooking/preparing. There are CSA's for veggies… why not school lunches.
What a lovey poem and a fantastic mission you have undertaken. Thank you!
– fellow teacher
Refreshingly Honest… Thank you for everything you are doing… Your bravery is inspiring… As a mom in Hawaii where white rice is considered the vegetable at my kids school I totally support what you are doing!
you are wonderful and i love everything about your blog, as a public school teacher (high school) i understand your nervousness, but i applaud your honesty.
Hi Mrs. Q,
I found your blog about 2 weeks ago, while searching online for more information regarding nutrition.
I do not work in a school or have children of my own, yet this blog has become fascinating for me and I am still trying to catch up with the latest post!!! 😉
You have raised various issues that are dear to me (and apparently are shared by many others- yeah for that!) and I applaud you for the consistency of posts here, as well as for inviting various guest blogguers (I have enjoyed their posts very much too!)
It is to be expected, when becoming a famous (yet anonymous!) blogger, to get the press you get- including nasty bullying comments. Please ignore those and keep up the good work- what you are blogging about is VERY important and hopefully will lead to some much needed changes in this society!!!
I haven't said much about myself yet- so here goes: I am originally from France and just moved to Canada 2 years ago. Meaning I grew up and lived in Europe until 2 years ago…where I was exposed to mostly "good food". (France is after all, quite famous for its gastronomy and "art of food"!)
A few commenters have mentioned in previous posts, that they notice a big difference between Canada and the US, ie. for food quantities etc. I find it hard to imagine- I have been appalled by the food standards here in Canada (I am residing in Ontario) and the junk food available eve-ry-where!!! (whether it be at the supermarket, at the little cafeteria close to my job, in all the fast-food chains, but also just watching what other people eat for lunch…sigh!)
Not to talk about the waste of packaging- in the past 2 years, I have seen more plastic containers (coffee cups, milkshake cups, straws, burger or wrap plastic boxes, etc etc.) than in the past 26 years spent in France!!! Scary!
If improving school food on a daily basis could be the first step to better FOOD OPTIONS and LESS WASTE in all of North-America's society, would be great!! SO- just 2 words to finish- keep posting!!!!
Keep it up! You inspire me. You have a vision.
There will be nasty comments here and there. Reject them and keep going. You have a voice and you are using it and I absolutely love that. America is falling in love with you, one day at a time.
Don't forget the big picture!