I was snack shamed over a packet of chips; so I unenrolled my kid

The mum received a "pass-agg" note, written on a piece of rubbish, from the school. #pringlegate

A mum took to TikTok to reveal that she was 'snack shamed' by her three-year-old's preschool teacher after she packed chips in his lunchbox. 

In the clip, which now has 568k views, mum-of-two Megan shared the "passive-aggressive" note that was written on her son's rubbish and asked her audience what they would do in this situation. 

She then updated her fans saying that she took her son out the school after confronting the teacher and not appreciating the response she received.

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She called the ordeal "pringle gate". Image: @peaveymegan

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"We do not label things as healthy or unhealthy"

In the original clip that kicked off what's now known as 'Pringle gate', Megan shared her frustrations. Not only was she annoyed by the medium in which the school sent the note (it was written on her son's rubbish), but she took issue with the fact that they used words like "healthy" and "unhealthy."

"I sent my son to school with Pringles, which is a very age-appropriate snack for a three-year-old," she began explaining.

"And this is what the school sent," she continued, before showing a photo of her holding up the empty Pringles container with the handwritten message scrawled on it.

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"Please help us make healthy choices at school," it read.

Megan continued, "They snack-shamed my three-year-old. They snack-shamed me by writing that passive-aggressively on his rubbish."

"At our house, we do not label things as 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' because that starts eating disorders," she said.

"What would you do? Do you think that's ridiculous? Because I do," she concluded.

The video quickly gained a lot of attention, with many of her followers chiming in with their two cents. 

"I beg you to confront the teacher asking for her dietary credentials or certifications in childhood nutrition. She can’t tout her opinions as advice," one user wrote.

Then another user had this suggestion, "Send Pringles the next day and write on them, 'When you buy it, you can decide what the snack is'."

The "passive-aggressive" note. Image: @peaveymegan

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"We've taken him out of daycare"

Megan has since posted a follow-up video with an update on what has transpired.  

"So I dropped my son off at school today and I saw that [the teacher] was there, so I initiated the conversation. So, I just shared how I was disappointed with how it was handled.

"I wish that they had reached out to me directly. I said it was kind of passive-aggressive to write it on his empty Pringles Cup."

But the teacher said that Megan was actually the one who was being passive-aggressive because a note was sent home about packing 'healthy' foods for their kids when they first enrolled in the school. And after that note, Megan still sent her son to school with Pringles.

In the clip, she clarified that she did in fact receive this note, but she didn't believe she was packing her son unhealthy lunches. 

"I would pack Pringles with a granola bar, yogurt, fruit, all that kind of stuff. So I didn’t really think it was applicable to me. I didn’t think that those messages applied."

The teacher didn't apologise for not calling instead, or even acknowledge any of Megan's concerns but instead escalated the situation.

"My son’s been [at this school] for quite some time and we had him registered for their summer program for three days a week. And at the end of the conversation, she shared, 'We no longer have a part-time spot for your son this summer'."

Megan then looks gobsmacked as she recalls the moment. "It was just so uncalled for and disrespectful and unsettling," she said. 

She then shared that she immediately unenrolled her son from the preschool. 

And in a final clip, she explains how she's pressed for time as a working mum and "sometimes it's easier for me to just throw in a freaking thing of Pringles."

"If we’re sending food that we think is good for our children, then why can’t they just let them have that?"

This article was published in July 2023 and was updated in August 2024. 

Originally published as I was snack shamed over a packet of chips; so I unenrolled my kid