I am truly amazed at how little money these people make and survive. They have their families to feed and clothe. How sad that they themselves go without so much little for lunch. The woman who everyday at lunch asked everyone what they were having for dinner broke my heart. We take so much for granted. I know in my own dealings with children, that many of them truly get their best meals at school (breakfast, snack, lunch). Many probably go without supper. How sad!!

DANA

Dana, I truly agree. The children at our school receive free breakfast. One day when we were on a two hour delay one of my little girls asked why we weren't having breakfast. It just broke my heart. I watch her everyday at lunch and she totally cleans her plate. I wonder how many hot meals she has at home. Yet on Valentine's Day she was the only student to fix up treat bags for all of the other students. It's amazing that the children can keep on going through all this adversity. Michelle

I know what the two of you mean! How can these children focus on what they need to learn at school when their stomachs are rumbling and they don't know if they will get food outside of school. I try to keep that very much in my mind every day -- what has gone on at home in the time since I saw my kids? In a pull-out program such as what we are doing in Title I, many of these children have parents with these low-paying jobs, and of course, there are those who are out of work and are having to scramble to survive even more. I know that at Christmas, help is given to many of our families here at school, but I wish we continued it more during the year.

Like Kathy, I teach Title I reading. Since I work with small groups I am very close to my students when I am working with them. Many, many times I hear stomachs rumbling. I have students who seem to always be ready for lunch. When I do cooking activities or have food for rewards, some students gobble down the food and want more. I'm not talking about bad manners gobbling down, but students who are really very hungry. I thought a lot about my students and their parents when I was reading this book. I have many parents who have recently lost good jobs they had at Comm Scope / Corning etc. They are now trying to raise a family on jobs where they are making almost half of what they were making before they lost their jobs. Some haven't been able to find new jobs. We even have two unrelated Title I students whose families have had to share living facilities this year due to lack of jobs/funds.

I've never had to be hungry like the people in the book or some of my students, but my parents had to do some juggling when they were first married. My dad was in the army, which was a very low paying job. One time it was one week until payday and they had only one can of beans in the house. They were living in Texas at the time and the rest of their family was in North Carolina. Luckily, it was my mother's birthday and her mother sent a birthday card that had $5 in it. They took the money and went straight to the grocery store.
Cindy

I too have never had the struggle that some of our children and the people in Nickle and Dimed have. My parents have both had pretty good jobs all of my life and we were always provided for, yet not "wealthy." It broke my heart and baffled me when reading about how little they all ate. I feel ashamed for being able to have a well-balanced meal, if I choose to eat one. However, it seems to me that they also made poor choices with their money when it came to food. Please don't look at this as if I am saying they derserved the low pay or the malnurishment. They simply made bad choices, especially with Barbara on board. I am primarily speaking about the maid service at this point. In a convenience store most of the items they were eating cost at least $1.00-$2.00. Why didn't she suggest Wendy's $.99 menu? True, they traveled to their cleaning site and there may not always have been a fast food restaraunt, but I think I would've prepared the night before. If I didn't think there would be anything more nutritious around I would've found something the night before. A junior cheeseburger is much more filling and nutritious than a small bag of chips. And when Barbara was around I couldn't believe that she didn't suggest such things with her being so well educated and all. Am I out in left field with this? I mean I felt for these women but a small part of me wanted to say, plan ahead a little more. I hope that didn't sound cold.

one of my students starts asking at 9:30 if it's lunch yet. At lunch, no matter what is served, he stuffs as much as he can in his mouth. At snack time, (which he never has), I always have extra and it's the same. It is heart breaking to know this is the most food he will get. How can this happen in the richest country in the world?

Erica, I see this every year in my classroom too. (Our school is a title I school with 40 percent free-lunch, and many who would qualify but are too stubborn to fill out a form--something I completely understand.)

I'll never get used to the ones who watch the clock and say, "Is it almost lunch time yet?" Every year I have at least one. I have thought about it more lately after reading that book. One year though, I had a little boy who was so so hungry on MONDAYS. Guess why? Oh, it used to break my heart, and make me want to scream. DSS was involved in that case, but sometimes, it is just poverty we are battling, not neglect.

Right now in HEALTH we are studying the food pyramid and nutrition, so I made a snack calendar for the month of March so the parents can send a healthy snack for the whole class one day--I know, it sounds like preschool, huh? Anyway, one of the main reasons for doing this is that while we prepare for the EOGs I want them to be able to concentrate on their work. (And it does relate to what we are studying; plus they can all use the training on "healthy snacks"...)