I don’t think he should be punished, I do however think he could be taught different ways of expressing something unnatural to him

Weird is negative. He did not say it was something he had not seen before. He also doesnt need to verbalise every thought.
But… OP won’t listen. She just wants validation for allowing her son to rule.

Another perfect parent that thinks the sun shines out of their kids backside. If your child is hurting another child emotionally you absolutely step in and make them apologise.

I think it was a teaching moment for both mothers and but the mother of the boy was in the wrong big time!

What a pity that such a wonderful learning curve has been lost by both these parents. It could have had a very different outcome and the two children involved might have become friends for life as they worked out different foods and lifestyles with the parents help.

Of course you don’t need to punish him but you should explain to him that people are different and sometimes innocent comments can hurt. Use it a chance to educate and help your son grow.

We just need to take examples like this to educate our children! Instead of getting upset about it, maybe the mum should have taken the time to educate! Kids don’t have filters, if they see something they have never seen they think it’s weird. These interactions will define how they grow up!

We live in a multicultural society and I would explain that not everyone eats the same food. Its good to be curious and maybe he should have asked what the food was instead of calling it weird.

The boy’s mum should take this opportunity to teach the boy how to appreciate and embrace culture difference and not living in his own cage

Yeah, she’s wrong. Asking your kid to be polite and sensitive to other people’s feelings is not punishing him or shutting him down.

This is a difficult one. I can see the mum’s view, but at the end of the day I think she is wrong to hold that position. She needs to tell her son to be respectful, and to be curious in a polite way, because this is also teaching her son to appreciate things that are different and ask questions politely, not say things are weird. Also, the mum of the girl should teach her daughter to be proud of the delicious lunch that she gets to eat every day.

I’m sure he didn’t mean to upset anyone but he does need to be told to mind his manners. I wonder, if the boys Mum found out someone commented on his lunch, would she just let it go if it upset her son? I don’t think so.

I would just explain that he’s possibly jealous of her lunch and wishes his was more like it. Or if it’s taking place in class, perhaps mention it to the teacher. She can then talk to the class about foods, lunches, etc. in a more general way.

The mother needs to reached out to you and you dismissed her. You risk raising an insensitive child. You showed no compassion or understanding. Your son was in the least tactless ands this could have been a good lesson to teach him to consider what he says so he does not hurt others. Getting him in to trouble is a red herring.

Totally wrong!
Tell your child that it’s OK to make these observations, but to keep them to himself!
He needs to learn how to apologies, especially as it seems like he will be needing to do that a lot in his future!
Also YOU should apologies to the mother and her daughter! Sending her articles to fix her child when you won’t even acknowledge that your child is the one causing them! Her daughter is also around 7 years old, if your child is too young to learn there’s a time and a place and his words can have negative impacts on others, why should her child be able to manage HER feeling towards your child’s words?
The world doesn’t need to fix itself to align with your son, he needs to learn to align with the world or he will go through life with few friends and difficulties keeping a job

I would try and teach my child how to be more resilient if I was the other parent. Not to take on board what others say.

If it was my child that was told their lunch was weird, I’d explain to my child that everyone eats different foods and what that other child eats might be weird to someone else.. not everyone is going to like everything.
I think the mother has over reared a bit and maybe she’s a little sensitive.

I think as a mother if a child is upset enough that another mother needs to reach out to you to mention upsetting behaviour, then it deffinitely needs to be delt with. whether its a culturally different food, or a kid who cant afford more than a piece of bread to eat – you shouldnt let your kids make cruel comments.

And this is why most kids are turned off eating there own lunch and bring it home with them
as they get comments made to them about it

Wow this Mother should be ashamed for telling the mother of the young girl she could recommend online articles to build her Daughters confidence.
She’s allowing her son to go down the bullying path. If he has nothing nice to say then he should be taught to keep quiet!