"You've had enough junk

food for one day. What about we go home and make a nice ham-salad sandwich?"
I heard an harassed grandmother saying outside the library.
There are school holidays this week and the Whirlwind was with me. She waited until the grandmother and the two girls had gone into the library and then gave me a smile. The Whirlwind does not usually like what is usually termed "fast" or "junk" food. She will make an exception for fish and chips from certain locations but most other convenience foods from major and well known outlets are of no interest to her. Her father has never bought them for her.
On the rare occasions she goes out with friends and fast food is on the menu she struggles. Her preferred choice of lunch would be what she terms a "proper sandwich" which means wholemeal, full grain, rye or other "interesting" bread, some sort of protein in the form of fish, meat or cheese and so much salad it is difficult to eat tidily. It will be accompanied by a couple of biscuits or some nuts and a piece of fruit.
There have been lessons in nutrition at school but this is also her personal choice. Even when she was much younger and I was responsible for making suggestions she would choose this sort of food. I think it is probably what her mother was giving her as well.
At school she does not get a chance to eat "junk". School meals are, from all accounts, pretty reasonable.
This morning, on the front page of our newspaper, there is an article about the way some parents are feeding their children vitamin pills - and comments about how this should not be necessary. I can imagine what the Whirlwind will have to say when I see her. It should not be necessary to give otherwise healthy children any sort of vitamin supplement - indeed otherwise healthy people surely should not need them?
I hope the harassed grandmother succeeded in get the ham-salad sandwich inside her charges and I am thankful that I do not have that problem.  I am heading off to the greengrocer shortly.