“I hope you’re going to wipe that off before it dries.” The Qantas attendant smiled at my son who had carefully smeared chocolate ice-cream all over his face, military commando style, and was grinning proudly, waiting for my reaction. I laughed and fished in my handbag to find a mirror so he could admire his handiwork. Then we wiped it off before it set in the dry cabin air. I guess that’s one way to entertain yourself on a long flight!

My first impression of the Qantas kids meals was that they must have had a dietitian to advise them. There wasn’t a chip, fatty salty cracker, fatty sweet biscuit or lolly to be seen. On our flight from Auckland to Sydney the child’s meal was chicken with a fresh tomato sauce, rice and broccoli plus vegetable sticks with hummus to dip them in. The bread roll was wholemeal and the dessert was yoghurt, carton of fruit and a healthy muesli bar. It looked and tasted good – it’s a mummy’s prerogative to try her child’s meal, of course!

Our breakfast flights were just as good with healthy high fibre cereal, milk, bread roll and fruit. I’m really impressed that Qantas give the children cartons of Just Juice Splash. It is basically diluted fruit juice – ideal for kids. Our only disappointment was getting sausages, mashed potato and peas on two flights. I guess they are on the menu because most kids love sausages even though they are full of salt, preservative and saturated fat. My son traded them for his dad’s cheese and chocolate – and everyone was happy. It is so nice to finally see some children’s meals made with real food rather than junky, snack foods.

Congratulations, Qantas.