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When I was growing up, you ate what was served. Parents did not cook a separate meal for children. Of course many children balked at something that was being served, so dinners frequently were filled with threats, screaming, crying, cajoling, bribing and arguments.
I often had to sit at the dinner table until I ate the thing I didn't like, which was usually meat. When we got a dog, the dog often sat by my feet, and I would secretly throw meat under the table for him. Sometimes my dad would eat whatever I refused because he just could not stand to throw food away.
I remember having dinners at friends' houses and my friends having shouting matches with their parents over something they didn't want to eat. So this was normal and happened in every family I knew of, including my brother's family when he had kids.
Wow, I can't remember ever having a meal, as a child or adult, where there were "threats, screaming, crying, cajoling, bribing and arguments" regarding eating. Your family, and friends families were very different than any family that I knew.
Yeah, commercials like that are cringy. We also are fairly tough love that way. While we try to make meals which appeal to all, we also don’t really force them to eat. You eat what you can. You can’t complain later that you’re hungry. In a sense, it’s the same baby step towards adult life as I got in college classes - the professor doesn’t care if I do my class work or not, the consequences fall on me.
That’s not to say we never bribe - there are expedient moments such as when traveling where it’s not a bad arrow to have in your quiver - but we ain’t finna build bad habits.
Wow, I can't remember ever having a meal, as a child or adult, where there were "threats, screaming, crying, cajoling, bribing and arguments" regarding eating. Your family, and friends families were very different than any family that I knew.
Yes, it was very common in rural Northern Wisconsin, where I was raised in the 70's and 80's. By threats, it would be things like, "you're not getting anything else to eat until you eat everything on your plate" and things like that. Not like dangerous, abusive threats.
Even the public schools did it. We had a lunch lady monitor in elementary school and she would not excuse you from the lunch table to go to recess until your tray was cleared and she would yell and argue with you if you did not want to eat something you had taken. I always made sure to barely take any food or else stuff anything i didn't want to eat in my milk carton to hide it, but my best friend used to get into trouble with not eating everything on her lunch tray.
this may be just my perception, but the "fixing different foods for the kids" thing seems to be uniquely American. Other cultures, it is assumed that everyone eats the same thing.
The mac and cheese ad as a substitute for green beans bothers me, too.
It also bothers me all the ads where someone suddenly snatches food off of someone else's plate and stuffs it into their own mouth and everybody laughs.
Kids are going to think that is funny but that behavior can get you knocked off our chair or stabbed with a fork. It is not funny and it is not OK. Do that to my neighbor's dog and you will get your face ripped off.
A minor niggle is the one where mom asks everybody what they want for dinner. The Kids all want something different and they are all shouting, and she serves them the one thing that nobody asked for. If you already know what you are going to cook, don't ask the kids what they want to eat.
Wow, I can't remember ever having a meal, as a child or adult, where there were "threats, screaming, crying, cajoling, bribing and arguments" regarding eating. Your family, and friends families were very different than any family that I knew.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Taffee72
Yes, it was very common in rural Northern Wisconsin, where I was raised in the70's and 80's. By threats, it would be things like, "you're not getting anything else to eat until you eat everything on your plate" and things like that. Not like dangerous, abusive threats.
Even the public schools did it. We had a lunch lady monitor in elementary school and she would not excuse you from the lunch table to go to recess until your tray was cleared and she would yell and argue with you if you did not want to eat something you had taken. I always made sure to barely take any food or else stuff anything i didn't want to eat in my milk carton to hide it, but my best friend used to get into trouble with not eating everything on her lunch tray.
Hmmm, I as raised in rural North-central Wisconsin, in the 50s and 60s and did not see that.
I was a teacher, from 1975 to 2015, and in that 40 years have never seen a lunch lady monitor insist that you eat everything on your lunch tray. Now, I have seen lunch room staff gently encourage children to "eat more" or to "drink your milk" but not in a mean or harsh way. BTW, it is absolutely disgusting to see ho much is wasted in a typical school lunch room.
Hmmm, I as raised in rural North-central Wisconsin, in the 50s and 60s and did not see that.
I was a teacher, from 1975 to 2015, and in that 40 years have never seen a lunch lady monitor insist that you eat everything on your lunch tray. Now, I have seen lunch room staff gently encourage children to "eat more" or to "drink your milk" but not in a mean or harsh way. BTW, it is absolutely disgusting to see ho much is wasted in a typical school lunch room.
I'm a cook for a school district. My job is primarily food prep, but I frequently fill in on the serving line in both the high school and the elementary school. The kids here are offered more than enough options to find something they want to eat...if they don't like the main line lunch, we have other stations where they can opt for pizza, yogurt, burgers, chicken sandwiches, etc. Adding milk and a vegetable and/or fruit makes it an approved lunch. We keep daily records of how much was prepared/used for any specific meal, so I can adjust the numbers as needed. This, and the options, helps a lot with eliminating waste.
Before the Covid hit, the jr./sr. high school cafeteria had a large salad/fruit bar where the kids could help themselves to as much as they wanted. We still offer the selection of veggies and fruit, but they're now individually bowled/packaged, and the kids don't seem to be eating as much of it as they did when we had the open salad bar.
My son is 6 and it seems like all he wants to eat is beef and white bread/tortillas. It is a struggle to get him to eat even chicken fingers. He doesn't like cheese but will eat pizza. Veggies are a no go so I have to add them to a smoothie. He does like Caesar salad. He also eats incredibly slow. DH and i like pretty much any food under the sun, I like food too much but DS could care less. Loves his sweets of course.
I tried to cook foods that everyone liked. While I did not force anyone to eat anything, if they choose not to eat than I never would offer to cook them anything else.
^^This. I always made two separate dinners anyway: a meal for the family, and a vegan version for myself (I made that choice for myself, but am not keen on limiting food groups for growing children). Once they got old enough to fend for themselves, I started making one meal and if they want “after market” animal products they can either do so themselves, or make a sandwich or something. I don’t really recall any battles. They all went through a short-lived “I hate vegetables” stage, but I didn’t make a big deal about it; eat fruit, take a multivitamin, and move on.
I'm trying to picture my mother asking, "What would you like for supper?" With a houseful of kids, that would have been a disaster. Food was put on the table. If you didn't want to eat it, you didn't have to, but there was no dessert for you and it was a loooooong time until breakfast.
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