To order an Indian takeaway while babysitting?

I would mind if a babysitter got a KFC because that stuff reeks but I would ask them not to eat this in the house so I didn't 🤢 I wouldn't be bothered in the slightest if a babysitter had an Indian takeaway. Presumably you have no intention of leaving a mess so no problem.

I don't see a issue to be honest open a window or spray some air freshner after it's strange people would be bothered by this tbh

Just ask your brother and Sil. It’s ok to say , “look when the kids are in bed, is it ok to order an Indian takeaway? Mum said it was a bit rude because of the lingering smell, so I thought I’d ask first”

give him a call so you know ahead of time if it’s going to be an issue. Nothing worse than looking forward to something and not being able to have it!

Of course I do. It is very normal while babysitting.

I don’t like Indian food, and my DC are adults now, but I wouldn’t have had any problem with a babysitter ordering an Indian takeaway.

That's because your mum thinks it smells bad. I think it smells lovely, and when I got back I'd be thinking, "Ooh, that smells good. Next time I must tell her to order enough for us too."

I hesitate to criticise anyone's mum, of course, but yours is a raving lunatic and a danger to society at large.

Agree. And "bland" (English?) food smells too - fried bacon and eggs, grilled steak, roast dinner + gravy, tomato ketchup, tinned fish, boiled eggs, baked beans, cheese, beef burgers.

These all have a strong lingering smell (my partner cooked steak for lunch and I can still smell it).

Surely the fair rule should be no eating at all, hot or cold. No perfume. No farting. Can I paint my nails?

I'd probably be gutted if you ordered Indian to mine without mentioning it though, OP, because I'd love to ask you to order me one for when I get home

Lovely OP, take a candle, have your indian, put rubbish in the outside bin, light a candle. The candle will help with any smell (which I doubt they'd be bothered about anyway, but it will make you feel better and thats a good thing)

I can only imagine how that can make you feel. It is very fragrant but then again I eat absolutely loads of fish which can stink the house out. I even considered putting a grill outside once!

I love MN for this kind of statement 😁

Order food but not smelly food like Indian that’ll make their house stink.

It's unpleasant and I shut the windows until it's no longer in the air.

I'm the same, I'm just very picky and don't like pungent smells or strong flavours. I hate there to be any food smells in the house and have windows open and doors shut as I cook.

How do you cope if you’re walking past a house that’s cooking it?
my neighbours cook a lot of Indian food and I can smell it when it wafts into my house, or when I’m in the garden

Thank goodness for that! I’d never want you to, if you somehow feel entitled to order hot food into someone else’s home.

I’m half Indian. I don’t think it’s racist to acknowledge that Indian food is more fragrant due to the spices we use in our cooking. But sometimes conversations such as this does hit a nerve as “Indians are smelly” is a common racist trope. Especially now where anti-Indian sentiment is rife right now online.

Wow, do you get offers fir free babysitting? No way I would do it for you.

Ha! Not at all. Actually, I never eat plain pasta and rarely have porridge. I'm sure you know there are other foods beside curry, pasta and porridge. I cook and eat just about everything - including curry! I just hate my house to smell.

What do you eat? Do you life of plain pasta and porridge?

The only problem I see with this with my own db is that i would step in the door and smell the food and get hungry. So I probably would order an extra korma or whatever for them.

Agree with this, OP could have made the exact same thread about wanting to have fish and chips or egg sandwiches. When threads pop up about whether of not it's OK to eat fish or eggs in the office or on the train, people have no qualms about saying no.

Some foods leave an odour. OP's worried about leaving an odour. The very obvious answer is to ask bro if it's all right.

The snobby, classist posts about "only liking bland food" and Zoflora and "live, laugh, love" and so on are silly and irrelevant, but entirely predictable.

Your parents seem to be hypersensitive about the smell of Indian food. It’s spices not a skunk.

You do realise you’re doing them a favour? I’d tell them first but I’d be annoyed if they had a problem with it

I think OP is being very considerate to ask. We all have smells we hate. I can't eat garlic. It tastes disgusting and the smell is awful. That rules out loads of pre-made food of all kinds of nationalities. If you came to my house and cooked anything garlic I'd be smelling it for days and living with my windows open.

Curry is a smell that lingers, in the same way that fish lingers. I also feel sick when people fry beef steak. The fat on it is a smell that I can't stand. I also don't enjoy coffee or leather, so I'm not a fan of cafés (both coffee and the frying food smells) or shoe shops.

But of course, MN says I'm racist 🙄