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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is it unreasonable to be frustrated by a guest who says they eat anything when they actually don’t?

605 replies

funinthesun22 · 24/05/2026 09:24

My MIL is staying with us over the bank holiday. When I asked in advance what she’d like to eat, she said she eats anything and was happy to have whatever we usually have.

Friday dinner was a vegetable and chickpea but apparently she hates chickpeas and dried fruit in savoury food. Saturday breakfast (yogurt, granola, fruit) didn’t go down well either. I took her to M&S so she could pick things she’d enjoy, but she kept insisting she was fine and didn’t add anything to the basket until I said we’d planned tacos for dinner she said she didn’t know what that was and didn’t sound keen, so we bought an alternative dinner for her.

At lunch I made a salad with homemade dressing. She didn’t like the sound of the dressing and asked for salad cream which we didn’t have. I offered vinaigrette, olive oil, or mayo as alternatives but she turned them all down and had a plain salad. She also asked for a few additions we didn’t have, despite us having been in M&S two hours earlier offering to buy food. We’ve got a BBQ planned today and I’m hopeful now that I know more of her dislikes but still not entirely sure.

AIBU to find this frustrating? I genuinely don’t mind catering to a picky eater. I just need to know what she actually likes. But every time I ask, I get “I’ll eat whatever you’re having” when that’s clearly not the case.

OP posts:
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MyAutumnCrow · 31/05/2026 05:38

takealettermsjones · 31/05/2026 01:22

Things are heating up in the roast dinner fandom 😳

I’m loving the idea of roast-based work chats on a Monday morning though. These could be a real bonding experience involving discussions of potato preparation methods and the timeless sprouts-no-sprouts dilemma. Cheaper than getting a trainer in.

Noodge · 31/05/2026 09:50

I've not eaten a roast dinner since the mid 90s. Maybe we should do an AIBU poll.

It isn't a lie that statistics are often made up. Or, to be more technical, biased. Whichever study represents the organisation lobbying for a certain result gets the most money poured into it. They can also easily be skewed. I'm a sociologist, if I wanted to prove most people ate roast dinners regularly I could do a survey of 200 people over the winter months in a sleepy village with an ageing population and I'm likely to get the result I want. If I wanted the opposite I go to a cosmopolitan city in the summer. ..

busyd4y · 31/05/2026 11:30

MaySheWillStay · 31/05/2026 02:37

Your first screen shot
The most popular everyday breakfast in the UK… is cereal (such as Weetabix or cornflakes) or toast.
Source: weetabix.co.uk

Who could predict that a survey commissioned by Weetabix would come to such a conclusion😂

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 31/05/2026 13:47

@Noodge - are you suggesting that surveys might not be entirely impartial? Quelle horreur! 😂😂

Noodge · 01/06/2026 12:40

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 31/05/2026 13:47

@Noodge - are you suggesting that surveys might not be entirely impartial? Quelle horreur! 😂😂

I am a lifetime member of the 'Ministry of the Stating of the Bleeding Obvious' club.

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