I left my 16 year old at home for 24 hours and he ate...

[mrsm43s]

A ready meal (mac & cheese)
A pot noodle
A family sized pizza
A full tub of 40 cocktail sausages
At least 2 big buckets full of buttered popcorn (maybe more, but only evidence of two pots where he melted the butter).
4 and half bags of crisps
Several bowls of cereal (I'd guess about 3 or 4 from the number of bowls left)
Multiple rounds of toast/sandwiches- about half a loaf worth, with a mix of fillings - choc spread, jam, cheese, soft cheese
A block of feta
A 2 person packet of fresh tortellini
and something chocolately that came in a plastic tub that I can't remember what would have been in there, but there was definitely cocoa powder residue in the bottom of the container.

He did not eat the cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, hummus, apples, grapes, bananas or yoghurts.

He's as skinny as a rake!

I'm not complaining as we were away on a Uni visit with eldest, and he was alone overnight for the first time and the house was still standing, the cats and dogs were fed and let out appropriately (the dog wasn't actually walked, but we went early evening to early evening, so we've walked her early Friday then late Saturday and she's only a Chi cross that doesn't need hours of walking), but no poo, so he def did garden runs with her. The house was pretty tidy apart from the stack of dirty crockery and empty food packaging.

How would your 16 year old son have fared?

My 15 ds would have finished a whole box of cereal, 2 litres of milk, a whole block of tofu, packets of noodles, he eats mangos like apples, a bunch of bananas. He eats whole tins of chickpeas as snacks. Biscuits, toast and butter as well as his meals.

Rubbish.

Ha ha, I’ve met these overeating skinny teens. They’re not skinny.

She's just glad he didnt eat the feckin dog as well

😂😂😂

In defence of my son, from a few of the comments,
The dog, she was walked Friday before we went, and we asked him to walk her if we weren't back by 7, which we were. She's a very small dog that only needs one walk a day. She got a walk from us both days. She's also a bit needy, so slept in his bed that night (normally she's in with us). He dotes on her, and wouldn't have left her unwalked if she needed it. He took her out into our (large) garden regularly and played with her.
The crockery and packaging was stacked in the kitchen by the sink, not strewn around the place. I can live with that. Yes, it would have been nice if he'd unloaded the dishwasher that I put on before I left, but it's not really a big deal.
He really is skinny. 6' tall, 29" waist, 33" inside leg. He's all leg. Looks a bit like an early Rodney Trotter, all tall and gangly. But, of course, he doesn't eat like this normally. I'd specifically got in a bunch of easy to grab/easy to prepare food for him. In normal times, his meals would have been more balanced/less junky, and we'd be directing him fruit and veg as snacks more often. He does always eat a pile of cereal/toast/popcorn though over and above his normally healthy meals!

No you haven’t. How do you know what they eat? Mumsnet is so full of shit.

Ime that's really common.

For a few years.

The major growing years.

After that, if you eat that amount daily it catches up with you and before you know it, you're a fat bastard .

Not me though.

I've always been flabzilla. I sadly skipped the eat like a horse and stay slim years and went straight to hippo. 🤣

I have a DS just like this (he’s 15). Spends half his life galloping up hills and the other half eating. Sounds like your boy did pretty well while you were away. Pat on the back for him

your family sounds perfectly normal, yours is just like my son. I was exactly the same, never put a pound on despite eating like a horse. I’m not sure people can comprehend this!

Playing devil's avocado here but...

With all the huge price rises/fuel rises etc, what are all the binge eating teen boys going to do soon if eating half a weeks shopping in 24 hours is apparently normal?

Guessing they'll have to go back to eating toast and cereal between meals, like most teen boys used to before huge supermarkets became a thing?

Nah, to be fair, in order to eat the dog, he'd have to have skinned her, boned her and roasted her. There's no way he could have been arsed to do that when he could just bung a slice of bread in the toaster. Also, he proper dotes on her!

He left his shit in the kitchen for his parents to clear up. Didn't even bother binning his rubbish, let alone washing his plates and bowls

Pat on the back my arse.

Because like on mumsnet, some parents think their teen sons living on 6000 calories a day of shite is something to be proud of, so tell all us other mums who have teen sons eating a more normal 3000 calories a day.

Yep I wonder if everyone would be so congratulatory if the OP’s post had been about a greedy, lazy daughter. 🤔

My mum would have hit the roof if I'd left all my dirty dishes and rubbish like that! 😱 I think my mum would have considered leaving mess a far worse crime than having friends over lol

I get you , I’ve been away working 4 days and looking at the recycling my husband and son have ate more fast food in a few days than we would have in months. Both totally taking advantage of my healthy eating plans. 🤣🤣

My almost 16 year old would have opted to go to grandma's rather than have to fend for himself

It sounds like that old scout camp memory game, “I went to the supermarket and I bought apples, bananas and carrots”; that one where you keep adding things to remember.

So you don’t actually know any. Good story though.

Lol. I know loads. And have 2 teens myself.

Sounds like our 16yr old son. Hungry caterpillar indeed. Though I know my son would have just ordered Uber eats as he’s too lazy to even make food when there’s an alternative.

Or their disability.

24 hours alone would have required a gallon of milk here, for the one that I could possibly leave at home once sixteen.

@BlackeyedSusan a 16 year old with a disability that restricts their ability to be left alone is completely different a 16 year old with no disability and you know that.

FGS! This was not a normal 24 hours for OPs DS. He had free rein on the food supply; of course he did what he did.
I have happily left all of my teens alone for 24 hours (this is healthy and normal, if you have parented them well) and they have eaten every last morsel of food I have bought in for them. Including all the fruit and pre prepared veg. Also ordered in Domino's pizza (!).
I encouraged them to invite some friends around, because I trust them and their choice of friends. Most times they haven't bothered having anyone around, but if they did I knew about it and the house was always clean and tidy when we got home. They laughed at me, saying I was the only parent to encourage parties whilst we were away. BUT, they never abused my trust.
I like this OP, great parenting here.
If we don't allow our teenagers to be independent, we risk producing vulnerable adults.

My 16 year old ds is exactly the same, except he’s a veggie (who consumes very few actual vegetables), so he would have consumed his weight in cheese too. He eats like a horse and is skinny too. It’s what teen boys do, I don’t know why some people on MN make out like it’s so weird?!