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AIBU?

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Original poster

To eat DCs leftovers and everyone thinks it's disgusting

111 replies

Evelight · 13/02/2016 22:31

actually, I also gnaw at their chicken bones eg chicken wings because I am appalled at how much meat they leave behind and I can't bear to waste it. I often get them to look at my bones (which I clean like a hyeana) and compare it with theirs, and they just try to escape.

I come from a fairly frugal family, and it didn't help that I spent part of my childhood years in a country afflicted by war and food scarcity (food rations, kinda like the WWs. DCs get excited when I tell them about having coupons for milk, and bananas and butter being a luxury). We weren't allowed to have anything left on the plate. At school, i remember we were supposed to glue two short pencil stubs together to make them last longer.

ANYWAY, I don't see the problem- we've all learned at school that we are sharing germs in a family - what is so gross about eating the leftover salad off of DD's plate? Tbh though, I only do it with my kids, not eg DH or my siblings.

OP posts:
Chicagomd · 14/02/2016 18:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

IHaveBrilloHair · 14/02/2016 19:00

I'd do it now with certain things, like half a sandwich or some chips or salad or veg, meat too but not anything that had been gnawed on.
Dd is a teenager though and eats decently, toddler food that has been poked at, chewed, mixed up etc, no way, that's just gross.

NeedsAsockamnesty · 14/02/2016 19:08

My DH does this, and it gives me the rage, because he's getting fat and the DC never learn to clear their plate properly

Is that a skill anybody needs to learn?

I would have thought a more sensible life lesson would be finish when you have had enough

topcat2014 · 14/02/2016 19:22

I eat anything my child leaves, and 'whole' things my partner leaves (eg a sausage).

Wouldn't countenance anything from anyone elses plates.

coffeetasteslikeshit · 14/02/2016 19:35

YANBU. Waste not want not and all that.

RiceBurner · 14/02/2016 19:41

YANBU, cos I find the wasting of any (still edible) food far more disgusting. So plse do carry on finishing off their chicken bones (& salad etc) with a clear conscience.

At home, absolutely no probs. But when out in the public eye, (eg restaurant/someone else's house) just try to be discreet, as other ppl might think it's bad manners. (Tho IMO wasting food is also bad manners.)

We used to pass our plates around the table (as discreetly as poss) when eating out with our 3 kids when they were small ... until all 5 plates ended up clean. And often I didn't need to order for myself, as I knew the kids wouldn't eat all of their meals, and that the left-overs would be enough for me!

MummySparkle · 14/02/2016 19:42

YANBU

I eat my kids leftovers sometimes. Not every single time though and more often than not the dog beats me to it I ate the rest of DDs macaroni cheese the other night because it looked really good (and it was good even if it was stone cold)

My DCs often pass me 1/2 a chewed and slobbered on biscuit / quaver / etc. when we are out and about. I know people get grossed out when I eat it. In all fairness I don't really want to eat it either, but it always happens in shops / shopping centres / somewhere there isn't anywhere to put it. Frankly I'd rather eat it than carry it around with me, making even more mess, until I find a bin!

dustarr73 · 14/02/2016 19:48

MummySparkle thats really gross.Ugh.

toastedbeagle · 14/02/2016 19:52

I think it's grim. I had a go at my dad last week for doing the same, eating my kids' leftovers. If it was unserved food, I'd keep it, but guzzling up stuff that's been mauled, chewed and even dropped on the floor when you're eating your own dinner later is grim.

Like you my dad attributes his "not wanting to make waste" to his growing up in rationing years. Being made to finish food I didn't like when I was younger has left me with phobias about certain foods. My dad is massively obese. This seems a "waste" of a life to me.

latebreakfast · 14/02/2016 19:53

YANBU.

Kids' leftovers are calorie-free. That's a known fact. Wink

TheToys · 14/02/2016 20:25

Not all food left on children's plates is "mauled, chewed or dropped on the floor". Unless if course you have very young tactile babies/toddlers, children with disabilities, or extremely clumsy older children with bad manners. Anyway, I have a clean floor, so have no problem eating dryish things dropped on it.

TheToys · 14/02/2016 20:27

I do the same in restaurants, Rice.

ElderlyKoreanLady · 14/02/2016 20:30

Where has this idea come from that if someone eats someone else's leftovers for the sake of it despite not being hungry, it stops it being wasted?

IHaveBrilloHair · 14/02/2016 20:35

I wonder that too, surely you either put on weight or shit it out?
My DD is going through a weird fussy phase as a teen, never did it when she was younger. If the food is decent and I want it, I will eat it, but feel no guilt in binning it either.
I can't imagine eating a chewed fishfinger, or gnawing on an old cxhicken bone to save waste.

Angelika321 · 14/02/2016 20:41

Like a previous PP said there's definitely a cultural aspect to it. My Mil will eat the leftover weetabix from my kid's bowls or the pizza crusts. She thinks it's a sin to waste food. I might eat a left over fish finger or discarded veg, but I wouldn't eat pre chewed meat on the bone.

GreenRug · 14/02/2016 21:19

I don't get the issue with it! I'd have no problem finishing off one of my kids' chicken wings. My dh's speciality is waiting for me to finish any form of chicken on a bone and then he tucks in and finishes them off! I thought this was normal! Obviously not...

Vintage45 · 14/02/2016 21:23

Luckily both of my DS's do this and yes of course I gnaw off the rest, its the best bit.

toastedbeagle · 14/02/2016 22:04

TheToys my DS is 14m old so the food is very much handled / chewed!

MartinaJ · 15/02/2016 09:02

We were forced to eat everything on our plates at school. When we were finished, we'd have to go and show them to the teacher who was nearby. I hated that with passion. It has given me an irrational hate of mashed potatoes and they were preparing some stuff in such an awful way that it put me off eating them for ages.
It came to a sudden halt once I graced the staircase to our apartment with the content of my stomach - we just had had chicken livers which our canteen cooks managed to prepare in such a disgusting way that the stench was all over the place. Our neighbours complained to my Mam, my Mam complained to the school principal. I never had to eat the whole plate anymore if I didn't want to. I also swore to myself that my children will never have to do this if they didn't want to.
We only give DD smaller portions and I would pick bones clean for her before she starts eating, to avoid the waste. I would never pick bones after she's eaten from them, I personally find that disgusting. I'm not a picky person and we'd been brought up to respect our food but I've got my limits. DH is normally the main plate cleaner in the house anyway and while he doesn't mind leftovers, he wouldn't touch bones either.

SexLubeAndAFishSlice · 15/02/2016 11:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

dustarr73 · 15/02/2016 11:55

I wouldnt be able for that,eating other peoples left over food is gross.Unless it was something they didnt touch.But eating half eaten chicken wings,just no.

BusyMummy55 · 16/02/2016 22:32

Personally, to call it disgusting I'd find it a bit far, if you only do it from your children's plates, who are your flesh and blood anyway. :) If you went round the restaurant chewing other people's leftovers then that would be pretty disgusting.
I often have things off my family's plates, though I probably wouldn't chew meat of chicken bones myself or eat things that are half chewed, but I am more chilled out generally.

UterusUterusGhali · 16/02/2016 22:47

I'd do this. Maybe not bones, or anything, eaten by the slobbery youngest. But pizza crusts fine.

A friend and I once went on the "leftover diet"; we were talking and realised we ate essentially two meals as we would eat the kids leftovers, so decided to stop cooking ourselves a seperate meal later. Grin

I was in a chicken place a few weeks ago with a friend who's a hungry rugby player from a different country/culture. He picked up the bones from my meal and polished those off too. I thought they were clean but he ate most of the thing. That was a bit shocking. In public, like. He eats like nothing I've seen though.

RoseDeGambrinus · 16/02/2016 22:49

Mumsnet is so interesting for discovering how different people think! I wouldn't think twice about nabbing a rejected fish finger or whatever off my kids' plate if I were peckish and it wouldn't occur to me that anyone would find it disgusting. I'll also give my toddler some pasta off my plate if he's finished all his and is asking for more. And I finished off his apple earlier today which he had only taken a few bites from. Ah well. I also treat best before dates with a pinch of salt except for fish and meat. We're all still alive.

Minty82 · 16/02/2016 22:58

I thought everyone did this?! Can't believe so many people find it disgusting - I don't know a parent who doesn't pick at their child's leftovers en route to the bin! Their teatime is hours after lunch and hours before my dinner - if I'm legitimately hungry is that ok?! Also really don't get this joyless notion that if you're not hungry it's as much wasted on you as on the bin - is pleasure not a valid reason to eat something? The bits of toad in the hole on DS's plate yesterday were delicious, whether or not I was hungry enough to be entitled to them. Therefore they weren't wasted on me - I wouldn't eat them just out of righteousness, only if I fancy them!