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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To never buy snacks/squash/sweets etc again

464 replies

Fiera · 25/04/2018 23:32

Every single time there is somthing remotely snackly in the house it just gets taken and eaten. The large double concentrate bottles of squash gone within 24 hours, any kind of sugary cerial gone the same day they come through the door.
I dont like to use the word 'steal' but tonight its the only word i can use because my daughter actually STOLE my can of coke.
We never usually buy coke or Fizzy anything, nut it was my eldest sons birthday and all the children had a can as a very rare treat. My daughter actualli hid my can up her sleeve (after having drank hers earlier in the evening) and went and drank it in her bedroom.
Even my toddler daughters 'treats' like 'GoGo' biscuits and 'Goodies' puffs just disapear before she even knows theyre there.
We have a full fruit bowl, two actually, every day and even they get emptied. They have hot meals every day so theyre not 'hungry' just greedy.
I just dont understand why they do it and im seriously considering just not buying again.
My toddler will happily drink water (theres hardly ever any squash left for her anyway)

OP posts:
Sprinklesinmyelbow · 26/04/2018 18:21

For all those posters saying locking this kind of food away is poor parenting and forbidding kids having treats will make them binge on it later.... this sugary stuff is lethal as you get into adulthood. You are talking serious health problems. Would you leave all your medicines, matches or cleaning products where your kids could get them at will?

This is so overly dramatic it’s crazy. Lethal? I assume you’re talking diabetes and heart disease as opposed to knives and guns? Clearly it’s not lethal as many (the majority?) of people consume sugar without issue. I don’t know where you live that everyone is obese and Diabetic by adulthood

Lethaldrizzle · 26/04/2018 18:31

Yes buy more until no one gives a ff about them any more. Perfect logic.

TheFishInThePot · 26/04/2018 18:35

I think a lot of it is personality tbh, one of my friends has this attitude that kids should be able to have what they want, has an obsession with thinking all other parents (with boundaries) are controlling and it will come back to bite them eventually. One of her daughters is slim, eats healthily not so bothered about snack foods, the other is over weight, and despite having exactly the same lack of rules, still hides out in the utility room stuffing 3 milky ways at a time. If she'd only had the first child she could easily be one of the people on this thread swearing blind that have what you want equals self discipline.

FWIW I think pp's have hit the nail on the head saying those grab and unwrap foods are easy when kids are being lazy, and that they know if they don't fill their boots someone else will and they won't get a look in.

Marcellus · 26/04/2018 18:36

I love threads where people say that they can't drink water. It's like saying you can't breathe air unless it's been flavoured. Bonkers.

Lethaldrizzle · 26/04/2018 18:42

Surely the question is why would a child want to eat a whole pack of biscuits or similar

Sprinklesinmyelbow · 26/04/2018 18:43

“Marcellus

I love threads where people say that they can't drink water. It's like saying you can't breathe air unless it's been flavoured. Bonkers.”

It is literally nothing like that 🤣

mustbemad17 · 26/04/2018 18:48

Haven't seen anyone say they can't drink water 🤔 it's preference. I don't like the weird taste our water has, plus personally I don't feel like water stops me feeling thirsty, just full. But then i'm a 30 year old grown up who can make that decision and i'm only 'overweight' cos i'm pregnant

Original poster
Fiera · 26/04/2018 20:46

The point 'She drank MY coke' was made because she had her own can of Coke then took mine and drank it in her bedroom knowing it was wrong.

Are people just reading what they want to read or something.

OP posts:
QuestionableMouse · 26/04/2018 20:50

Meh, this is why it's better to encourage all food but in moderation.

mammmamia · 26/04/2018 20:58

OP I don’t get why people aren’t understanding about the Coke.
She’d had hers and she sneaked yours off upstairs to drink in secret. That’s not on, and you’re right to be annoyed and want to do something about it.

NotACompleterFinis · 26/04/2018 21:18

Fiera Google Kathleen desmaisons. Sounds like your kids can't stop themselves - these things are addictive to a lot of people. She can help. It's to do with the way the brain is affected and the subsequent hormone fluctuations. She is really helpful and constructive and it doesn't involve suddenly chucking out all the sugar from the house.

Lethaldrizzle · 26/04/2018 21:20

It it's just coke! Get over it. You're not 8!

TheBigFatMermaid · 26/04/2018 21:28

I have the same issues with my DD. I have fruit freely available, milk or water to drink. DD will make concentrated squash half and half. She will eat bag after bag of crisps, she would eat anyone elses sweets or choc after eating her own, she literally has no self control.

We now have a cupboard in the kitchen with a lock on.

Of course she is allowed crisps and squash and sweets and choc, probably more than ideal, but it cannot be limitless. She has a heart condition. It is my responsibility as her parent to ensure she does not become overweight. Given free rein, she would do and her condition would worsen.

MrsGrindah · 26/04/2018 21:28

Plain water just doesn’t seem to quench my thirst. Anatomically it may hydrate me but I get no pleasure from it. Life is too short to be puritanical..if people want to drink something more refreshing so what.? Not advocating 12 cans of Red Bull a day, but there are many options in between!

Biologifemini · 26/04/2018 21:33

Squash is a taste thing which is why it should be kept away from kids.
It gives you a taste for sweets and makes water seem dull.
If you get a taste for water then squash tastes grim. That’s why it is so important kids get to try lots of flavours young and don’t get exposed to beige snacks until later.
It isn’t intrinsically bad (I hope not anyway) but it sets up bad eating habits later on.

adaline · 26/04/2018 21:37

People aren't misunderstanding OP, they just don't get the big deal. She took a can of coke - probably because it's a rare treat to her and she wanted to drink it while it was around.

My parents massively restricted my access to fizzy drinks and I developed a major mild Diet Coke addiction that I didn't kick until I was about 26. I still have it in the house now but no longer get through 3-4 cans a day, and will happily pick water/juice over a can of fizzy.

Yes, she shouldn't have taken your can but in the grand scheme of things is it really a big deal? Maybe have it in more often and make it bit more accessible to her. She's a teenager - there's no need to restrict her diet the way you would a toddler.

mustbemad17 · 26/04/2018 21:40

I guess the deal is that DD knew specifically it wasn't for her & snuck it anyway. That's the issue rather than what it is i think

CharlotteCollinsneeLucas · 26/04/2018 21:43

Was there any consequence for her taking the drink she knew was yours?

Are there consequences when they take the LO's snacks?

I think not buying it is fine as a solution if you want to. I don't have much in the way if sweet treats at home and I don't let the DCs help themselves to them. If they want junk food, they buy it with their pocket money.

adaline · 26/04/2018 21:44

I guess the deal is that DD knew specifically it wasn't for her & snuck it anyway. That's the issue rather than what it is I think

Yeah, I get that, but she's a teenager (notorious for having poor impulse control) who's having her access to pretty normal teen foods restricted. I don't think punishment will really make a difference here - maybe there needs to be some relaxing (by the OP) and the understanding that the DD can have more access to this kind of thing if she asks first.

CharlotteCollinsneeLucas · 26/04/2018 21:47

She's a teenager, so you'd expect her to take stuff she knows is her mum's?!

mustbemad17 · 26/04/2018 21:47

I'm all for relaxed food attitudes, as i've said above. That said, if anybody - this includes my DP - knows i have ear marked something & they sneak it away, i get cross. The fact DD snuck it up her sleeve says she knew exactly what she was doing...they have to learn impulse control surely? So a consequence for sneaking it would be right in my house; rhe fact it was a food or drink stuff would be insignificant

TheFishInThePot · 26/04/2018 21:51

Yes I think it was clear it's the greed and lack of consideration, to have your own and then take someone elses.
I don't get this comment at all
Meh, this is why it's better to encourage all food but in moderation.
Clearly that is what happens in the OP's house, for those foods to be in the weekly shop, but for the duration, not for a few in the house to stuff down all at once.

Choosegopse · 26/04/2018 21:54

Just stop buying this kind of food! Only have crisps etc if you go out on a picnic so it’s limited.

Teateaandmoretea · 26/04/2018 21:57

Why do you think my post relates specifically to you?

I don't.

Why do you think you can make sweeping generalisations?

Lethaldrizzle · 26/04/2018 22:06

Daughter snuck it up her sleeve because she's probably used to her mum overreacting. All this over a can of pop!