To think this is a normal rule..

[Butterflykissess]

that children are not allowed to eat food in bedrooms or on sofas?! Does anyone allow their children to do this? as much as I tell my children they are not allowed food upstairs or on the sofa they ignore me and do it anyway. Aib u in thinking this is normal and most parents don't allow it.

Same rule in our house. All food and drinks at the kitchen table, dining table or outside (free rein to eat wherever you like in the garden!). Kids are 7 and 9 and we have started go occasionally allow sensible snacks whilst sitting on the couch. But only things that aren’t messy and that don’t have any rubbish.

I never let mine eat away from the kitchen or the dining room. No food or drink apart from water anywhere else indoors. The rules seem very obvious to me.

Bluntness:
I'm curious though. All the folks with these rules, you never have any of you just slob out on the sofa, watching tv, and eating some random crap? They aren't allowed to drink either? You all go sit at the table for a snack or lean over the sink to drink? No cups of tea and biscuits on the sofa permitted?
Just water, and no chomping on snacks while watching TV.
With five DCs the place would have been unspeakable without the rule.

Was that rhe rule when you were young?
Yes - and we never snacked when I was young.

No food in the lounge or anywhere but kitchen here!

Small kids, no food/drinks away from the table. Meals, at the table. Anything messy at table (ice cream cone). Never food in bedroom, unless ill and having a tray in bed. Dry snacks were ok in front of the tv, it really depended on the age of the kid and the messiness of the snack/food. Sometimes we ate pizza watching tv. But usually at the table.

As a rule the kids eat all meals at the table - or in the garden in summer (its a picnic and less mess to clean up lol).

They eat fruit and sweets on the sofa but my youngest can end up caked in banana so i dont allow chocolate on the sofa or drinks unless they are in sports bottles.

No food upstairs either. But thats more cose we have a dog and they end up sharing.

Grown ups can eat where they want - they pay for the furnature and clean it so they get the privilege to choose - but we would normally eat meals at the table with the kids anyway.

Meals at the table, unless someone is ill and needs a tray upstairs. I find eating off a tray or, worse, just balanced on my knees , whilst sitting on a sofa quite awkward so don’t enjoy it at all. Too much like a buffet at a badly planned party ! No food upstairs. Snacks for younger children at the table. Fruit for older children/adults anywhere downstairs as long as the bits are cleared up - we are not really a snacking family otherwise .

All meals at the table and all messy snacks too. But we do eat biscuits, crisps, popcorn and fruit like apples in the living room. No food in kids bedrooms apart from toast when "I'm still starving"occurs once already in bed and I don't want them getting out of bed!

OP with 4 kids under 8, on your own, I would definitely say all food at the table, unless movie night or some such. YANBU. As for enforcing it, stop random access to food? Ie. snack times all together at the table after school. Pudding comes out for everyone at the same time once table cleared, that sort of thing?

king No, not bothered about eating in street or in the car, especially as we often visit parents which involves eating in car in long journeys. I just don't like DC wandering around eating, dropping crap all over the floor and increasing my work load - I hate cleaning and try to do as little as possible. Also, mealtimes are an important family time for us.

The only rule we have is no food in the bed, because we were tired of finding crumbs in the bed they still get dragged in the bed from feet. My DD and I eat dinner on the sofa everynight.

100% no food in the bedrooms or in the lounge. Food at the kitchen table, sitting down.

I'm fucked if I am clearing up crumbs from careless children, or wiping off marks off the sofa.

My mum had the same rule with me until I was about 14!

I'm genuinely surprised by this. I've never come across these rules.

I'm starting to feel like my parents let me down and I'm wondering what other social niceties I wasn't taught.

I'm genuinely surprised by this

Yes I am too. I think maybe upbringing has something to do with it. We didn't snack as kids, we were shit poor, and it was less of a thing then, but there was no such thing as not being able to eat or drink on the sofa or in bedroooms.

I guess it's an insight into how differently we all live.

Aib u in thinking this is normal and most parents don't allow it.

I don't know about 'most parents' but this was the rule in my parents house but it isn't the rule in my house, I don't care where they eat.

Nope, no food on the sofa (fabric) or in bedrooms. Although the sofa rule is often ignored, crumbs I can handle, chocolate is hardened NO though

We have a no food upstairs and a no food or poo on the sofa (this was after a few messy incident involving my youngest).

Aib u in thinking this is normal and most parents don't allow it

I think this thread has shown that it's varied and there is no normal. Personally I had never heard of it and don't know anyone who had or has this rule. However you see it as normal. So it's really just about the individual and their experience. There is no "normal".

We would usually eat breakfast/lunch/dinner as a family growing up, at the table. Sometimes we could have it on our laps on a tray, sitting on sofa. I do recall the odd bacon sandwich in my bedroom at the weekend.

I was allowed to eat snacks in my bedroom. And have cups of tea etc in bedroom.

Urgh. My dad was like this - we weren’t allowed to eat on the sofa or in the car - it was stressful and awful tbh, he enforced it quite sternly. He once made me get a plate for a yoghurt in a pot!! I was astonished when I realised friends were allowed to eat in their parents’ cars! Our house was practically falling down around our ears as kids (huge, but very run down Victorian house) and in fact the ceiling over my bed did actually collapse because of the damp......God knows why he was such a prick about eating on the sofa!

We do eat all our meals at the table, but there’s no way I am going to get myself all het up about somebody eating an apple or whatever on the sofa. You’re doing well if that’s all you’ve got to worry about.

A rule in my house until about 15/16 years and even then only snacks in bedrooms. Still regard a table as appropriate place to eat, (small kitchen table mostly).

Glad to hear it's not just me . My sister has the no food in the car rule (I don't drive) and I know some people don't let their babies eat in the pram. They were allowed to eat on the sofa hence why it's manl

Manky now**

The only food rule in our house is that DD can only take water up to her room. If she wants squash/juice/milk etc then she has to drink it downstairs. This is because we have both kitchen and bathroom downstairs so clean up is made difficult as there is no supplies nearby. If it is water that is spilled then it is not going to do as much damage, if left for a minute to run downstairs for a towel, as juice or other flavoured/sticky liquids.

Very occasionally we'll have movie night, order pizza and eat it while snuggled on the sofa but generally meals are eaten at the table to prevent spills and issues with balancing plates on knees/sofa edge.

Snacks on the other hand are eaten wherever, provided that any mess is put straight into the bin (Apple cores, crisp packets etc) and any plates/cups are brought back to the kitchen promptly. If DD stopped following those rules then perhaps I'd restrict that but because she has (so far) shown that she can be trusted to follow them, I am pretty relaxed with her.

Mine aren’t allowed to eat in bedrooms or on sofa.

My mum had the same rule. If we did we were banned from using the sofa for a day/week depending on how soon we re offended

We soon stopped when we had a full day and evening watching tv on the floor

Old bag she was 😂

I remember a rule growing up that only the kitchen bin could have wet rubbish in it eg apple cores or banana peel. Dry rubbish like crisp wrappers could go in any bin.