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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Am I being Unreasonable with regards to my stepdaughter & her wife

249 replies

Waters1975 · 30/06/2019 20:13

Am I being unreasonable for thinking this is just rude ! My stepdaughter who is 26 has just come to stay for the weekend with her wife. When they arrived they immediately went through our kitchen cupboards to see what food we had & to see if it was suitable for them . They then proceeded to say that they were going to the supermarket to get some things . They returned back with a couple of bags and were whispering in the hall way and swapping bits about . One went upstairs with a bag and the other cane to fridge & put in an apple juice & a bottle of cherry coke. A loaf of bread & a bag was left on the side. That evening we cooked them dinner and then one went to the fridge got 2 glasses out & poured themselves a coke each. After dinner ( no offer of help with the clearing up ). One went upstairs & came back down with a bag of sweets hidden in her pocket. They sat there secretly eating these sweets thinking we had not noticed. My husband & I have 3 children of our own who I have treats in the cupboard for so one of mine asked if they could have some as obviously felt like they were missing out. The next evening we were sitting there and the wife came out with a half eaten bag of Doritos with a peg on them to keep them fresh . She sat there eating some & then put the peg on and put them away again with no offer of any for us or the children . ( This was after we had been out in the day & treated them to lunch). They have stayed in our home all weekend , not paid a penny not offered with anything & then hidden food they have bought even though they have had breakfast , lunch & dinners here incl a meal out .I would never dream of requesting any money or accepting any if they have made the effort to come & see us but I find this behaviour very strange & basically rude ! Just wondered what anyone else thoughts are on this. My husband ( his daughter ) just says they are very odd & annoying but doesn’t say anything to them .

OP posts:
LagunaBubbles · 01/07/2019 12:36

I'm another one who doesn't get all the shouts of its rude or bizarre not to share, no it's not. Confused

HUZZAH212 · 01/07/2019 12:46

So for those saying it's not rude do you sit at family meals and go get yourself a drink without offering anyone else one? To me it's basic good manners to ask.

Barbarafromblackpool · 01/07/2019 12:46

I suspect it's a symptom of you being a bit uptight and them being a bit 'fussy' and it's led to this scenario of them making sure they have the things they like and you noticing and not liking it. I wouldn't personally mind if someone did this, equally I take my own food to other people's houses as I'm vegetarian and like a certain biscuit brand with my certain tea in the afternoon. None of these things should be a big deal.

MsMaisel · 01/07/2019 12:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Hithere12 · 01/07/2019 12:48

@HUZZAH212

If I wanted to get a glass of water I’d just go and get one I wouldn’t announce to everyone I was getting a water and would everyone else like a water like some sort of annoying moron.

It’s not polite it’s just annoying.

Barbarafromblackpool · 01/07/2019 12:48

Having said that, I do offer it round.
It mainly sounds that they aren't comfortable staying at someone else's house.

Hithere12 · 01/07/2019 12:49

I'm more than happy to MAKE food (or buy food) for others, I just find the idea of sharing your own portion of food to be extremely gross and disgusting

Same 🤮 I can’t stand the idea of people putting their fingers in my food unless they’d just washed their hands.

MsMaisel · 01/07/2019 12:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

HUZZAH212 · 01/07/2019 12:52

@Hithere12 But it wasn't water. They got 2 glasses to pour themselves a glass of coke from 'their 2l bottle'. It wasn't offered to anyone else, and it sounds like it would have been uncomfortable for anyone else to just help themselves.

MsMaisel · 01/07/2019 13:02

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

woodlock75 · 01/07/2019 13:09

I don't understand the obsession with sharing. They bought the sweets etc - it's theirs? Also you wouldn't react in this way if it was your own children - so it's a non issue.

HUZZAH212 · 01/07/2019 13:17

They then took the half drunk bottle of coke home with them. So I doubt it was ever for everyone to share 😆

anothernotherone · 01/07/2019 13:21

There are obviously some very different cultures (I don't mean national cultures, but family cultures) on here!

I don't think the behaviour the OP describes is remotely normal for an adult child visiting their parents, nor even for an adult in their own home with their family or extended family.

I certainly wouldn't go through my parents' fridge and cupboards unless preparing a meal for everyone, and if there with my kids I ask before looking for anything for them. I wouldn't buy a bag of crisps or any other snack and eat it in my parents living room while they watched - how "I'm alright Jack" is that?

It absolutely is shockingly rude and egotistical and antisocial to go through the cupboards and fridge, buy food to hide, eat in front of people without offering the food around etc. That's not greed because it's not about wanting other people's food, it's about sharing your own - not sitting in front of your family eating without sharing/ offering to share. I wouldn't eat crisps or chocolate in front of my husband, children, parents or friends without offering them some.

What the OP describes is "what's yours is mine, and what's mine is mine too" Shock

yulet · 01/07/2019 13:28

Personally I'm autistic and often "sneak" food and select sweets or crisps that I can eat in secret when I go away. I wouldn't want to share these out either as everyone else can eat absolutely everything they'd like, while I have a really limited diet. So that bag of crisps that would have got me through an afternoon becomes a shared thing where I get a mouthful, and has everyone else's hands dipped into it too? No thanks.

Thank God that my MIL doesn't care about this sort of stuff or take it personally. I've been able to be more and more open with her about my eating issues over the years because of her kind nature.

Probably your step daughter assumed it just wouldnt be a big deal or even noticed. I seriously can't understand why it is myself and the responses on this thread are weird. Whatever the case, I doubt they were trying to hurt your feelings.

SagAloojah · 01/07/2019 13:39

Do your other kids help clear up after dinner and tidy? If yes, so should DSD and her wife.

MsMaisel · 01/07/2019 13:39

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

HUZZAH212 · 01/07/2019 13:46

Hardly 'running around the whole house offering drinks like a martyr'... Everyone was sitting together at the table and one person getting 2 glasses to pour pop, without asking the other person if they even want some? That was presumably so they didn't have to offer it to anyone else. Yes, it's bad manners.

MsMaisel · 01/07/2019 13:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

anothernotherone · 01/07/2019 14:02

Wtf is everyone in the last few posts talking about sharing a portion and offering "bites" - that's disgusting and not remotely what the op is talking about, it's an entirely seperate topic. Nor is anyone expecting anyone to "run around the house" offering glasses of water - is the heat getting to everyone? Two people kept the cola to themselves and didn't offer it to anyone they were sitting at the table with bearing in mind that they were eating food bought and prepared by the family they were sitting with. Of course it's bloody "I'm alright Jack" thoughtlessly rude.

What's mine is mine, just mine and what's yours is also mine if I fancy it. How's that not rude?

FriarTuck · 01/07/2019 14:02

My £ says that OP is homophobic and doesn't like DSD or her wife....

yulet · 01/07/2019 14:04

I think she just doesn't really like the DSD.

Yabbers · 01/07/2019 14:04

I bring bags of snacks to my parents’ house. They never have anything good.

Would you have preferred they ate all your food and never replaced it?

Plenty of my guests never help tidy up. I don’t expect it, they are guests. In fact, my mum is the only one who lets with dishes and it really bugs me as she just gets in my way.

caperplips · 01/07/2019 14:05

I must be missing something from the OP - from what I can see a loaf of bread was left in the kitchen and a bottle of coke in the fridge. The sweets / crisps were upstairs and brought down by the SD and wife at varying times solely for them to eat. The coke was poured only by them for them.

I absolutely can't imagine ever acting like that when there are others at the table / in the room.

where did the 'tons of sweets in the kitchen' come from? The OP?

I am very glad not to be a guest in some of these houses.

If this was the reverse and the OP went to her room and came down with treats / crisps / coke etc and only offered to her own children while the SD and wife were in the room would that be rude?

Hithere12 · 01/07/2019 14:23

Why are people so greedy? I’d just assume if people were hungry they’d eat the food that was actually in their home and therefore want?

Who are all these permanently hungry people who want someone’s food whenever they start eating it??

MsMaisel · 01/07/2019 15:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.