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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

I am not a personal chef!

373 replies

prettymushrooms · 23/06/2021 15:22

Back story
I WFH i am the main cook and I do the shopping.
DH self employed works very very long hours - sometimes depending on how big the job won't get home until 10pm.

There is no set arrangement when DSS will come to us, as he's old enough now to make his own arrangements he will just ring up last minute "Im on my way home" and that's the only notice we get. Sometimes if I'm lucky I'll get 24 hours notice. We can't refuse him because his mum sometimes doesn't come home at night, (don't ask - whole other thread needed for that!) so DH isn't happy with him being in the house on his own overnight as he gets scared very easily.

Because of this casual arrangement I have no idea how many people i'm cooking for, DSS has a large appetite so not like I can just give him a bit of mine and a bit of DH's - he would need a big portion. It isn't always things that can be frozen either and I'm reluctant to keep making extra portions on the off chance DSS will want to eat.

He also has allergies (not life threatening, just makes him itchy) so when he does come here if i haven't cooked something he isn't allergic to I then have to cook a whole different meal for him

Sometimes hes already had food when he comes here and isn't hungry, other times hes had food and still wants more when he gets to us, other times he hasn't had anything and I won't know until the last minute - we have our evening meal around 8pm on the nights that DH gets home at a reasonable hour so if DSS eats at 5pm after school he will want another meal at 8pm or depending how big the meal was he might not want much just something small.

DSS cannot cook for himself and in any case our kitchen is really really tiny so 2 people in the kitchen cooking at the same time would not work so it's always left up to me to sort. If he is at his mums he just orders takeway.

Three nights ago he had told us the day before he was coming to us and would be having food with us - great - i can then plan.
So i cooked enough for all three of us, ensured it wasn't anything DSS was allergic to, then he rocked up as i was plating up and casually said oh yeah i'm not hungry I had KFC with my mates half an hour ago...

DH doesn't think its a big deal and just says its fine, ill just eat his portion but its really not the point IMO! I think it's really disrespectful towards me as I'm the one worrying about what to buy, what to cook, having something quick in the freezer that i can just throw in the oven if he turns up.
DH doesn't worry because he doesn't have to plan, cook, go shopping and thinks i'm massively over reacting about something so petty.

AIBU to insist either he eats with us or he eats at his mums and to let me know which one within plenty of time??
He's a very sensitive soul so bringing this up usually leads to floods of tears that its not his fault he was hungry so he already ate etc - of course i'm not saying he shouldn't eat if he's hungry but to at least let me know??

OP posts:
C8H10N4O2 · 23/06/2021 17:35

Maybe I’m just nicer than you

Just how "nice" is it to let a child get to 15 and be unable to feed themselves other than by ordering a takeaway? To have so little consideration for others?

The OP is not the parent - she is stuck, like many step parents in a role where she has been delegated all the problems of a teen taking the piss but no authority to do anything.

I suggest you address your confected ire and self righteous kindness at the adults who are taking advantage of her and neglecting their own child.

IntermittentParps · 23/06/2021 17:35

as he's so sensitive im concerned that if i continue to nag about the giving me notice hes going to think its easier not to bother coming over and then DH and DSS relationship will be strained

So don't 'nag' (and please don't use that word about yourself; it's a horrible misogynistic word).

Tell your DH you are not living like this any more and he can sort out/talk to his son.

MustardRose · 23/06/2021 17:35

oh i really like the look of what you and dad are having

Give him his dad's dinner then, and dad willl have to improvise. Then dad will learn how much of a nuisance this all is, because he'll have to suffer then inconvenience, and not you.

5foot5 · 23/06/2021 17:37

I think if DSS turned up and I told him to cook for himself i think he would have a full on meltdown...

This is just ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
Start with something simple like the oft-mentioned frozen pizza. Tell him how to do do it but don't do it for him.
If he has a meltdown do NOT backdown, that behaviour is unacceptable and neither your DSS or DH should be expecting you to stand for that.

Bryonyshcmyony · 23/06/2021 17:37

This reply has been deleted

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KikiniBamalam · 23/06/2021 17:37

@C8H10N4O2

Maybe I’m just nicer than you

Just how "nice" is it to let a child get to 15 and be unable to feed themselves other than by ordering a takeaway? To have so little consideration for others?

The OP is not the parent - she is stuck, like many step parents in a role where she has been delegated all the problems of a teen taking the piss but no authority to do anything.

I suggest you address your confected ire and self righteous kindness at the adults who are taking advantage of her and neglecting their own child.

And you are exactly the sort I’m referring to!
ChargingBuck · 23/06/2021 17:38

I was waiting for the inevitable minimising of the scale of the DH problem:

be fair to DH he doesn't just "expect" me to look after him when hes working late, he will always ring me and say im stuck, could you please help me out and collect DSS, or could you please help me out could you put his uniform on to wash.

Sure, SURE.
He doesn't 'expect' it.
He just rings & orders it in, like any other service.

What was I just saying upthread, about manipulation?

youvegottenminuteslynn · 23/06/2021 17:43

So your DH 'can't' learn to use the internet and your DS 'can't' learn to operate an oven? Isn't it awful the poor lambs 'can't' do such simple stuff due to having a penis? Bless them.

You could do with learning how to say no, that doesn't work for me actually. And saying it confidently and reasonably, because you are being totally reasonable!

Keep a stash of frozen meals he likes in the freezer so if he comes round on short notice, there's always something he likes that doesn't require you to cook a whole new meal. You can show him how to use the oven to hear the meal up, not asking him to do so every time but so he has some basic life skills at 15. Doesn't sound like his parents are making much effort to prepare him for adulthood.

If he says oh I would have preferred what you and dad are having, simply say 'give us a bit more notice next time - if you let me know the day before then I can always include you because we love having you here - you'll understand juggling the logistics of buying and cooking food when you're doing it for yourself, I can't magic extra food up otherwise I would do for you! So a bit more notice next time, cheers!'

You sound really nice and accommodating, ignore anyone saying otherwise!

C8H10N4O2 · 23/06/2021 17:43

And you are exactly the sort I’m referring to!

Well I managed to raise four of the type to adulthood complete with life skills and consideration for others and they still visit at every opportunity so I guess I got it right.

NormanStangerson · 23/06/2021 17:43

Jesus Christ. If I were you id be struggling to give a shit here, OP.

A grown man who apparently can’t use the internet and his 15 year old son who claims he can’t even turn on the oven and cries when you ask him to take some responsibility for himself?

They either saw you coming and are having you on or this is most pathetic shit show I’ve come across for a long time.

melmos · 23/06/2021 17:44

Hes a teenager who hasnt seen his friends for the last year, wants to be able to treat his fathers home as his own, isnt great in planning, his parents dont pull their weight and get upset easily (I can see why!), all of these things are non issues and unrelated to your problem. Get his father to show him how to operate an oven and ask the father to pick up some ready meals for him or make get some meals to put in the freezer.

NormanStangerson · 23/06/2021 17:49

RTFT about the freezer, FFS. 🙄

Tinkling · 23/06/2021 17:50

Personally I’d batch cook food suitable for him and have portions in the freezer for him as needed. If he gives you enough notice, let him know you’re cooking xyz and dinner will be ready at x time so he knows. I don’t think it needs to be a drama.

WorraLiberty · 23/06/2021 17:50

@KikiniBamalam

He probably feels unwelcome wherever he goes, he’s 15, this isn’t about food, it’s about (or should be) making him feel welcome. Whether op likes it or not (and all the other cold hearted step parents on here who seem to think they don’t have a responsibility to their step children) he is family. Bloody well cook for him! I can’t believe these replies, some of them do border on abusive and really mean.
Coming from one of the 'be nice brigade'? 🙄

That's rather rich, since all you basically seem to be doing here is slagging off other poster's replies.

arethereanyleftatall · 23/06/2021 17:54

Im flabbergasted by some of the namby pamby responses here.

There's no way I would tolerate any of this shit.

He's going to turn in to yet another thoroughly useless selfish man.

Can't use the oven? Tough shit. Learn.

Didn't tell you he was coming amd wants yours? Tough shit. Should have told you. There's the toaster.

Told you he was coming and ate kfc? That's just rude and would be the last meal I made him.

Has a meltdown? Off you go and have one, I'll just close this door behind you so I don't have to hear.

Drivingmeupthewall · 23/06/2021 17:55

@KikiniBamalam

He probably feels unwelcome wherever he goes, he’s 15, this isn’t about food, it’s about (or should be) making him feel welcome. Whether op likes it or not (and all the other cold hearted step parents on here who seem to think they don’t have a responsibility to their step children) he is family. Bloody well cook for him! I can’t believe these replies, some of them do border on abusive and really mean.
😂😂😂
squiglet111 · 23/06/2021 17:56

I wouldn't cook a second meal for SS if he turns up with not much notice. If what you have cooked is something he can eat, divide it by 3 of you. If he complains he is still hungry after, get your partner to put a pizza in oven for him.

If you know he's coming just make an extra half portion? So you won't feel like much of a waste if he turns up having already eaten

Bryonyshcmyony · 23/06/2021 17:56

@C8H10N4O2

And you are exactly the sort I’m referring to!

Well I managed to raise four of the type to adulthood complete with life skills and consideration for others and they still visit at every opportunity so I guess I got it right.

Then I expect you are much easier going and kind than you sound on here!
Briarshollow · 23/06/2021 17:57

There’s some absolute melts on this thread who must get ridden roughshod over in their own lives. My god.

Bryonyshcmyony · 23/06/2021 18:05

@Briarshollow

There’s some absolute melts on this thread who must get ridden roughshod over in their own lives. My god.
Mumsnet logic 🤣
C8H10N4O2 · 23/06/2021 18:06

Then I expect you are much easier going and kind than you sound on here!

Name change fail?

No I understand what a lot of other parents of adult children know - there is absolutely nothing "kind" about raising children without clear boundaries and with no ability to feed themselves or consider others.

The OP wasn't describing a one off moment of teenage behaviour but a persistent pattern of neglectful parenting and a consequentially badly behaved teen. She can't change that - she isn't the parent. She shouldn't be enabling it.

WorraLiberty · 23/06/2021 18:07

@Briarshollow

There’s some absolute melts on this thread who must get ridden roughshod over in their own lives. My god.
Yep. I wonder if they'd have the same attitude towards a teenage girl who claims to not know how to use an oven and threatens meltdowns when asked to feed herself?

Ditto if she had a mum who claimed she couldn't use the internet to help provide the things her daughter needs, yet is too busy to take time off work to physically provide them either.

Zzelda · 23/06/2021 18:08

He does need to learn basic consideration for his own sake. If he behaves like this when in a relationship, the relationship isn't going to last long. He also needs to learn that it's not up to the little woman to cook for him. Send him to cooking lessons.

ProcrastinationStation3 · 23/06/2021 18:08

Assuming no special needs which means he cannot learn to feed himself, let him have a meltdown. And do not cave. If he doesn't either give you advance warning, or cook for himself, he doesn't eat.

You do him no favours in the long term by teaching him no respect and no independence - it shouldn't be your job of course to teach him those things, but you're currently pandering to him and teaching him he can get away with it.

The national curriculum requires kids to be taught to cook before year ten, so I'm willing to bet that actually he can use the oven he just won't because he knows he can manipulate you into doing it, and if I'm wrong, well there are plenty of videos on YouTube he can watch.

Bryonyshcmyony · 23/06/2021 18:09

Name change fail? I haven't name changed?

I have also had 4 x 15 year olds not at once thank god. I often cooked for their mates too. All are happy and independent.

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