Disgusted by excessive Xmas treats!

[PinkPomeranian]

My kids are doing a final clear up before going back to school tomorrow, and 8yo trotted off to fetch her Xmas sweet haul which she had forgotten about and therefore barely touched.

Seeing it all laid out I am absolutely astounded by the amount of chocolate/sweets she has accumulated. (Even more horrified to realise that 5yo currently has a pile half this size despite receiving the same stuff as her elder sister!) This is over the last month alone. She also has two large tins full of the sweets she's been given at parties and Hallowe'en etc. I don't think our friends or family are particularly big on sweets so guess lots of little or one-off things have just accumulated.

AIBU to be a bit taken aback by the amount she's received? And what do other people do with it all? I don't think she'll get through it all but seems a waste to bin it.

[quote Everydaydayisaschoolday]@SailingNotSurfing. I'm heavily involved with my local food bank. I know what they want and it's not regifted cheap Christmas puds/cake/pies hamper rejects in January or third hand packets of chocolate or crisps just touching their best before date or giant packs of Haribos. Sadly I can't give them the cheese as there's no record over how long it's been in a cool chain.

Food banks want proper food that customers can make nutritious meals with (or cash donations) not sugary shite. The occasional treat donation is great but If the junk I'm given isn't good enough for me to eat healthily I'm not going to fob it off on my less flush neighbours on the basis that people on low incomes should be grateful for anything.[/quote]
I do not believe for an instant that you are 'heavily involved' with your local food bank because that is utter rubbish. Treat foods such as biscuits are always requested and provided alongside more nutritious foods. The arrogance that you should decide that someone worse off than you shouldn't have a treat of a bar of chocolate is astounding. Your earlier post describing how you waste food was quite shocking tbh.

@RiverSkater

Why did they have ownership of the haul? That's just what she showed you! I bet more went in their bellies.

All treats in the treat cupboard or mine will be having midnight feats.
It's all sugar, It will keep then you can replenish at Easter.

Does it not tell you something thay the op doesn’t restrict her children and they are able to self regulate, and you restrict your children and they cannot?

[quote Everydaydayisaschoolday]@SailingNotSurfing. I'm heavily involved with my local food bank. I know what they want and it's not regifted cheap Christmas puds/cake/pies hamper rejects in January or third hand packets of chocolate or crisps just touching their best before date or giant packs of Haribos. Sadly I can't give them the cheese as there's no record over how long it's been in a cool chain.

Food banks want proper food that customers can make nutritious meals with (or cash donations) not sugary shite. The occasional treat donation is great but If the junk I'm given isn't good enough for me to eat healthily I'm not going to fob it off on my less flush neighbours on the basis that people on low incomes should be grateful for anything.[/quote]
My food bank has biscuits and crisps on their "basics" list - so that people without gas or electric can eat!

I pass unwanted tubs of Christmas chocolate to my cousin to take into hospital. He is a junior doctor, thin as a rake and pretty much lives off the vending machine some night shifts. Chocolate never goes to waste in a hospital staff room!

Unwanted chocolate! What kind of witchcraft is this.

I used to end up with about 15 selection boxes after Christmas just eke it out!

We have a snack box in the kitchen with crisps/sweets/chocolate and DDs Christmas chocolate went into that for her to have whenever she fancies. She isn't a greedy kid and we don't have "treat" foods in our house - it's all just food and she self regulates.

Was going to say give it to a hospital a&E /emergency ward staff room. Staff there don’t have the luxury of making all these farm to fork organic perfectly dietary balanced snacks and meals that your perfect darling kids will only eat if a unicorn sneezes on or whatever, they’re busy saving lives and a quick blood sugar boost after 8 hours with no food is massively appreciated! Even my 62 yo mum who’s still
Working hard on one of these wards takes biscuits and cakes etc in especially around Christmas and would indulge in a chocolate Santa and a brew if/when she got a break!

@MrsHGWells don’t be daft Op won’t let her kids do Halloween! They probably ‘ask’ to volunteer for charity or something instead

w h y d o n ' t y o u e a t i t g r a d u a l l y ?

Congratulations on making Mumsnet Madness!

@LampLighter414

Why all the shock horror?

Ration it out as treats/desserts over the next few weeks?

⬆️ Exactly! It's not even that much. And it's not like it's going to go off!! You're the adult so put it somewhere they can't get it & give it out to them as & when. To even think of 'binning it' is hideously wasteful - especially when you could donate it to a charity or food bank for kids who have no sweets whatsoever.

If what's in that picture is your idea of an excessive stash OP, FFS don't come to our house - you'll be horrified!

I could eat that in one sitting.

Strange thing to start a thread about. Stealth boast maybe... as in "look at how restrained my child is/we eat so healthily this junk food shocks me"?

Sweets and chocolate keep well for weeks/months in a tin, in a reasonably cool place. No need to eat it all at once.

How revolting! If MNHQ don't slap a content warning on this thread soon, I might have to sue for damages. What sick bastard would give chocolates to a child at Christmas? Think it's time you went NC with them...

1200 votes in and we can see why the UK has an obesity crisis. The NHS occupation health staff are desperately trying to raise the standard of staff food within the NHS, piles of cheap chocolate won't help.

@TunaGuitar maybe the NHS could have cafes selling decent food instead of chains that sell cheap junk food? I spent a few weeks visiting my DP after work every day and had to eat at the hospital. There was never any healthy choices in the evening. The food was awful to buy.

RoyalFamilyFan is right there, the cafe in the hospital here sells cakes, biscuits, chocolate, and sandwiches that all have mayonnaise. You can't even get a soup or yoghurt. No fresh fruit at all.

Hospital food for staff and visitors makes it almost impossible to make a healthy choice, and obviously that's not a problem once in awhile but when people are working or dealing with this tough environment they deserve better.
It's going to need a massive shift in society to get past the whole 'piles of sweets aren't a problem' that most on this thread are supporting.

In hospitals, the cafe open during the day closes about 6 pm. The only place to buy food is a pizza place or a place aimed at staff that visitors can use as well. The food is things like cheap sausages with chips. A sandwich with mayonnaise would be preferable. But I had to get the bus after finishing work to the hospital, spend time with DP, then get the bus back home. I didn't get home until 9.30pm.

Melt it all down and put it in an IV drip?

@ListenToChickens Sounds good to me!

@Wheelerdeeler

It's just as well you don't live in my house. The size of the haul would have stopped your heart

:) :)

Ok, so has no one spotted this, I paraphrase of course...

OP: oh no! Too much. Not enough space. My cupboards are full, it cannot fit anywhere, etc etc must be gone, gone I say
PP: save it for a piñata
OP: brilliant idea, I will do just this

... save it where? In those cupboards previously deemed too full? Or those other places PPs suggested which were also dismissed?

Honestly the unravelling of this thread has been a very worthy use of my time on a Sunday morning with a cup of tea and several posh Christmas biscuits