To be surprised at this?

[TinaTeaspoons]

I work at a place where we provide functions for young families and provide snacks etc. Today we had kids in of 3 and 4 years old. Asked the lady at work (around my age, so late thirties) to cut up some cucumber, cherry tomatoes and carrot and put them into a bowl.
She chopped the carrots up into too thick pieces, same with the cucumber and she was slicing the mini cherry tomatoes down the middle and was getting sprayed.
It looked a complete mess and because she had done it all so thick cut, there wasn't enough to go around.
I don't like to judge but shouldn't cutting up fruit and vegetables be a simple task for an adult ?

Why couldn't you just half the cucumber and carrots again ?

YANBU. Even if she doesn't salad herself, she is old enough to know better.

YABU.

I'm in my late-30s.

I have absolutely no idea what the right size is for carrots and cucumber for 3-4 year olds.

I don't eat tomatoes so I have no idea how to cut them nicely so I don't get sprayed.

Well you asked her to cut them up and she cut them up. If she has never fed 3 to 4 year olds carrots or cucumber before how is she supposed to know the 'correct' size.

Ha this would be me. I have major manual dexterity issues and dyspraxia and struggle to visualise how to do some simple stuff like that! I had to google and use a step by step guide to cutting potatoes into wedges I'm
a well-educated woman in my late 30s with a good career, but ask me to slice some food neatly and you'll regret it!

I don't like to judge

Proceeds to do exactly that publicly.

I'm just surprised as thought it was a basic thing

Did she know how much produce she had?
How many children were there?
What size portion you normally provide?

That is the info needed to be able to work out what you think you asked for.

As for cutting the tomatoes - I always cut them in half especially for children as they can be a choking hazard. Did she have a sharp knife?

If you had particular requirements you should have cut one and shown her how you wanted it done. You didn't. She completed the task set with her own style and flair stop sneering at her.

Er... Surely if something has been cut into too large chunks you just... Cut it again? To make said chunks smaller? Or am I missing something?

Ps. How do you cut a cherry tomato out of interest?

Chopping vegetables is a basic thing which she accomplished. Being a mind reader is not a basic skill hence why she didn't chop them to your exact standards without you telling her what those standards were.

Until I was on mumsnet, I didn't know that you had to cut up grapes for toddlers. In fact I think this is a fairly recent development. I'm sure that when my friends had babies (30 years back, I have no kids myself) they didn't cut up the grapes. Also isn't it a thing with teething babies to give them a carrot stick too big to swallow, to gnaw on?

Ooh, Fran, there won’t be enough to go round! Let’s cut the pieces of carrot and cucumber thinner and halve the tomato pieces. Job done,

Couldn't you just cut them in half again if there wasn't enough to go around?

You can't complain she didn't do them the way you wanted, if you didn't tell her the way you wanted them!

Sounds like the knife wasn’t great maybe? Cutting tomatoes without a serrated knife can be tricky

I was going to say, but someone beat me to it, perhaps the knife was blunt or she has problems with her hands. You are being judgemental, I'm afraid

YABU
Some people find cutting things difficult due to conditions like Dyspraxia or joint issues which you probably will not have any idea of.
Some people without children will have no clue what size fruit and veg pieces a pre schooler will have.

I think it would have been fine to ask her to cut them smaller at the time. If you did not then that is not her issue.

@ColdHandsHotHead

I didn't cut grapes for my children, nor cherry tomatoes. I'd cut carrots and cucumber into batons

What is “too thick” in terms of carrots and cucumbers? And halving cherry tomatoes - what else did you want her to do?

I'm just surprised as thought it was a basic thing

I’m just surprised it’s worth your faux surprise thread.

What is the point of this post!

Oh, this is great though. It’s so easily solved, a quick win. You can just show her how really quickly and then take a quick picture, so that if you need to do it regularly, it can be in your food handling processes.