To order an Indian takeaway while babysitting?

[IJustWantATakeaway]

I’m babysitting for my SIL and brother next weekend. I love doing it and love seeing their kids, but it always leaves me in a bit of a pickle in terms of getting dinner. I try not to order out because I’m losing weight, but this weekend I just want to treat myself.

I love Indian food but live at home and my dad cannot stand the smell of it. My mum thinks if I order it I’m being very rude and it’ll annoy them, but they always offer to pay for one so I don’t know if it’s a bit unreasonable?! How would you feel if your babysitter ordered Indian?

My friend’s (Indian) dh hates the smell of Indian food lingering in the house but personally I love it!

if you know they like Indian food I say sure, go for it!

Oh dear. You wouldn't do well in India would you?

Just ask if they'd mind. Why all the angst?

I would check with your brother out of courtesy. It's your family not a paid babysitting gig so I'm sure it's fine but doesn't hurt to check. The smell is strong and would bother some people, as it does with your parents. It's also quite messy to clean up, and I've left marks on the worktop, tablecloth before, presumably from the turmeric. The biggest risk in our house is that the kids would smell it and come downstairs wanting some!

I wouldn’t care. I think being bothered by the smell of Indian food is a very specific annoyance that most people do not share.

So would you be okay with your house smelling like, macdonalds, donner kebab, Chinese food, fish and chips, KFC, Thai, Mexican, or any other cuisine. Just not curry? What is it about curry that you find do offensive? A macdonalds stinks as does donner kebab. What's the difference

Also if you light a candle it absorbs some of the smells of food.

Can you take a candle with you to light and try to counteract the food smell? I keep one in my kitchen for when I've been cooking lamb, that always leaves a lingering smell!

Sorry, hadn't rtft and see it's already been mentioned!

I wouldn't like my house to smell of any of the above as well as curry.

Blimey you're getting a bit of a hard time on here OP! I think you're right, some people really don't like the smell of Indian food (I love it!) so I think it's probably reasonable to ask your brother/SIL if it's ok to order in.

No, apparently boiled beef and cabbage water and over used chip oil/beige food baking don’t smell. Its a fact.
Nor do all the synthetic “perfumes” to keep British houses "smelling synthetic nice” and to get rid of the non existent smells of meat, cabbage and chip oil.

The only food in the world which smells in a house is “curry”. 🙄

Just ask your brother! He knows your mum and dad too so you can totally give him the whole story and say you love it but don’t eat it at home because your parents hate the smell. Honestly even if he doesn’t love the smell he’ll probably say it’s fine and mean it because your helping him out by babysitting and it’s a small way to return the favor to you. He might even offer to pay for it.

I see her point. Can't you just ask them if they'd mind the smell? It wouldn't bother me.

Why would the house stink? Do you never eat hot food?

Chips, roast chicken, coffee...?

All Curry smells amaaaazing! 🤤

Just ask them?!

What do you mean by ‘smelling nice’?

Do you have fresh flowers daily in every single room or use lots of artificial sprays (…that will give you cancer)?

So ask them? I suspect if you've both had a curry-deprived childhood due to your Dad's aversion, your brother regularly gets Indian takeaways and is absolutely fine with the smell.

When my younger sister babysat for me back in the day, I used to offer to get her a takeaway and she'd always bloody order extra to eat it the next day, cheeky mare. Still kind of fair enough though, of course you can order one!

Well then, just ask them! I'd eat it at the table rather than on the sofa, though.

But would you impose those rules on someone doing you a massive favour in the shape of several evenings' free babysitting?

You do have to wonder what kind of houses some people live in reading these comments. It appears any kind of technology has passed them by.

All food smells! If I was cooking or ordering something that didn't smell of anything i wouldn't particularly want to eat it. Everyone saying they wouldn't cook indian food in their homes, what exactly do you eat?

Agree with PP that there are some v racist overtones on this thread.

Ya, order it. Your mum could have a thing about spending money on takeaways in general. You could open a crack of window if your worried about smell

The least someone could do for free babysitting is stand you a nice takeaway.