Licking dinner plates

[Endlessblueskieswhatsnottolove]

Recently my 8 year old has started licking her dinner plate when she's finished. Whilst I appreciate it when she says it's because it was delicious, I've told her not to do it as it's yucky and bad manners.
Dh thinks I'm being harsh on her for getting cross with her

Aibu to not want my child to think it's ok to lick plates after finishing their food?!

Absolutely not. As a parent, you need to teach children what is acceptable and what isn’t. Plate licking isn’t. Imagine if she went on a play date at a friends house and did this? Or in a restaurant? Or on a first date when she’s older? No. Basic manners should be taught to all children.

In early days of our relationship, when we were students, future DH and I used to go to my parents house, where my mum would cook an amazing tea. Future DH would be effusive in his compliments to my mum about the food, but whenever she turned her back he'd pick up the plate and lick it then "shhh" to my little brother who'd laugh his head off. We all know it's rude, and we all know it's a sign the food was good. My BF loving my mum's food that much, and knowing good manners, and knowing how to make my brother laugh, were all things I liked about him.

It's so crass 😜 Just kidding. I'm a plate licker, I don't necessarily want bread. I live on my own though and never do it in front of anyone.

Unlikely. A lot of people post utter bullshit online because their craving for attention isn’t met IRL

Teaching children manners and social skills is good parenting. When should someone learn that licking their plate is socially unacceptable, when they are a child at home or at their first meal with clients? Can you imagine that😳

Giving her bread to wipe the plate with isn’t much better unless she is going to have bread with every meal forever more.

I wouldn’t like it either. My parents were always very firm on table manners - I couldn’t lick a knife let alone a plate! Would put my teeth on edge watching someone do this 😂

I suggest you put a stop to this NOW - it is utterly disgusting. Is this what your 'DH' grew up with?

Give her a little piece of bread to mop up instead. I was brought up in France and it was standard to use bread for this at the end of school lunches.

Are you giving her enough dinner or something that is filling? I used to do this because I was still hungry.

If she understands this is bad manners but she can do it at home for her favourite meal I don’t see what the problem is. You don’t want her doing it at every meal or when she’s out. Knowing how to behave correctly is important.

This would fall under the behaviours I tell the kids are "not for public consumption"
-swearing
-nose picking
-bum scratching
-farts and burps
Etc
The things people sometimes do in private, that are objectively gross and they'd never dream of doing in front of anyone else. I reckon plate licking is the same. If she can understand that it's something she only does at home, with nobody outside the family in the house and nobody else can see, it wouldn't bother me. Depends whether she can truly understand that, because it absolutely cannot happen in public! Tbh, I was home alone the other week with a sticky toffee pudding and had a quick lick before I popped the bowl in the dishwasher - I'd never ever let anyone see though!!!!

If you dont teach her table manners then she will not be able to go to any formal Dinner occasion and she will be secretly laughed at. My daughter Licked her knife , despite my protests !!!!!!!!

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Because she’s likely to do it elsewhere too

Nrtft I can’t be arsed reading absolutely ridiculous fucking middle class entitled comments.

i grew up poor lapping up every inch o gravy, but could never understand the extremes my parents went through until I was older. I’m talking at least 13 aunts and uncles who died from malnutrition. The ones who survived had no shame even if it meant taking food out of a bin to feed their children, including me! Lapping up every inch of Garvey with bread is a luxury. To this day I still use my finger to wipe food up.

im not the one who should ever be ashamed.

I grew up poor, we often didn’t have any food for dinner and it was two bits of cheap white bread with a bit of pickled beetroot inside. Gravy was a luxury we certainly couldn’t afford.

And It still doesn’t excuse poor table manners and it certainly doesn’t mean your middle class. I fully understand if you’re starving why you would do it, hence why I asked the op if her child was hungry, and I’m sorry if you’re still in that situation, but if you’re not then there is no excuse for poor table manners,

I may be guilty of the odd plate-lick in the privacy of my own home 🫣…but bread to wipe the plate does sound like a good solution.

I don't think its a big deal in your own home as long as shes taught its not something to do in public

As others have said, just give her some bread and tell her this is a slightly more polite Italian way to do it. La scarpetta apparently!
italysegreta.com/la-scarpetta/

This.

I've managed to restrain myself from licking a dinner plate. We are supposed to be civilised, and children need to be taught basic table manners.

The only thing with using bread to ‘mop up’ is that it’s unnecessary extra calories

The bread is literally provided for the purpose of dipping.

We had to do that to qualify for pudding. That's the 1960s/70s for you.

That reminds me of someone I once knew who had to turn their plate upside down so they could eat their pudding off the underside. Not a deprived family, i think he went to Dulwich College, just rather eccentric.

Licking the plate is a pretty effective way of pre-cleaning it prior to washing up.