if a parents feeds their child a microwave macaroni/curry/lasagne ready meal every night...

[MummikinsOopNorth]

...because she dislikes cooking and is terrible at it, is it bad parenting?

Its hardly ideal but i dont think its awful....but are we talking annabelle karmel style specially for kids ready meals or adult one?

While i dont think the kids ones are great as food i think they are (supposed) to meet the nutritional needs of a child

I think its bad parenTING, although it doesn't make that person a bad parent!

Apparently my SIL does this, her and the kids live off chips and packet meals, my BIL doesn;t like it so he will cook HIMSELF a curry and apparently eats a lot of fish because its healthier

Apparently, the first thing the DD does in the morning is look out of the window and say "chips" because they live down the road from the chip shop!

Is she a bad parent? Well, she isn't an earth mother if thats what you mean - but she loves her children and they are always spotlessly clean! To the extent that they get told off if they get their clothes dirty and she carries a change of clothes around at all times

Brilliant post getoirfmyland! That sums up how i feel - i do get a lovely feeling cooking a nice meal for my family and i am absolutely not a domestic goddess. Mind you - DD going through a fussy phase and everything is YUCK so i sometimes think i might as well have stuck to ping cuisine

My mum was a lousy cook, so actually when we had ready meals i was quite relieved lol - omg, the memory of mince and potato still haunts me.

loads of people live off ready meals
I don't but my mother was a chef

If I had no time, I would make an omelette or have toast or a sandwich or a bowl of porridge.
I don't make my kids cooked food in the week (they have it at school then something at the childminders) so have no qualms about this.

If they want a cake or biscuits, thry know that we will make them. They are responsible for getting recipe books out, choosing a recipe and writing a list. They really enjoy it and the end result.

The thoguht of all those little boxes with their plastic lids you have to pierce or slit justm akes my shoulders slump.

I don't think it makes someone a bad parent, that is far too generalised and harsh, but they could certainly do better for their children in nutritional terms! But as others have already said, what else is available to these children? Do they have access to fresh fruit and salads?

A bit of education for the parent in terms of basic cooking and nutrition wouldn't go amiss.

Findus crispy pancakes - lor, I remember those well. Anyone else remember Vesta paella and Chow Mein? I used to love the crispy noodles in the Chow Mein...

I grew up on frozen food in the late 70's, early 80's - chips, burgers, fishfingers. Plus angel delight, lots of sugary junk. Ocassionally a roast dinner, or plain pasta with cheese. Maybe the odd boiled egg. A little bit of fruit maybe.

I think it has effected my health long term. I have chronic fatigue syndrome, and sugar is terrible for my health these days. I get sugar hangovers. Obviously, I can't prove that this is a result of my upbringing, but I'm fairly certain it is.

Not bad parenting as such, but lazy undeducated parenting.

My father used to "treat" himself to a Vesta Paella once a week when we were small!

who cares about how the sentence is worded, how petty - i think we get the drift

as for the topic itself, I don't think there's anything wrong with doing ready meals once in a blue moon but every day does seem pretty bad IMHO. Basic cooking skills are all that's needed to make healthy meals. Plenty courses on line or at local colleges.

YANBU

I find dcs appreciate the easier recipes I make compared to the more complex things that I enjoy making more!
Mummikins - get yourself a copy of a children's cook book such as this which has good easy to follow recipes for children and for adults who are not used to cooking and then you won't feel daunted by recipes for the family to enjoy.

Very judgemental OP- I think that's why the grammar was picked on, as a way of saying "Are you sure you're perfect?".

Parenting is about more than food- on its own, ready meal-reliance is not indicative of anything beyond the the person's dislike of cooking or incompetence in the kitchen. So YABU.

No.

It might get expensive though. And it's a shame that she gets no pleasure from cooking.

Part of being a good parent is feeding your children good and healthy food, so whilst she's not a bad parent she is bloody lazy for learning how to cook.

ah but BoF - the OP could be talking about herself there, couldn't she? Someone may have said to her that what she does is bad parenting so she's just getting other opinions on the matter. Could be read either way, imo.

And when posting in AIBU you've got to expect a judgmental OP...ffs.

"I think its bad parenTING, although it doesn't make that person a bad parent!" that sumes it up entirely LEM

(Look at us two admiring each others posts!)

Ready meals are full of salt and are generally more expensive.They are for emergencies they aren't supposed to be the bulk of your diet1So I think you could maybe offer to hekp basic meals are very easy to master and ready meals are NOT quick you can make something yummy in half an hour

A basic tomato pasta sauce goes a long way...

I agree with posie parker. I am no chef but I do manage to cook stuff from scratch, even if they are pretty basic meals. Macaroni cheese ina ready meal? Things like meat and veg, spa bol, shepherds pie etc - amazingly simple to do, yet much healtheir that horrible ready meals.

I don't always have time to cook, so do occasionally give my dd (5) one of the Annabelle Karmel ready meals for kids, but having checked the packets they are much better in most ways than normal Sainsburys ones. I do sometimes eat ready meals myself if dd isn't here and I can't be arsed to cook.

im all of a flutter

I dont think i could differentiate between one ready meal or another if you blindfolded me! vile vile vile There is a special ingredient that they add just to give it that twangy, "something is missing" type flavour.

I bet she slaps her kids in Lidl too.