So fellow lentil devourers - feeding Other Peoples Kids who only like crap... what do YOU do?

[Piffle]

ds is 12 his friend is here
According to his mother he likes beans and chips, the usual boy things no veges ta.
Today he announces he detests beans in actual fact
this leaves weetbix or egg in my house
Do I compromise my principles and buy some junk

Oh, yes, lots of people are funny about prawns. I have a neighbour who doesn't really "do" seafood, but can sorta manage prawns.

But people are funny about lots of different kinds of food.

we don't do prawns and I think we eat pretty much most things

(Oh, Franny, are there things your DP and DS won't eat?)

I wouldn't serve crap but I'd serve some standard kid stuff. Easy enough.

Gawd, I remember going to a friend's house as a kid and getting some alien food and practically gagging at the table. Baked apples was pudding. Crikey, gave me the dry boak.

piffle - my one true phobia is prawns

Um, but what is "standard kid food"? I bet it varies considerably from house to house. And, being foreign, I'm sure mine vary more than other people's ...

Standrd stuff - pizza, sausage and chips, crusty white loaf with cheddar, ham, grapes, breadcrumbed chicken. Just stuff like that. STuff that is likely to crop up on children's menus up and down the country.

No, I wouldn't do anything special. I would make sure it was something not too outlandish, but wouldn't buy any 'children's food' or whatever.

I don't see it as my problem frankly. If I feed someone else's children and they are fussy, they can go home afterwards and let their parents feed them.

I would expect my children to make a decent attempt to eat whatever someone else served them - not the whole plateful, but enough of the meal to be polite. I would do the same if someone were cooking for me.

Obviously, I don't include genuine food sensitivities or choices such as vegetarianism, but I won't cater just to faddy eaters.

I'd cater for kids.

yep. I have bread and butter at the ready.

I tend to serve "kids food",when my boys have friends round.I've also found that roast dinners usually go down well too.
However,I once had a friend of theirs burst into tears,because the chicken wasn't the same "shape" as he was used to.

I really don't think that the issue is prawn stir fry vs. "junk"

I agree with those who say he is a guest, and there are standards of behaviour that are due on both your parts - yours to try and accommodate, and his to be polite

Personally if a child I was looking after didn't like dinner I would offer something else. I'm sure I have about 100 different foods in the house and I'm sure there would be something a child would want to eat!

Have you MADE him beans and he doesn't like them?

Did you give him some godawful salt-and-sugar free organic shite?

(Oh, Franny, are there things your DP and DS won't eat?)

Nope, well, not that I have found

This drives me mad. I always try to make something as uncontraversial as possible (macaroni cheese, lasagne, sausage and mash) when other kids come round but more often that not they still won't eat it. My kids always eat the lot and often end up eating their freinds veg.

I won't buy crap for them and I won't provide alternatives. I say they can have toast if they don't like what I'm offering.

Have to say NQC I wouldn't serve prawns to any children I know. I know some would eat them most wouldn't. And my MIL is severly allergic to seafood so it is an allergy i am aware of.

I generally find it easier to provide something basic. Usually do fish fingers, plain wholemeal pasta and a veg. Or homemade pizza. Toasted sarnies with/without beans on the side. Spag bol. Mac cheese with veggies.

My DS is not a bad eatr but he would probably have refused prawns - in fact I guarantee it!

But from my point of view it sounds yummy!

Does everyone here do chips at home? I never do - if we're going to have chips it's the once a fortnight chip shop treat. I just don't think of chips as something you do at home!

im sure i must take the award for fussiest eater?
no meat, no fish, no eggs, no milk, no fruit whatsoever, dont like salad, no pizza, no chinese takeaway, no indian takeaway, im sure there are more things too, but these are the main ones, im NEVER invited anywhere to eat

Oven chips sometimes. Chunky chips which are really roasted potato wedges.

dont do roast dinner either, christmas is a nightmare, i usually end up with pasta.

I'm still at that hilarious 2 yr old stage where the visiting mother says "x doesn't eat ham/strawberries/cucumber/avocado" and x immediately stuffs down an adult portion. I'm very lazy so I expect when I get to the stage of having older children to tea I will probably offer a range of bits to help themselves rather than a proper meal (eg pitta bread, hot chicken and salad bits that they can make up themselves).

I have things that I don't like but I will eat to be polite eg anything in a rich cream sauce, but I will never be polite enough to eat green peppers, I just can't stand them.

curlew, i also never think to cook chips at home, the only chips we eat are from the chip shop.

I make oven chips, potato wedges etc, once in a blue moon (or less often). In fact, on that list of "children's food", I don't think I ever serve any of it at home.

bran, the whole "my kid doesn't eat X" thing is almost always an unwise statement. Bigger kids have dislikes, too, but if they keep getting offered a food, and keep trying it, calmly, they will often come around. The trick is to get them to try it without annoying them (or you!).