Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Food/recipes

For related content, visit our food content hub.

Original poster

How many takeaways a week do your kids have?

104 replies

summersbysea · 03/07/2022 23:16

My ex spoils them rotten each time they visit him. My children are 5 and 7 and now after school keep asking me for takeaways!
They refuse to cook food I've made and will ask for kebabs, chips, Macdonald's blimin big Mac !
He's got them addicted and I feel it will make them really unhealthy.
Right now both aren't overweight but If they carry this on into teens this can't be good for their health and also their wallet.
I have to keep forking out and costs me a fortune.

OP posts:
BruceWaynettaSlob · 04/07/2022 00:09

DecimatedDreams · 03/07/2022 23:52

This has got to be a wind up. You'd rather feed your children McDonald's whenever they fancy it, than deal with the fall out of parenting them? You've got bigger problems on the horizon than what they eat I suspect.

A lot of wind ups seem to feature fast food..

Aposterhasnoname · 04/07/2022 09:54

summersbysea · 03/07/2022 23:41

No dinner? Shock horror. I would instantly get a call from the school and my ex asking me why they weren't fed.
Because they're so used to it they nag and create a scene bawling their eyes out in public if I don't stop in the chippy

Show quote history

Bollocks. You tell your ex or the school that you’ve made them xyz and they refused to eat it. End of conversation. You’re the parent here , and you are not doing your job if you let them eat crap all the time.

Wnikat · 04/07/2022 10:00

It's not your ex's fault that you give in when they nag for chips.

MyCatIsInCharge · 04/07/2022 10:07

Maybe every couple of months? DC1 is obsessed with McDonalds but it’s generally a service station thing for us, or maybe a half term treat. He gets the occasional Greggs sausage roll on a Saturday.

They get takeaway pizza occasionally, eg when visiting family. But to be honest, it’s so much cheaper and quicker to shove a supermarket pizza in the oven.

I would definitely not give in to the nagging, and I say that as a mum of a DC with some sensory issues who eats a much more limited diet than I would like (more fish fingers and chicken goujons than I would like, etc). So I’m not the food police, in any way. But I would hold firm and not be fazed by them losing their shit in public. Otherwise they know they hold the power here….and I bet if they go hungry once or twice, they’ll decide to eat what you put in front of them.

I couldn’t afford to buy that many takeaways either and we are not on a tight income when it comes to food shopping.

3WildOnes · 04/07/2022 10:12

I really hope this is a wind up. School aren't going to care that you cooked your children dinner but they refused to eat it.
We get fish and chips or Indian maybe once or twice a month. McDonald's a few times a year.
Occasionally mine have gone to bed without dinner, I just assume they aren't hungry.

redskyatnight · 04/07/2022 10:12

At 5 and 7? 2 or 3 times a year. Apart from anything else, we can't afford to be buying takeaways all the time.

RudsyFarmer · 04/07/2022 10:20

They have a happy meal about once every three weeks or so. Fish and chips perhaps twice a year. I’d be unhappy if my ex was choosing to buy them takeaways regularly instead of cooking something.

FourTeaFallOut · 04/07/2022 10:24

Fish and chips, every now and then, so maybe once every two months? Fish and chips are so expensive now it'd be cheaper to pay the gas and electric dd than have five portions of fish and chips twice a week.

KarrotKake · 04/07/2022 10:24

In a typical week, they don't
Maybe a takeaway once a month, with a cluster of eating out when on holiday.

Lazypuppy · 04/07/2022 10:26

Probably do mcdonalds once a week or two weeks.

Honestly OP, this isn't really about the takeaways its about you giving in to their tantrums. If you say no the answer ia no, let them scream and shout if they want 🤷🏼‍♀️

zafferana · 04/07/2022 10:27

My DC have zero takeaways each week although my older son (teenager), will sometimes go to McDonalds with his friends.

Takeaways are packed with fat, salt and sugar and are generally really unhealthy. Once in a while - okay - but no one should be eating that sort of food regularly. No wonder we have an obesity crisis in this country.

motogirl · 04/07/2022 10:27

Once a week (or eat out) perhaps twice on occasions

cushioncovers · 04/07/2022 10:28

At that age mine had a Mac Donald's once a week. They knew it was allowed once a week they never missed it so didn't need to worry about not getting one. Make one day week a takeaway day so they know they will get one and ignore the nagging op. You are the parent, take back control of this situation.

WhatsInAMolatovMocktail · 04/07/2022 10:29

Maybe twice a month, probably less often in summer.

I recommend: take a light dinner on a picnic, have dinner in your garden, tell them if they eat a healthy dinner there will be time to go to the park afterwards or to go for a bike ride before bed.

Also get them involved in cooking, that often makes up for missing out on unhealthy takeaway.

adriftabroad · 04/07/2022 10:31

Takeaway curry about 4 times a year. As a treat only. I couldn[t afford more.

Heli1copter · 04/07/2022 10:31

My eldest gets Macdonalds once a month as a treat after swimming lessons. My youngest isn't allowed it as would only eat chips there.

We also get fish n chips as a family maybe once a month on a Sunday evening if we've been to visit grandparents as there's a great chippy in their village.

You are setting up your DC very badly by teaching them they win when they whine and that nagging and making a fuss in public gives them their way. I would do the opposite if my DC tantrummed in public. You are the responsible parent, so set them some health boundaries.

At 5 and 7 they are old enough to understand different rules in different houses. "In my house we eat healthy food" would be my mantra.

adriftabroad · 04/07/2022 10:32

DD is 14 though. At 5/7 absolutely never ever.

tealandteal · 04/07/2022 10:35

DS is 4, has a takeaway curry maybe 4 times a year?
I know it’s horrid when they have a tantrum in public, DS has done it when I wouldn’t buy him something in the shop but I just took him out. The next time we had few tears and now he is generally better although will still occasionally kick off. However you can’t give in to them every time.

riotlady · 04/07/2022 10:39

Once every week or two? We quite often go to the 11 o clock family swimming session on a Sunday and then get Greggs sausage rolls and gingerbread men afterwards

toastofthetown · 04/07/2022 10:39

This seems more of a parenting issue than a food one. If your children make scene because they want chips and you give in to stop them, then of course they’ll kick off more next time. They know that eventually it will work. If you are clear and consistent with your boundaries, while they might not be happy with not having what they want, they’ll learn a tantrum won’t help. And especially with your older child being seven.

They are old enough to understand a conversation about how foods like McDonald’s, while tasty, are high in energy and low in other nutrients so not suitable for dinner every day, and so now when they are at yours they will be served a home cooked meal. Serve food they like (or used to eat), sit down with them and eat as family, no comment on the food. Preferable have a few options so there will be something they eat on the table, even if that’s just bread. If they say they want McDonald’s then something like ‘I know, you love McDonald’s. Dinner tonight is fajitas’. School won’t care that they chose not to eat the meal they were served, and I’ve yet to come across a school who would want young children to be eating takeaways every day.

MissBPotter · 04/07/2022 10:40

Once or twice a month on average, not at the moment as we can’t afford it being on the unpaid bit of mat leave.

if my kids kick up a fuss in public I just let them get on with it, wait patiently for them to calm down, offer them a cuddle (ok sometimes I might get a bit annoyed with them but this is what I try to do). It’s an extremely rare occurrence now at 5 and 7 (also have a baby so I’m sure she’ll have a few tantrums as she grows up).

I will not give in to their demands, especially when they are asking for expensive and unhealthy food. They get a takeaway when it suits us, not them! If they don’t like what I’ve cooked they can have a basic alternative like toast, as long as they try the meal I made.

elliejjtiny · 04/07/2022 10:41

We have a takeaway or eat out when it's someone's birthday, our wedding anniversary and Christmas eve. Maybe 3 or 4 times a year we will do the buffet lunch at pizza hut in the school holidays or get a mcdonalds on the way home from a school concert. Whenever we had a newborn we had far too many takeaways because we were too knackered to cook Blush.

Trying not to sound smug here but if they had the choice my dc would have takeaway most days. They ask for it a lot and with 5 dc there will always be at least 1 who moans about what we are having for dinner. I always make sure there is something they like as part of dinner and they will all eat at least some of it. It's not ideal that sometimes one of them will just eat pasta and cheese when we have spag bol or salad and garlic bread when we have lasagne but they know that takeaway is a treat, not for every day.

hopeishere · 04/07/2022 10:44

We get a takeaway once a week on a Friday. It's my break from cooking. We get burgers (not McDonalds), Chinese, Mexican.

Occasionally DS will get Nandos or pizza eg if he has friends round.

ClinkeyMonkey · 04/07/2022 10:44

Roughly once a fortnight here. It might happen two weeks in a row, then maybe none for a few weeks. Sometimes it's a treat, sometimes it's because we're out somewhere and need food quickly and other times I just might not feel like cooking.

Dragonsmother · 04/07/2022 10:49

My DS has McDonald’s 1-2 times a week.
I am really really struggling TBH.

I am working over 60hrs a week, DH is also working long hours. But everything cooking, cleaning, childcare is down to me.

I do school pick up and drop off, Work my job, I then have to turn my laptop on again and work 9pm- 1am. Then life starts again at 6.30am.

I am exhausted, I am burnt out and I know that DS should not be eating so badly. I am too exhausted to argue with him.

I guess your post has brought it all home for me how burnt out I am 😞