Bloody teenagers and their sleeping/ eating!

[Imgoingtocounttofive]

I know, I know, it's normal! But I need to rant. The step daughter, 13, sleeps in until about 11.30/ 11.45 at the weekend. Fine. But then she wakes up and eats breakfast... meaning that when I want to do lunch about an hour later, she's not hungry.
Then, come 3/4pm she's ravenous! Wanting lunch and/ or dinner which I'm not cooking until around 7pm. We will usually be out of the house at this point so this involves buying food out, or if we are in... a load of washing up and a messy kitchen again.

Then there's what she eats! We don't have crisps/ pies/ sweets/ biscuits etc in the house. I think they're pointless stomach fillers with no nutrients/ over priced/ over salted etc. She has pocket money and she's welcome to go to the shop whenever she likes to by said snacks if she wishes. I'm not going to try to force my beleifs or eating habits on her, but nor am I prepared to spend money on crap. But still, she complains and opens the cupboards longingly, whining on about why we don't have anything decent in the house.

She persuaded her dad to buy her some poptarts yesterday which are literally poison as far as I'm concerned. So now she wants them for breakfast/ lunch & dinner and turns her nose up at any other suggestion.

Okay, I'm done. I feel better

Maybe I'm a cruel mum but staring longingly would be ignored, huffing and puffing about how unfair life is (and parents are) seems to go with the territory. I'd be happy to offer an occasional poptart for dessert though.

Have you discussed all this with her? Tell her what's bothering you, and ask for her ideas. She will be picking up on your feelings and may not realise why you're frustrated with her.

I think it's harder with her as I don't really care if the DD likes me and my rules - I'm her mother, she has no choice! But with the DSD, who has a testy relationship with own mum, I feel like I'm punishing her by setting boundries here that she doesnt have there...

Today she had breakfast at 11.45, then didn't have lunch with us. She then had a biscuit that I had made at about 3pm and is currently complaining of hungar as I've told her she's to wait until dinner time to eat anything else, which I've brought forward to 6.30.

I've decided to settle for having dinner all together as a family and to relax about breakfast and lunch. But I'm going to lay it on the line about snacking and eating us out of house and home because she doesn't eat at proper times. And remind her that if she wants junk, she needs to go to the shop herself.