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Am I the only mum of 3 & 5 yr olds NOT to feed them a constant stream of cakes/ biscuits/ crisps between school and evening meal?

99 replies

FGM · 07/03/2012 19:23

I offer a drink and a snack: one (kiddie) gingerbread man, some fruit or a couple of breadsticks once we get home from school. The journey home is literally 3 minutes walk. Then it's play etc for about an hour and a half until evening meal.

My friends dole out multiple sugary biscuits (custard cream anyone?) then moan that their kids don't eat their veg.

Left to their own devices my kids would love to eat loads of sugary snacks but it's my choice to say "no" and that "one is enough" knowing that dinner is on the way. And I cook lovely fresh food for their meals.

I've even had one mum try to give me a packet of choccy biscuits "in case my child felt left out" If I'd had my wits about me I might have offered to cook her kids a decent lasagne (from a treasured family recipe) to compensate for all the quorn crap that she tries to feed her anaemic looking kids!

I honestly feel judged by this woman as a bad mum for not providing endless munchies.

FWIW my kids are above average height and weight and full of beans. They also love eating out and trying new foods. it is a pleasure to cook for them and to take them out to eat. My philosophy wrt food is to enjoy good quality food and to respect the source of your food as well as respecting one's body and health.

Am I really so alone?
Anyone else say "no" to the sugar monsters for the sake of good health of their kids?

OP posts:
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DialsMavis · 07/03/2012 21:32

My 9 year old has a hot school lunch with gooey pudding on most days, then comes home and has a bowl of porridge/cereal and then usually a hot cross bun/toasted tea cake/bun or biscuit of some description ... he then begs for more for more food until dinner time (sometimes I give in and let him have a yoghurt and some fruit). Then he eats his dinner and if still hungry and didn't have it before; yoghurt and fruit. There is usually a hot chocolate crammed into there somewhere too... am I bad or good? Hmm

TheSecondComing · 07/03/2012 21:32

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DialsMavis · 07/03/2012 21:33

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Pesofanclub · 07/03/2012 21:34

"I really didn't expect to piss everyone off so much."

Really, really you didn't expect your post would be considered self righteous, patronising and arrogant?

MrsCampbellBlack · 07/03/2012 21:36

Maryz - do you know I did that tonight - supper for the children at 4.15pm and they at it all with then a snack at 6pm. I tell you - tis amazing - why did I ever bother giving them a snack and then supper?

BelleEnd · 07/03/2012 21:37

Please tell me what's wrong with Quorn.

I swing by Iceland on the way home from the school run. Mine have some bubblegum icecream, a couple of dozen donuts (still frozen- all that chewing is good exercise for their little jaws) and I pick up some chicken nuggets for a pre-dinner treat.

MegBusset · 07/03/2012 21:38

Mine hoover up snacks on the way home from school (today rice cakes, cereal bar, apple, raisins, and a little bag of Skittles as it was someone's birthday at school) and still have tea within 45 mins of getting home. Sometimes they even have a biscuit when they get home Shock but still eat their veg at teatime

mumsachocoholic · 07/03/2012 21:42

you sound very judgey in ur post op.

my dd is 3 in june and but still fits in 1 1/2 year old jeans. but she could eat for england as the saying goes.
i do give her a suggary snacks but she still eats all her meals and the veg to go with it. she also loves trying new food and never fusses when it came to food.

when i was a child however there was no junk food just the occasional 'healthy snack' and i gorged myself on sweets and junk the first chance i got when i got my pocket money. so im going to make sure my dd knows its al in moderation.

ThePathanKhansWitch · 07/03/2012 21:48

Mine one gets Fruitshoots as well. Hydration matters.

LemonDifficult · 07/03/2012 21:50

OP, the reason you're getting the response you're getting is that you sound smug and sanctimonious about your superior parenting style. (And mentioning your friend's anaemic looking kids wasn't likely to win anyone over, either.)

Most people know someone like you in RL who makes no secret of judging other people choices. The 'food judge' is a particularly irritating type, IME.

pollyblue · 07/03/2012 21:51

I'm with you on not letting their hoover up a pack of biccies before their tea, or very much of anything pre-tea really, it's galling to cook and then get the 'I'm not hungry' whinge......DD will usually have a banana or apple after school - all dcs eat around 4.30 so only an hour after she gets home.

But you do sound as if you're implying that giving your children biscuits or another sugary snack pre-tea goes hand in hand with giving them a crap meal. I'm sure plenty of parents give their children biccies but also manage to "cook lovely fresh food for their meals."

FarloRigel · 07/03/2012 21:55

To be fair OP I do actually agree with not stuffing LO's faces with junk esp before dinner. It's usually a banana or similar at most with us. It was the calling quorn crap and implying that vegetarian kids are anaemic that alienated me. Well that and yhe "am I the only ". DD eats quorn all the time and has her Hb checked at least once a month. She has never once been anaemic for dietary reasons, even when fully vegetarian. What is your problem with quorn anyway? It's a godsend in a household with some vegetarian and some meat eating members.

Convert · 07/03/2012 22:02

Have you considered giving them a greggs sausage roll and a fruitshoot?

YankNCock · 07/03/2012 22:03

fuckmybackiskillingme Wed 07-Mar-12 21:11:06
You have my support FGM. Giving your children biscuits, crisps, and general crap on a regular basis, is child abuse as far as I'm concerned. And normally supplied by overweight mothers who are using their kids as an excuse to pig out themselves !

fuckmybackiskillingme Wed 07-Mar-12 21:19:06
FGM, i bet every negative response you've had, has come from a size 16 + !

You know what? FUCK YOU and your fat-phobic shit. There are no crisps, biscuits, chocolate, or any other junk food in my house, and I'm a size 18. DS (2.6) has a very healthy diet, snacks mostly on fruit, fromage frais, etc. He gets the junk very occasionally, in limited quantities, because I don't want it to be a regular thing.

Being overweight is not synonymous with being a crap mother, so stop trying to make out like it is.

YankNCock · 07/03/2012 22:05

And OP, giving your kids junk food also does not automatically make you a bad mother!

LittleAlbert · 07/03/2012 22:05

My kids love cheese pies from Greggs.

Sometimes we go to the local caff and get egg and chips and steaming mugs of tea.

Convert · 07/03/2012 22:07

Ah littlealbert, but do you put the tea in baby bottles?

lovemysleep · 07/03/2012 22:07

OP - it did come across as a tad judgey and smug - - but I can sort of see what you were trying to say....

My DD (who is 6), is practically on the verge of chewing her arm off when she gets back from school. Her snacks vary - and giving her what you give yours, would never satisfy her - so, she will get cheese and crackers, sometimes biscuits (she had swimming today, and managed to get away with a crafty 3 Jaffa cakes! oops.....), or maybe a sandwich and then sometimes, crisps. She will also have fruit too.

I have to reign it in sometimes, but most times, she'll snack before her tea, eat all of her tea and a pudding (maybe ice-cream, or a chocolate mousse), and then demand more food in the run up to bed time! She has hollow legs, I'm sure.......

She has a very healthy lunchbox - no crisps, chocolate, cake (she wouldn't eat the healthy stuff if I included these!), and eats a very diverse range of food, including virtually all fruit and veg. I mostly cook from scratch - because I like to and have the time too (although also love a takeaway once a week, or maybe a shop bought pizza sometimes too).

She is a perfectly healthy size, and obviously follows me, as I was always ravenous (and skinny) as a child, and had a big appetite, as was my sister - she is a size 6/8, and I am usually a 10/12 (not quite that now but have a 4.5month old baby...).

It is all about balance and moderation - there are days when my DD eats utter rubbish - birthday parties etc, or days when I think it doesn't matter.

Reading your post back does make me cringe for you, due to it's tone......and I'd like to question what is wrong with Quorn???????? It's low in fat, high in protein and meat-free......probably technically much more healthy than a rich, fat-laden, homemade lasagne (although that sounds bloody lovely!).

lovemysleep · 07/03/2012 22:09

Oh God, why did someone have to mention a Greggs sausage roll??? Will now spent the next 3 days craving one.......

shinecrazydiamond · 07/03/2012 22:11

Are you new to MN OP?

My advice would be to give as good as you get and stop doing Sad faces...

Wink
StopTalkingAndEatYourDinner · 07/03/2012 22:13

Yes, you are quite definitely the ONLY mum not to feed their children sugary snacks. THE ONLY ONE!!!

Thank god your children will make it to adulthood with perfect teeth and a healthy BMI whilst the rest of the children in the universe will be obese, toothless wastrels.

I SALUTE YOU AND YOUR SUPERIOR PARENTING!

Back in the real world you sound judgy and smug. I am off to feed my kids a whole packet of these Biscuit

shinecrazydiamond · 07/03/2012 22:13

Your OP is bloody hilarious though.

Convert · 07/03/2012 22:14

Sorry lovemy sleep. Will pick you one up when I go for the boys after school snack tomorrow.

Convert · 07/03/2012 22:15

Oops, no space *lovemysleep.

hmc · 07/03/2012 22:16

I don't judge anyone who feeds their children sugary snacks after school - I just don't do it myself. I find it pays to have my children mildly ravenous when they sit down to dinner - they eat more of it. They get the sugary snack afterwards.......