Humiliated by the parents of a boy who came to tea. Come and tell me there's no need.

[Spidermama]

DS's friend came home for tea. I made a three course meal but he didn't fancy the creamed leak and potato soup, nor the cheese and lentil bake with delicious restaurant style creamy tomato sauce and finely shredded cabbage. He then went on to refuse the pears and ice cream.

As I cleared up my efforts, his father arrived to find his son and all my kids huddled around the PC doing Club Penguin.

'OH NO! SCREENS!' He exclaimed. 'We've banned them in our house'.

What a good job then, he didn't find out that before tea his son was initiated into the delights of Tracey Beaker and other such cultural riches.

I DID say to DS a couple of times 'Don't watch telly/play computer when your friend is here' but to be honest I couldn't be arsed to make a big deal of it. I'm busy. It's Friday etc etc.

I feel like a shit parent now though.

Ok firstly, don't beat yourself up about the computer/tv. I really only have children around to tea when it is doing a favour for the parents (eg they can't pick up from school for some reason) - mainly so I don't feel obliged to provide wholesome entertainment My ds's are rarely up to doing anything more strenuous than watching tv after school...

BUT at the same time I really wouldn't expect that most children (yours excepted of course!) would eat lentil bake, etc. Unless I know a child will eat anything put in front of them I would cook something that most kids like, such as sausages & mash. I take it you are veggie though - in that situation I would have told the parents this so they know the child might be still hungry when he got home - or cooked something like pasta in tomato sauce...

fathead lol

LOL - we used to have no TV for the first year of DDs life and I was pretty adamant I didn't want her to have any 'screen time'. But was driven demented trying to avoid them - the post office for example has sodding TV screens in! What can you do.

Now we have a TV and even I think I was a bit neurotic. This dad was not only neurotic but rude. You've looked after and (attempted to) feed his son and instead of being grateful he's critical.

Unless the kids has severe epilepsy and a medical reason for not looking at a screen lest it flashes, he's just an arse

The dad sounds like a tosser.

Did he scan your entire house for any other banned items?

I'd LOVE my boys to come to your house, SM. Round here, the mothers invite and the au pairs ignore.

I understand what you're saying Grapefruit which is why, when ds and his mate asked me if he could come home for tea in the playground after school today I said to his mate, 'Do you like cheese and lentil loaf because that's what I've made for tea' and he said, 'Yes'. I'm quite prepared to concede that many children would turn their nose up at lentils. I thought, however, I was in with a chance of being able to nourish my guest with at least ONE course.

What an idiot. Don't be humiliated!

Your meal sounds totally delish, can I come round please? I LOVE screens

Ahh go on with ya - you just wanted to find a flimsy excuse to tell us all what a fabulous dinner you produced, dintcha?!

He sounds like a complete knob-end.

What a tosser!!!!!!!

As for the not eating. my son isnt fussy but isnt overly keen on eating unless its something he really wants or is starving. He very rasrely eats half as much as he would if he were at home. If anything its embaressing for me as I know he would it if we at home and not somewhere different and exciting.....having said that he would have scoffed the ice cream!

tbh - the child probably heard the cheese bit - thought oh yes like cheese and didn't even know what lentils where or that they were important to the meal, sorry.

Doodle. Actually the whole thing smarted more because I was trying to do the wholesome mum bit to the best of my ability with our new woodburning Rayburn. I think he burst my yummymummy fantasty bubble.

If I promise not to roll my eyes about letting them watch Tracey bloody Beaker, will you print the recipe for your cheese and lentil bake and tomato sauce, spidey? It sounds lervly.

There are worse things to expose your children to than SCREENS ... methinks the silly man needs to Get A Grip.

I have to make an admission now. It wasn't exactly ice cream as in Walls or Ben and Jerrys .... It was Kulfi. DH bought it. I thought it was fab but clearly it was the last straw for the screen-deprived visitor.

Shitehawk I googled cheese and lentil loaf and used the BBC recipe which came up.

rofl at barking and her experience with tv covering Steiner loon.

My sister was going to go and teach in a Steiner school (in Brighton funnily enough) until my father pinted out that taking a 50% paycut to fuck about with conkers with kids of people with more money than sense might not be a wise move.

Note: Am allowed to slag off Steiner/Montessori types as am lentil weaver mesalf

That guy needs to get a life.
Bit rich coming from me, granted, btu jeez, what kind of pretentious wazzok says "Screens!"
I'd have decked him. Metaphorically

I do think that kulfi was the final straw

I had a child around recently who'd never had falafel before, you can never underestimate how unadventurous other people are...

i agree with the others but would like to add i think it the height of rudeness to make such a remark after someone else had had your child and offered to feed them.

i vote tea at your house for next brighton meet

He's an arse. Forget him.

your meal does sound... unusual for a small child. But you made such a lovely effort and you didn't force feed him

rofl at the kulfi

You are as bad as me making unleavened bread at Sunday school (and taking in 'peace oil' produced by Jewish/Palestinian co-operative to grease tins.)

I thought the kulfi effect might be mitigated by the fact the pears weren't nasty fresh ones ... but delicious in-a-tub-full-of-syrup pears.

Ah yes,offsets the full on lentil weaver effect nicely.

at doodle.

PMSL - I read the OP quickly and thought he was calling fo screens, in horror at what he saw - "nurse, the screen, the SCREENS!"

I would have been v humiliated by your fab cooking and the fact that DS might have eaten a teaspoon of the soup and the ice cream sans pears....

The man was rude.

I was rather hoping it was tinned pears at least, but didn't want to ask