Anyone else feel their kids are so ungrateful?

[OhWhatNoooow]

I've had enough. My ds 7yrs and dd5yrs are being so ungrateful at the moment. Everything i make for dinner they look at in disgust and say how i make disgusting meals, and they wont eat it. Everything i make for their packed lunches they say they dont like, even though they ate it last week! They constantly ask for treats and when they dont get, they call me horrible etc.. I know i must've been too 'nice' to them all along by giving them too much of what they wanted, its mainly my fault.
So this morning i told them that for one week they can make their own dinners, since they dont appreciaite me one bit. was that abit harsh?
What can i do to change the way they treat me?

so I'm the only one then....

You are not the only one. didnt' want to leave you unanswered.

I gave DS1 a talking to this weekend...the whole day was arranged around a party that he was going to. I had to take him, wait for him...and bring DS2 as well (as I am on my own at the moment) as a gatecrasher...

as we are getting there, he says, "I don't want to go anyway" drives me mad. I know he wants to go. I know he would go nuts if I turned round and took him home.

I think it is all down to boundaries. If you are changing them now, that's fine. But they need to understand and you need to stick to them.

Good luck, I know it is not easy.

Oh - about the dinners. Can they make dinners? It may be a good idea, but you will need to supervise them - and provide the ingredients...could be very interesting!! Not sure I would be brave enough, but I am a bit of a control freak in the kitchen. However, when the boys get involved with cooking, they do tend to enjoy it.

Its understandable how you feel, but there is nowt you can do about it. I expect our parents felt exactly the same way about us.

I don't expect gratitude from my kids. I expect them to repay the effort I put into bring them up into parenting my future granchildren.

Try making them food they like better?

My DSSs are very grateful for the food I cook them - but I do try hard to make them things they like. No-one should be expected to be grateful for food they hate.

Children do know what is best for them. I hope my son will be grateful as ab adult that I did not pander to every whim.

cooking them what they like would me cooking 4 diferent meals every day! I make kid friendly food, but they in general dont appreciatye anything. its more the way they talk to me. i dont mind if they say something like, 'mum, i really dont like the food you made today, can i not eat it?'

Reallytired- do you mean children DO know what is best for them??

I insist on my ds talking to me politely, please and thank you etc.. I know I may come across as a harridan, but it was how I was brought up and it comes automatically now for me to be polite to others (including my ds). I can't bear it when kids are ungrateful. So far it seems to be working for my ds. (fingers crossed!)

get hardcore on them.

If they are rude about the food take it away. Tell them they can starve instead.

IF they are rude to you put them in time out or take away somthing they like as a punishment.

How do you and your dh or dp communicate with each other

are they picking it from home

"Reallytired- do you mean children DO know what is best for them?? "

lol... I am really tired. Children are ignorant and clueless. Children thrive best with a belnovelent dicatorship.

Me: Put your coat on.
DS: Why?
Me: Because I say so! end of!

thanks for answering evryone. me and my dp speak nicely to eachother. always say thankyou etc. funnily enough, so do the kids. its just other stuff like with dinner. oh well, i will try being tougher i think!

My ds went through a phase of saying my cooking was disgusting. So now, I make one meal for the whole family (bearing likes and dislikes broadly in mind), anyone who says anything rude about my food can go to their bedroom for 5 mins then come and apologise and eat nicely. I wouldn't bother pleading the nice kind mum - you're wasting your breath. I can tell by their faces how they feel about what I've cooked but they dare not say anything. And if they don't eat it, as much as I hate throwing it away, they will be really hungry for breakfast the next morning.

With the packed lunches - I put in a selection of foods then after school we have a snack at home, bicuits, crackers etc, but if they haven't eaten their packed lunch they can eat it in place of the extra snacks.

I don't harp on about it but if they are really moaning I've got no problem telling them how bloody great their life is. It helps to have some articles to hand - maybe some examples of child labour.