I am here to rant, - the fridge clearers have been (DSSs)

[yoshiLunk]

The grocery delivery is coming today so I yesterday I just grabbed a supply of stuff for packed lunches & breakfast to tide us over.

Went to make lunches for DH and DS1 this morning and it's almost all gone, - just enough for DH but not DS1 - had to go to the shops before school to fill his lunchbox.

Only crusts of the loaf left, empty ham pack in the fridge and not enough milk left in the bottle for a cuppa, let alone cereal. DSs had pancakes from the freezer for breakfast.

How do they get through so much when they arrive at 10pm and leave at 7am?

And how do they eat it when there's no evidence of crummy plates ? - actually I know the answer to that one, - they eat straight out of the fridge, I know.

Animals! - big greedy animals!

Rant over.

Oh yoshi, I feel for you - I remember being ASTOUNDED at the amount of food DSD and her mate got through when they came to stay with us for longer than the usual weekend.

I never really noticed before, I suppose because I always did my shopping Fri eve, and automatically bought the extra 'junk' that we wouldnt usually have, just for them.

Then they came for a month. Oh. My. God. it was unbelieveable. In 2 days they used to get through a whole box of cereal, a 6 pack of crisps, a loaf of bread and a jar of nutella! This was on top of the 3 (large) meals a day that I was cooking. DH when off his rocker when he realised that the 48 juice boxes he had bought (at almost 1 Euro a box) had only lasted the weekend.....

I reckon they cost us easily an extra 500 Euros a week - and so much of it was just pure greed.

I think I really am an evil stepmother (my husband backs me up though). You're all far nicer than I am.

In our house, if they stuff themselves daft without permission, they get a half portion for tea. We don't buy pop, crisps or sweets simply because they hoover them, and we're starting to enforce rules about which foods are "help yourself" (pretty much fruit and squash) and which are "ask first" (everything else - especially toast!). My husband is as peed off as I am about the gluttony, so we do try to stop it.

If I'd gone into the fridge to find my step son had eaten things put aside for his lunch, he'd be going to school hungry or he'd be sent to the shop to get something else to make sandwiches and he'd be paying me back with extra washing up.

wow, I am amazed you havent killed anyone. If have an internal alarm that goes off if someone in my house opens my fridge (yes, my fridge)

If someone left an empty packet of ham there i would pretty much lose it

These kids need sorting out. What methods have you tried?

I must admit, it was the empty packet put back that really made me twitch.

I have tried hiding food for a reserve like a packet of biscuits, or some bags of crisps, but I didn't think I'd need to hold back on the basics like milk and bread. Honestly I'm not depriving them of food, they eat plenty - but they are just downright greedy now, not two or four slices of toast, but six! Not a glass of milk, a PINT!

another example :- DSS2 "ooh can I have one of those cake bars in my lunch", yes ok i said, and he took two, I said you do know I can see you taking two don't you? he said 'well they are just small' I tutted and left it, only to find two more wrappers up in his room after he'd gone! It's just utter greed and selfish too, not to mention expensive.

My DSD always puts expensive things on the list which also drives me mad.. I'll say "you need to eat more fruit" and she'll say okay, can i have some cherries, and some strawberries and a mango.. oh and some pommegrates but get lots because there's not much in them

Whats wrong with apples and bananas??!!

I pay a bit less rent and bills than DP and it's my job to buy food. i have absolutely no issue that this feeds DSD (other than that we pay her mum full time whack on maintenance then I end up feeding her for half of the week) I really budget and meal plan like a bitch, I have introduced a strict ruling now over the fridge and cupboards as I was fed up of buying things like ham for sandwiches which would just get gobbled at the fridge door.

I also don't buy biscuits/ cakes/ crisps any more and if the kids wnat them they have to go to the shop and buy them. That's usually too much effort though so they go without.

I buy plenty of food but very few snacks because of this. However during the summer I buy lots of fudge pops, italian ice, etc and the kids know they can have one or two a day. I can control how much my DDs have but DSS can reach the freezer so he will go through a box of 12 in a day if I'm not watching him constantly. And eggs. Between the dc and dh we must go through 4dozen a week.

Granted DSD is only 5 but DP and I got sick of her being 'hungry' mid morning but not eating her dinner, same for tea so we told her no snacks between meals unless her plate was clean at the previous meal time (good indication she is actually hungry) and yes it does work :) Funny how she never eats sweets or crisps now unless they are part of her dinner, as she never asks for them now as it is a rare she cleans her plate.