Why is it SO HARD not to eat kids' leftovers?

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  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    I will serve portion sizes I know they will eat and wrap up leftovers. It also helps to operate under the belief that your children are probably carrying some form of childhood plague at any given moment.
  • wellthenwhat
    wellthenwhat Posts: 526 Member
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    I serve very small portions, and save any leftovers for his next snack or meal
  • RaeBeeBaby
    RaeBeeBaby Posts: 4,245 Member
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    I struggled with that when my kids were growing up. Often I'd put it in the fridge and hope they'd eat it later (which they rarely did). I thought I had left those days behind until I babysat the grandkids last weekend. I found myself cleaning up after the 3 year old just like the old days! Arrrgh! So, no good advice here just empathy.

    I have an obsessive need to NOT waste food (as I posted on another thread today). I do compost, but you can't really compost meat scraps. Luckily, I have two dogs who eat very well as they get healthy leftovers mixed in with their kibble. (And before the PETA police come after me, it's all good stuff like chicken, rice and veggies).
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,298 Member
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    We are hard wired from childhood, well I was, not to waste food. it did not matter that I carried it about with me because it contributed to thyroid malfunction, I've always been heavier than my sister. Now we cook what we need. Catering for the grandchildren does throw their portion size into the mix. happy giggles.
  • RaeBeeBaby
    RaeBeeBaby Posts: 4,245 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I give my kids servings that I know they are likely to eat given experience.

    If they have leftovers, I'm not particularly tempted...they somehow manage to "slime" all over their food...and they always have their hands down their pants scratching their butts and whatnot despite constant nagging from mom and dad. Their remaining chicken nugget isn't particularly tempting when you've seen them touching their food with their dirty *kitten* hands...

    OMG! Can't stop laughing. OK, that's the inspiration I needed to never eat the grandkid's leftovers EVER again. :D
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,298 Member
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    My kids had belts on their trousers! but that was thennnnnnnnnnn.
  • staceyw37
    staceyw37 Posts: 2,094 Member
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    i just tell myself it's contaminated. ick
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    You're not a trash can. You don't need to eat garbage. Throw that stuff away. Think of yourself as something to be treated well - not as a human garbage disposal.

    That would only be true if she was feeding her kids garbage.

    An omelette hardly qualifies. ;)

    I was raised in a clean-your-plate generational mentality, because food wasn't something we had an excess of back then. It did take me a while to break that mentality when I became a mom.

    We have green bin recycling here - food scraps go into the bin and are collected once a week and composted by the town. Every spring residents can pick up free compost. Works for me, and I no longer feel guilty about not eating leftovers. :)

    But once the kids are done and have eaten all they are going to eat it is garbage - not something she needs to be shoving in her face no matter how healthy it is. Compost bin is fine but she's not a compost bin either. She needs to realize she has more value than that and treat herself accordingly.
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    edited March 2017
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    The idea of eating off of another person's plate makes me want to gag. I don't care who it is. I don't like to see wasted food either so I make sure not to give them more than they will eat. They may go back for a second serving if they are still hungry after round one.
  • andreusfault
    andreusfault Posts: 13 Member
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    I find myself back in my childhood and I want to eat those nuggets and that mac n cheese. I know thats what helped get me here, and it is hard to resist them... it only takes one second to take it off the plate and shove the whole thing in your mouth. Longest second EVER
  • jbirdgreen
    jbirdgreen Posts: 569 Member
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    I'm not a mom, but I agree with fixing smaller portions. An omelette is an individual thing, but if it's like tacos or beans or something. Fix a smaller portion at first. If he/she goes back, that's fine -- but at least you won't have a wasted plate of food to throw away. It's easier to just have a pot of leftovers than a plate somebody's picked over.
  • JeepHair77
    JeepHair77 Posts: 1,291 Member
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    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »
    The idea of eating off of another person's plate makes me want to gag. I don't care who it is. I don't like to see wasted food either so I make sure not to give them more than they will eat. They may go back for a second serving if they are still hungry after round one.

    This is kind of me. I'm weird about sharing food or drinks and DEFINITELY not something that's been touched with kid hands, ever. And I swear, our children are wolves. They eat with their hands all the time. Absolutely everything gets picked at and the morsels deemed suitable are wrapped in a tortilla. Even spaghetti is generally a taco in my house.
  • cordney
    cordney Posts: 73 Member
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    My 2yo literally chews food up and spits it back out on to the plate. He's actually doing that right this minute. No way in hell I would eat after them.
  • Running_and_Coffee
    Running_and_Coffee Posts: 811 Member
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    Because it's usually comfort food, and it's food you probably haven't created for yourself/ordered for yourself in years. There's something exotic about the crusts of a grilled cheese sandwich when you don't eat those regularly. When my kids were little, I ate those teether biscuits--better than biscotti!And it seems like such a small amount--an 1/8 of a sandwich, a half of a cracker.

    BUT, it adds up. I lost weight when I first began my self-imposed ban on kid leftovers, without any other diet or exercise changes. I don't eat them anymore.

    I think you should occasionally splurge on kid food if you really like it. I have just figured out that I really like grilled cheese and oatmeal raisin cookies! Every now and then, I enjoy. And a hot, fresh, made-for-me version of kid food tastes really good, so now I don't crave their soggy disgards.
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
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    Hey I get it. Young kids ate bottomless pits one day and pick at that lovely dinner the next. It's natural if frustrating.

    And our own parents and grandparents lived at a time food was much more expensive. It's an old recording that gets handed down. And yeah they got frustration from us when our appetites ebbed and waned.

    But right now you are not living in WWII or thr Great Depression so remind yourself that you need to watch your calories not eat every morsel.
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    edited March 2017
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    JeepHair77 wrote: »
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »
    The idea of eating off of another person's plate makes me want to gag. I don't care who it is. I don't like to see wasted food either so I make sure not to give them more than they will eat. They may go back for a second serving if they are still hungry after round one.

    This is kind of me. I'm weird about sharing food or drinks and DEFINITELY not something that's been touched with kid hands, ever. And I swear, our children are wolves. They eat with their hands all the time. Absolutely everything gets picked at and the morsels deemed suitable are wrapped in a tortilla. Even spaghetti is generally a taco in my house.

    Man.... I just CAN'T! My husband has taken offense because I won't drink after him. And the kids hands..... **SHUDDERS** even though they wash their hands before meals I do NOT trust that they haven't picked their nose or ear or something when my back was turned!


    cordney wrote: »
    My 2yo literally chews food up and spits it back out on to the plate. He's actually doing that right this minute. No way in hell I would eat after them.

    Pass the barf bucket! We had a bag of potato chips....we put some into a bowl to share while watching a movie.....I kept getting kind of wet chips. Turned out my child was licking off the seasonings and then tossing the licked chips back into the bowl! Kids really just wallow food around in their mouth then spit it out or lick it or what not. None for me thanks!

    :s

    I will add that the whole "spit" thing keeps me from EVER eating at ANY buffet. I have witnessed people take the same plate they just ate off of back to the community trough and serve themselves again allowing the serving spoon to touch their plate. LORD HELP MEE!! I just CAN'T!!!

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