I don't WANT to share my leftovers

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by robee70

I honestly can't imagine being upset over this. It's not like some house guest cleaned out your fridge. In our home, the kitchen and everything in it is for the entire family's benefit. There is no mine and that includes leftovers.

I think some of us feel kind of sick and tired of mom's stuff being public property while dad's is off limits. That is how it is in a lot of families I know, both IRL and online.

[Severs]

eating someone else's leftovers is a respect thing, when i was a child, unless it was offered, i didnt touch someone elses leftovers nor ask for it unless it had been about 3 days and it was about to go bad anyway, and if the answer was no, it was no, and i found the bologna and bread

[LVKim8]

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

How old are you all? I am 45 and my parents let us eat whenever we wanted to eat.

I'm 49 and never had this kind of restriction about food, either. My mother is 71 and I'm sure she did not as well. It's not to say we ate continuously or were obese but we grew up with a sense of openess and security about such things. However, in my father's family there were all sorts of strange rules about eating and so-forth (definitely part of a larger picture, believe me). It would really shock my mother because she had never heard of food being dealt with this way.

One could argue the over-restrictive way could more easily lead to food issues and obesity. I don't think it's as much about how it was done in the past as it is how some families are when it comes to food and other issues. I'm sure there are young people repeating their parent's ways because it's all they know.

FWIW I hate restaurant leftovers, never take them, so not an issue here either!

[bustaduke]

Originally Posted by cleasach

You're obviously missing the point.

No I'm not. It's her food and she doesn't want her kids eating it because she wants it later. I think the kids should ask and if she says no then they should respect that. I just don't understand a parent telling a child that you can't eat what I have.

She even went on to say that she purchased a smaller meals so that they won't have anything of hers to eat when they got home and this is being petty. I can understand ordering smaller portions because you cant eat a lot, but to complain about your kids eating leftovers in the fridge is wrong.

It's not like a stranger walks into you home and takes your food. These are family members who you are talking about.

Like I said, maybe I look at it different because I'm from New Orleans and we love to feed people, even strangers. You can be a complete stranger walking from a mardi gras parade or a festival and walk past a family having a party and they will invite you in to eat and drink. Some will even get mad if you don't eat. We are just like that so it's hard to understand not letting your family eat what's in the fridge.

busta

[anadyr21]

There's a bigger issue at play here. There's a serious lack of respect here. I don't understand why your kids think that this is ok to do. You shouldn't have to freeze your food or order an appetizer out of fear of your leftovers being eaten. Sure, there have been some really good suggestion in this thread, but I fear that all you're going to do is win THIS battle. Your war with your kids is far from over.