Children stealing food - it's getting out of hand! (babysitting, divorced, 10 year old)
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How can a kid steal food from their own house?
That’s their food too.
That fact that you look at it as stealing is weird to me.
Exactly. Eating food in your own house is not stealing.
Eating bread means you are very hungry.
You need seek help from social services about child nutition and how much to feed children.
They should be provided adequate food & should have available to eat other than meal time assorted healthy snacks like fruit & cheese....apple slices, celery with peanut butter, raisins, grapes, carrot sticks, olives, assorted cheese slices, multigrain crackers.
When my sons were young, I always made up a round lidded divided snack container in the refrigerator -- filled with assorted healthy food. They knew they were welcome to eat these snacks whenever they wanted to. Now as young adult men they make up a similiar cheese tray to snack on whenever they are home.
Last edited by historyfan; 05-29-2019 at 07:12 PM..
Honestly, to me it sounds like boredom. I eat when I'm bored sometimes and frequently have to "check" myself to see what's taking me to the fridge. It's all kind of a symptom of my ADD, anxiety and depression, which are soothed by food (especially if it's sweet/salty/fatty). It's taken me 40 years to understand this about myself. Also, many people think they're hungry when they're actually thirsty.
I'd get rid of the "snacking" stuff like candy or crackers or cookies in the house or at least keep it somewhere that's locked. I'd make sure they have plenty of activities (hikes, arts and crafts, sports in the yard, storytelling, gardening, etc.) and are getting plenty of exercise. Make sure they eat as much as they want at meals - when kids are growing they can put away quite a lot of calories from what I've observed and burn it all off.
I have a younger cousin who was small for his age and ate an ginormous bowl of cooked spinach at a neighbor's house. The neighbor lady thought it would be funny to see how much this 3-year-old could put away so she just kept giving him spoonfuls of spinach when he asked for it. The bowl (meant to serve a family of 5) was empty by dinnertime and she was in shock. And the kid didn't even feel sick after.
I think what you could do that would work and be fairly cheap is let the kids make their own infused waters. You can get the pitchers for that fairly cheaply and then the big expense is the fruit to flavor the water. It'll keep them hydrated, keep their tastebuds interested and distract them from stuffing food in their mouths. And keep them occupied!
Don't know what to do! We have a 7 y/o girl, 5 y/o girl, 3 y/o boy, and 1.5 y/o boy.
The problem mainly lies with my 3 year old boy. Just this morning, I walk into the kitchen and notice a dining room chair in front of the fridge, with the stool on it. He took the brand new loaf of bread from the top of the fridge and brought it in his room, where he and his little brother were just munching on all of it. The bread was ruined, slobbered on, ripped, squished etc. He also went into the fridge and ate 6 of the 8 cinnabons we baked last night. Why was the bread on top of the fridge and pushed so far back you may ask...? Because just yesterday morning all 4 of them managed to get a DIFFERENT loaf of bread, and ate the entire thing.
This past Friday after getting out of the shower to go check on the girls doing their homework in the dining room, I hear the oldest one scramble from the kitchen and run back into the dining room. They stole candy from the fridge (and lied about it). About a week ago, after the kids had finished eating (myself and their mother hadn't ate yet, we were doing homework) and when we went into the kitchen to grab our chicken, one was missing and the other piece of chicken had bite marks all over it.
These are just a few of many examples. We have tried putting them in the corner and time out and talking to them, taking away TV, taking away toys, we have even spanked them about it. It is still happening. It is wasting our money like crazy. We are at a loss on what to do. Please, suggestions! Cheap suggestions. We are not a wealthy family by any means. So buying locks for cabinets/fridge will have to be a last resort, and only after a few more paychecks come in. Please! Going crazy.
Oh, and by the way, they are teaching the 20 month old baby that this is okay. I know this because he stays at home with his mom while I'm at school, and I guess she fell asleep today because when I got home there were crackers all over his room.....
These kids are not starving at all. I love food, so I cook a lot of good and healthy meals that everyone enjoys. They eat plenty. Yes the dad is the main cook here, lol.
I was going to suggest locking the food up but as you said, locks don't quite fit your budget yet. That's what my grandparents did when my dad and his brother would steal ice cream from the freezer, they ended up getting a lock for the freezer.
You could keep all the food that doesn't need to be refrigerated in one cabinet and have a lock for just that cabinet. Also, you could cut back on buying food and only buy the food you need for the day, that might help you save money for locks although it would mean more trips to the grocery store.
Curious if people are observing an increase of similar (food stealing/ inappropriate snacking/ non-mealtime hoarding) problems with children at home during this pandemic...
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