I just judged

[livinitup]

I'm at the children's library and this rather loud mom was asking her toddler/preschool kids what they wanted for lunch. Apparently they are going home for it. And all she asked (over and over while they ignored her) was if they wanted hot dogs, chicken nuggets, or mac & cheese.

I judged.

I know I suck, but it just made me cringe. Part of it was that the kids were totally disinterest in it. And part was that the mom was pushing *just those three choices* so hard. Like kids can't actually eat real food.

[Deleted]

eh.

My toddler eats all those things on occasion. Maybe they are all organic and she is serving veggies on the side. You dont know.

[Deleted]

I totally want mac and cheese now.

[hannamarin]

Homemade chickennuggets and macncheese are not unhealthy.
And hot dogs are okay. Just not every day.

Yesterday, I was so glad someone intervened on me. I was about to buy baby cereal and didnt realize it was the kind with hiney. Luckily, the cashier (who knows me) stopped me and doublechecked I wanted it. I could have been insulted that she was checking me, but I hadnt noticed.

[Deleted]

Jun 1, 2012 10:40:38 GMT -5 @hannamarin said:

Homemade chickennuggets and macncheese are not unhealthy.
And hot dogs are okay. Just not every day.

Yesterday, I was so glad someone intervened on me. I was about to buy baby cereal and didnt realize it was the kind with hiney. Luckily, the cashier (who knows me) stopped me and doublechecked I wanted it. I could have been insulted that she was checking me, but I hadnt noticed.

The cereal with hiney? LOL.

[Jem]

My kid will not eat real food. He is SO ridiculously picky. I used to cook for him all the time and he would not eat anything. So I finally had to decide between making all of his food and starving him or letting him eat what he will eat - which for "main" foods is chicken nuggets, fish sticks, and turkey meatballs.

And yes, even when I have mixed homemade chicken nugget pieces in with frozen chicken nugget pieces, he picks out the homemade and won't eat it. Genius kid or just really high maintenance when it comes to eating? I'm going to pretend it's the first.

[hannamarin]

Jun 1, 2012 10:47:37 GMT -5 @lilly said:

Jun 1, 2012 10:40:38 GMT -5 @hannamarin said:

Homemade chickennuggets and macncheese are not unhealthy.
And hot dogs are okay. Just not every day.

Yesterday, I was so glad someone intervened on me. I was about to buy baby cereal and didnt realize it was the kind with hiney. Luckily, the cashier (who knows me) stopped me and doublechecked I wanted it. I could have been insulted that she was checking me, but I hadnt noticed.

The cereal with hiney? LOL.

Yeah, no hiney before one year, right?
Lol
Ipad fat fingers

[h]

My kids' eat mac n cheese and chicken nuggets pretty frequently. Toss in turkey meat balls, pasta with marinara, fish sticks, quesadillas, and turkey and cheese sandwiches on whole wheat, and those seven things make up most of their lunches. (Hot dogs really only happen on national holidays that involve bbqs). The mac n cheese we use is Annie's. The nuggets are sometime homemade and sometimes frozen. I always serve their protein with fresh fruit, a fresh veggie, and milk. If I was asking what they wanted, I would say "Do you want chicken nuggets or mac n cheese?" The resulting meal would be a healthier version of one or the other, plus fruit, veggie, and milk, which I feel like is a reasonably acceptable meal for a kid and not particularly judge-worthy. But maybe I am wrong. Is everyone else feeding their kids quinoa for every meal and I just suck?

[definitelyO]

I would have judged for her being so loud in the library. but DS eats organic turkey dogs and we just call them hot dogs. organic white meat chicken nuggets and annies mac and cheese. I don't see anything wrong with those as the base of a lunch.

[karinothing]

I don't know why everyone keeps mentioning organic. It is the billion milligrams of salt I raise my eyes at not whether it comes from a grain fed chicken

[Deleted]

Organic sodium is totally better.

[definitelyO]

Jun 1, 2012 11:25:14 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

Organic sodium is totally better.

LOL!

[luvmagoldn]

Meh - it's not like she was offering a Big Mac. My kids eat all beef hot dogs (no nitrates), dairy free Mac & Cheese and all white meat chicken nuggets.

What options would have met with your approval? Maybe Friday is their fun food day.

[h]

Jun 1, 2012 11:32:01 GMT -5 luvmagoldn said:

What options would have met with your approval?

This is what I want to know. I think a list of good for you, easy to prepare kid lunches would be really helpful. Bonus if you can pack it in a lunchbox for school. Double bonus if you actually have a preschool age child who has pre-approved these lunches.

[GailGoldie]

Judge her for being loud but the food? You have no idea what her kids eating situation is.

After having a few friends with kids that have medical issues causing then to be horrible eaters and needing to gain weight sometimes that is all u can get a kid to eat

Or maybe that is all they had in the house that day?

Wait until u have a picky eater on your hands. I have one of my 3 kids. He was born that way thanks to reflux and is very thin still at 3yo. My other 2 are great eaters an we offer lots of healthy foods but Grayson won't ear much so if I can get him to eat nuggets I am thrilled. And I don't pretend to be uber healthy with organic

[sawyerthedestroyer]

My kid usually eats leftovers from last night's dinner. Sometimes last night's dinner was chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. Judge away...

[Deleted]

I make my kid eat* fruits and vegetables. My usual toddler lunch is leftover meat (chicken, pork, beef or eggs if there wasn't leftovers), a bit of cheese, some veggies (cucumber, pepper, corn, edamame), and milk.

It's easier than making mac and cheese. When I eat mac and cheese from a box, the kid get is sans cheese because that shit isn't actually food. It's just orange.

So yeah, I'll admit I judge with you. Why not? Judging strangers at the library is inner monologue fun. It's even more fun on the bus.

*"make my kid eat" actually being "put it out and he can eat it if he wants or throw it on the floor", as I have never actually made him eat a thing.

[baconista]

My first thought would be that Friday is fun lunch at that house. Yum!

[Deleted]

Now I'm curious about what your kids eat

I agree that a steady diet of store bought chicken nuggets, hot dogs made out of pork, and Kraft Mac and cheese isn't ideal. But I think that it's fine to have them once in a while.

[Wines Not Whines]

I'm guessing you've never had a child who is a picky eater.

I offer a fruit and/or veggie with every meal, but sometimes they're left on the plate. You can't force kids to eat. I think the best you can do is offer a variety of good options.

Last night my son ate whole-wheat waffles and provolone cheese for dinner. I also offered fruit, but he didn't eat that. He also didn't want my pizza (a typical "kid" food, but he still didn't want it).

[h]

It is cracking me up that nearly all the people in this thread with older kids are all, "eh, my kid eats that stuff now and then, too" while the moms with one baby are horrified. Been there, judged that. My oldest ate an awesome variety of healthy food and next to no junk for a good two years. He still eats a ton of fresh fruits and veggies and lots of good stuff, but he is far less willing to just eat the dinner leftovers for lunch than he once was.

[Deleted]

Meh. I fully admitted that judging is for entertainment purposes. I'm sure people judge me. The way people on here always claim that they fully support other mothers 100% of the time and never, ever think to themselves "Oh, but I do better" is also entertaining.

[rubytuesday]

I would be thrilled if my kids would eat any of those three foods. They are so picky! I'm in yogurt melt and grilled cheese hell over here.

However, I don't know why she was browbeating the kids with the question at the library. That's kind of annoying.

[karinothing]

Jun 1, 2012 11:58:30 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

Meh. I fully admitted that judging is for entertainment purposes. I'm sure people judge me. The way people on here always claim that they fully support other mothers 100% of the time and never, ever think to themselves "Oh, but I do better" is also entertaining.

I will agree with this. The Nest (and most message boards I know) are always shocked when someone mentions they judge. Seriously, who doesn't judge?

[Willis Jackson]

Jun 1, 2012 11:56:09 GMT -5 h said:

It is cracking me up that nearly all the people in this thread with older kids are all, "eh, my kid eats that stuff now and then, too" while the moms with one baby are horrified. Been there, judged that. My oldest ate an awesome variety of healthy food and next to no junk for a good two years. He still eats a ton of fresh fruits and veggies and lots of good stuff, but he is far less willing to just eat the dinner leftovers for lunch than he once was.

I agree with this. One year olds are famous for being garbage disposals.

[oregonpachey]

I wish my kid would eat chicken nuggets. At least then he would be eating a meat item that wasn't a friggen hot dog or ham.

[luvmagoldn]

I think Hens hit the nail on the head.

And I do judge. Smack your kid in Target - I'm judging. Scream at them and make them feel powerless - I judge. Food, clothing choice, discipline snippets of time I happen to witness - I don't judge.

[Deleted]

Jun 1, 2012 11:56:09 GMT -5 h said:

It is cracking me up that nearly all the people in this thread with older kids are all, "eh, my kid eats that stuff now and then, too" while the moms with one baby are horrified. Been there, judged that. My oldest ate an awesome variety of healthy food and next to no junk for a good two years. He still eats a ton of fresh fruits and veggies and lots of good stuff, but he is far less willing to just eat the dinner leftovers for lunch than he once was.

ding ding ding

[birdmom]

Pre baby, I judged. One morning (8 am) I was in the drive thru at Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins. I saw the mom in the minivan in front of me hand back a huge ice cream cone to the kid in the backseat. I thought, wow, that's terrible. I will never give my kid ice cream in the morning. Fast forward to now, I look back and think that maybe she told her kid he could have whatever he wanted if he slept in his bed all night, didn't wet the bed, etc. and he wanted an ice cream cone in the morning.

Disclaimer - I don't agree with bribing kids on a regular basis, but it might come down to it someday soon for me to get my kid to sleep in his bed!

[monarch]

I am totally judging you for judging her.