Just curious about children's mealtimes

MiniNinjaRob · Feb 8, 2013

A while back my mum told me that our neighbours used to feed their kids sausages/fish fingers and the like, but the parents used to have pork/chicken/lamb/beef.
I was very proud of my mum when she told me that our whole family would eat the same thing. We went through periods of having very little money, but she said if all 5 of us couldn't have it, no-one would have it.
Shared mealtimes are one of the greatest joys of my childhood, always at the the dining table, never in the lounge or bedroom or kitchen. Always had a great laugh and I remember them with fondness.

velomaniac · Feb 8, 2013

As this is retrobike here's a retro viewpoint from my childhood as I dont have kids and thus I'll get shouted down because if you dont have kids you dont understand etc, etc, etc.......... :roll:
Both my parents worked but my father couldn't cook to save himself unless it was Birdseye horse burgers, tinned peas and boiled potatoes, and so my mother did the cooking. Result was dinner/tea/supper was when she said it was and involved eating what was put in front of us regardless of our desires. Complaints resulted in a shouting at or in extreme cases being locked outside the backdoor with our meal and not let back in untill it was eaten. I ate nearly everything but my younger brother spent alot of time on the back step

Kids today expect too much and then grow up to be adults who expect the world served up as they want it. Feed them healthy food and instill discipline so they go into the adult world better grounded.
My younger brother makes his kids sit at the table, eat what their given and show manners although i dont think the back steps involved

David B · Feb 8, 2013

Rob Atkin":30s1zbzf said:
A while back my mum told me that our neighbours used to feed their kids sausages/fish fingers and the like, but the parents used to have pork/chicken/lamb/beef.
I was very proud of my mum when she told me that our whole family would eat the same thing. We went through periods of having very little money, but she said if all 5 of us couldn't have it, no-one would have it.
Shared mealtimes are one of the greatest joys of my childhood, always at the the dining table, never in the lounge or bedroom or kitchen. Always had a great laugh and I remember them with fondness.

Same here - we always ate together, and everyone was served the same stuff. Sunday roasts were always a particular highlight (IIRC we always had Sunday lunch prior to sitting down to watch Gascoigne-era University Challenge on ITV*). Still applies even now if me and my sister are both round to visit the folks!

David

*Little did any of us realise that 19 or so years later it would be on the BBC, with yours truly facing Paxo as a team captain during my PhD days!

Alison · Feb 8, 2013

My parents ran a children,s holiday home charity, giving country holidays to underprivileged children so mealtimes were a very busy affair, my parents, my siblings, and the child guests would all sit round a huge table to eat our cooked from scratch meals, it was madness but great fun. When the children had gone home and we were free, on the odd occasion, my dad would do dinner and like velomaniac's dad, he could not cook other than beans, burgers and chips. On the whole I had a brill upbringing.

Alison

Alison · Feb 8, 2013

velomaniac":1756nque said:
As this is retrobike here's a retro viewpoint from my childhood as I dont have kids and thus I'll get shouted down because if you dont have kids you dont understand etc, etc, etc.......... :roll:
Both my parents worked but my father couldn't cook to save himself unless it was Birdseye horse burgers, tinned peas and boiled potatoes, and so my mother did the cooking. Result was dinner/tea/supper was when she said it was and involved eating what was put in front of us regardless of our desires. Complaints resulted in a shouting at or in extreme cases being locked outside the backdoor with our meal and not let back in untill it was eaten. I ate nearly everything but my younger brother spent alot of time on the back step
Kids today expect too much and then grow up to be adults who expect the world served up as they want it. Feed them healthy food and instill discipline so they go into the adult world better grounded.
My younger brother makes his kids sit at the table, eat what their given and show manners although i dont think the back steps involved

This has just made me remember something. I was never made to eat everything on my plate, never needed encouraging though as mum was a great cook, but my dad used to buy Heinz tinned soups as snacks when we felt peckish but he would not buy any more until they were all used up. No matter how much we told him we hated them he'd always insist on buying Heinz vegetable soup, so to make sure he continued buying the soups my foster brother would chuck the veg soup in the River Trent, which we lived 20 yards from. I always wonder when they dredged that part of the river whether they wondered about these strange tins.

Alison

NeilM · Feb 10, 2013

gavinda":3vbvlry5 said:
On the horse meat debate, I've said in another thread that the clip clop meat will only have improved the affected products.

SCAREMONGER ALERT

If the horse meat came from animals bred for consumption, then that comment's true. However, if the meat came from animals that had been used for riding, which is the case in the UK (and in America), then there is a chance that the meat could have traces of a painkiller known as 'bute'. This is the horse equivalent of an Ibuprofen type product and is a pain killer and anti inflammatory.

The problem with bute is that it can be carcinogenic if eaten by humans. This is why the Tesco's incident was pushed as not being a health hazard. Not too sure about the latest Findus findings, or for that matter the half a dozen other cases that will come out over the next few months.

As for kids mealtimes; we all ate the same stuff at the same time until my daughter became a vegan.

Even now, my wife, son (who is 25) and I all eat together.

Just curious about children's mealtimes

MiniNinjaRob

velomaniac

David B

Old School Grand Master

Alison

Alison

NeilM

Similar threads

Latest posts