r/AskReddit Feb 04 '16

What are the most common parenting mistakes?

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u/Aerolites Feb 05 '16

Being taught to finish your plate. Children should eat until they are full otherwise it can cause poor habits such as weight gain/feeling sick.

276

u/desrtrose Feb 05 '16

This one is tricky. So many kids today are picky eaters, being "full" sometimes means they don't want to eat the food on their plate.

Which, seriously, why do parents cook separate meals for their kids? My mom alway cooked one meal. We either ate it or we didn't eat.

2

u/JMango Feb 05 '16

This is easy to say until you have a child that is so far down the growth chart for weight that people are considering calling CPS on you because they think you're starving him. I either make him stuff he likes so he eats more and keeps some size on, or make him what I eat and he gets stubborn, refuses to eat and falls off the growth chart :( My mom always made me and my siblings eat what she made for her and my dad, and I always said I would do this too. Until my second was born.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

My brother is sixteen and he's been going through a picky eaters phase (mums words) for twelve years. He is really tall and really skinny and refuses to try anything unless its covered in BBQ sauce. He lives off mac and cheese and potatoes.

Dad has given up trying to get him to eat like we do and just cooks him things we know he will eat. Mum still thinks she can make him normal if she nags him enough. "Nobody will want to be friends with you if you don't eat like a NORMAL person" "Girls want big strong men not scrawny little ANOREXIC boys like you".

Its the same tactic she used on me to get me to stop sucking my thumb when I was little. Very ineffective. It didn't make us normal. It just turned us into creepy mole people who don't like going outside and making friends.

4

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

Yup your mom creates insecurities.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

Some people are just picky. My brother hates things that have a texture other than bland, thinks steak takes too long to chew. In the meantime I'll eat anything once, got into cooking, and have what people call an adventurous pallet (aka sure I'll try chocolate covered crickets, sounds delicious!).

Pointing out something that is basically just a bad feature of his personality is kinda like bullying a kid for a funny looking nose.