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thread: Would you feed the child?

  1. #1

    Would you feed the child?

    My son has been at a friends house since school finished. 3pm.
    He was invited to a "bring a friend" scouts night and was meant to be picked up from our place at 6pm. So I had planned on doing and early tea (roast chicken) and put in extra legs because there was a chance I might have had 2 extra kids for tea anyway.

    So come end of school my sons asks the girls mum (a friend of mine too) if he can go to their place straight after school instead. I said "mate I have roast chicken on cooking, cause the plan was for you to have tea early" the Mum says "that's okay he can come now, but he'll be bored for a while as I have to take xxx to music lessons first" So I asked my boy what he wanted to do. Come home, where you have 2 extra kids to play with for a while or be bored at music lessons. He chose the latter.

    Anyway fast forward to 7.45pm tonight when he gets home. He comes in and says "I'm starving I haven't had tea yet" I am thinking thank gosh I put extra tea on to cook. The Mum says "yeah we better go cause we haven't had ours either"

    Would you try to provide something for the child to eat? Okay him going there straight after school was sprung on her, but I had 2 extra's sprung on me with not much more notice and I managed. I am really annoyed that he has not eaten since 1pm when he had lunch at school.

    If I had known he was not going to get fed, I would have insisted he came home with me.

  2. #2

    Mar 2004
    Sparta
    12,662

    Hell to the yes. The after school snack is pretty much the most important meal of the day in this house. It's the only thing that stands between me and being eaten alive by feral children.

  3. #3
    Registered User

    Jul 2006
    Cloud nine :D
    6,309

    Yes, your poor son! he would have been starving!

  4. #4
    Registered User

    Oct 2009
    Bonbeach, Melbourne
    7,177

    Um YES! Of corse. I still need an afternoon snack to function. I don't think it's wrong to flat out expect your child to be fed not only in the few hours after school, but especially if they're going to be at a friend's house around dinner time.

  5. #5
    Registered User

    Apr 2006
    Perth
    4,203

    Absolutely. My kids come home ravenous so there's no way they would even get past 3.30 pm without having had a decent snack of fruit and something else. I can perhaps understand not having actual dinner depending on what sort of time the other family usually has dinner - if your DS was originally going to be collected from your house at 6pm that's possibly a lot earlier than the other family eats - but no way would a child in my care be allowed to go hungry.

  6. #6
    Administrator
    Add Rouge on Facebook

    Jun 2003
    Ubiquity
    9,922

    Totally yes. But people can be weird. My mother refused to feed other children (one of her many problems!) so if they asked for food she would offer them marmalade on bread! Knowing full well most kids hate the taste of marmalade I'm sure.

    When kids come to my house I make sure there is fresh fruit, something baked and something to drink. Now I don't expect other's to go out of their way when my kids come to visit and if it was a drop in like that I'm sure it would be anything I could find. But if my friends came to visit I would want to make sure they were comfortable, why would I not do that for my children's friends?

  7. #7
    Registered User
    Add No.5 on Facebook

    Jan 2007
    Brisbane
    2,391

    Absolutely! Your poor DS

  8. #8
    Registered User

    Jul 2007
    melb
    8,498

    For sure poor thing must be starving, how strange to not offer anything. Not that hard or $ to make a sandwich or some fruit or cheese and crackers.

  9. #9
    Registered User

    Sep 2005
    In the middle of nowhere
    9,362

    How odd. Same as Onyx in this house too.

  10. #10
    Registered User
    Add TeniBear on Facebook Follow TeniBear On Twitter

    Oct 2009
    Lalor, VIC
    5,051

    Yep. When I was 9-15, anytime I was at my bestie's house I was even allowed to act like I was at home and just raid the fridge/pantry whenever Never really took them up on it, but the offer was there My mum thinks my brother's bestie is strange because he always turns down dinner at her place and waits to go home to eat, even when he's come over after school and is staying the night.

  11. #11

    I have never seen chicken disappear so fast in my life. He is now in the bath as his belly was a bit sore from eating quickly, and probably from starving. I really don't understand it at all. As the mum said they were going home and sitting on their butt till music lessons, so it wasn't like they were on the go all the time from 3pm either.

    I am the same Teni. If I have kids here they know they can help themselves to anything from our snack cupboard or fruit bowl.

  12. #12
    BellyBelly Member

    Oct 2004
    Cairns QLD
    5,471

    Yes I would expect my child to be offered something to eat, even if it was some bikkies & milk. BUT Saying that, I am use to my kids helping themselves. So I would quite possibly forget if the kids where busy playing. Had they been home to the other parents place or where they out the whole time?

    So YES I 100% agree that he should have been offered something.. Maybe its a good time to teach him how to politely ask (he shouldnt have too, but you know...)

  13. #13
    Registered User

    Jan 2010
    Shoe Heaven
    4,839

    I don't know how many times I got home from school, that afternoon tea ended up being for more than the 5 of us. There were friends that usually ended up having dinner with us too.

    Your poor little man

  14. #14
    Registered User

    Aug 2006
    On the other side of this screen!!!
    11,129

    Maybe ask your DS whether a snack was offered? Maybe the other kid didn't want to eat and your DS felt awkward about having something when no his friend didn't? Might he have politely refused a snack if he didn't understand how long it would be until tea? I'm just searching for explanations because I can't fathom that she didn't offer food?!

  15. #15
    Registered User

    May 2005
    Canberra
    3,617

    I would expect them to be offered afternoon tea, but not nessecarily assume dinner.

  16. #16

    Yes I am going to ask him again in the morning about the snack situation. He will usually ask for something to eat if he is hungry at someone else's house. No flies on that kid LOL.

  17. #17
    Registered User
    Add helle on Facebook

    Sep 2008
    Bunbury, Western Australia
    3,963

    Yeah i was just going to say, i find it unbelievable that he didn't ask for something... no kids is usually backwards in coming forwards when it's about food!
    maybe he had a snack... if he's anything like my brother, a snack isn't a meal so it doesn't count

  18. #18
    Registered User

    Jan 2006
    8,369

    I would offer something - but I would have asked the mother "does he need food?" if a child were coming over to my house and the mother was planning an early dinner too, just so I knew what was expected (or say, "oh, we don't eat until later" if I knew you were doing food). I do worry about allergies when feeding another child, but most school-age children know if they are allergic to beans on toast and fruit/coq au vin with garfield potatoes, roast asparagus and steamed petit pois followed by vanilla poached pears with ginger creme fraiche, so would just check with the child if I'd forgotten to ask the parent.

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