How did your parents get you to eat everything on your plate?

1. 89

   Just Ask Susanposted 12 years ago

   How did your parents get you to eat everything on your plate?
   
   Did they have some funny or bizarre saying to make you want to eat what was on your plate?

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2. 72

   Ruchiraposted 12 years ago

   My parents had a very simple logic...IF I don't finish that's on my plate...I get it the  next day. So, if there is anything that I don't like on my plate, I had no choice but to finish it even with a sulk 'cause I did not want to eat it again!
   
   Then, gradually I got in the habit of liking that "thing" and till date eat every vegetable!

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3. 66

   xethonxqposted 12 years ago

   They made me sit at the table until I complied.....sometimes I sat there a long damn time because I was stubborn as hell. Later I learned how to hide things in my napkin very discreetly. Thankfully I'm not too picky of an eater...it didn't happen often.

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4. 57

   Sammie Mullockposted 12 years ago

   My dad did the same as that. If i didn't finish what was on my plate,i didn't leave the table ,simple as that. Even down to how much sauce i put on my plate. I don't like sauce now, surprisingly!!

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5. 64

   savanahlposted 12 years ago

   My parents allowed us to eat as much as we wanted. Thy believed that forcing kids to eat everything on their plate before dessert only promoted obesity. Of course with my mom's Thai cooking none of us hardly ever had food left on our plate. Usually it was the dessert we wouldn't eat because we were too full from all my mom's delicious cooking.

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6. 72

   lburmasterposted 12 years ago

   They didn't do it the right way, I'll tell you that. They made us sit there and eat it all. Luckily, I had no problem with that. However, my brother always threw-up when he ate green vegetables, then they would just give him more.
   The best way to do it is not to force them. Just act like you enjoy eating everything and then your child will do the one thing all human's know how to do. "Monkey see, monkey do."

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7. 60

   duffsmomposted 12 years ago

   Mealtime was horrendous for me as I had little appetite as a child and got horrible stomach aches - which now I believe was lactose intolerance.  My mother worried out loud about getting me to eat - that I didn't eat enough to keep a bird alive and on and on.
   
   Not surprisingly I now have an eating problem and a weight problem.
   
   Kids should never be forced to eat.  They need a selection of foods, and not sweets and crap - their bodies will tell them what they need.

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8. 88

   jpcmcposted 12 years ago

   Usually with coersion.  Fear is a great motivator.

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9. 80

   Becky Katzposted 12 years ago

   We had to take some of everything, but we had to eat all that we took. If we liked something, we got lots. If we didn't like it, we just got a small spoonful. We had to eat what we took. Mom did not like waste and if it hit our plate, it was waste if we did not eat it. We got variety and learned to like a lot of the things that we didn't start out liking. We were not forced to eat. That promotes obesity. We buried many things in mashed potatoes to disguise the small spoonful. Mom cleared the table into trays for my dad to take to work. He always had a hot meal. Sometimes, the freezer got too full of these trays and she would heat several up for our meal while he was at work. We used it all.

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10. 0

    AlienWednesdayposted 12 years ago

    My mom did not force us. The only rule was eat the spoonful of vegetables you don't like or you can't leave the table. She did not want us to have unhealthy eating habits. Eat until we are full and that is that.

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11. 80

    jacqui2011posted 12 years ago

    I was such a fussy picky eater as a child. My mum and dad tried to encourage me to at least eat some of my dinner. I refused to even try most things and hardly ate anything. The only thing I would eat was fruit. I was a complete nightmare, and my parents often told me that it was painful to watch me eat! They took me to the doctor, and eventually they just gave up and let me eat fruit for a few months. When I was around 15, I grew out of it and did eventually eat more of what was put in front of me.
    
    I still have some issues with food, and don't like to have a lot on my plate. Even now at 46 years old, I still put a small amount of food on a large plate and I usually manage to eat it all.

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12. 61

    Lisa HWposted 12 years ago

    They didn't.  My parents understood that not everyone wants to eat the same amount of everything, so they didn't make a big deal about it.   I was small-framed kid (had a small-framed mother), so my mother understood that everyone doesn't want a giant plate-load of food.  We didn't have junk food (other than as an occasional treat), so my mother knew that whatever we ate was good food.  She wasn't worried about quantity, and she'd always say, "I wouldn't want someone to try to make me eat when I don't want to eat, so I wouldn't do that to anyone else." 
    
    The only thing my mother would ever say about food to anyone was, "Take as much as you know you'll eat, but please don't take load up your plate and then not eat it, because that's a waste."

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13. 87

    Ms Deeposted 12 years ago

    Knowing now about food sensitivities, I would not make them to eat anything they were disinclined to eat--particularly if they'd already tried it once. (Actually, that's all I required from my children, try it just once.) Rejection of a food may have more behind it than it seems.

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14. 60

    pfenbyposted 12 years ago

    They left me at the table until I finished, nothing too exciting.

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15. 60

    Dee aka Nonnaposted 12 years ago

    LOL.  They really didn't make us eat something if we really, really didn't like it.  But we did get a healthy dose of children somewhere were starving...guilt...guilt....

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    1. 85

       DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Yeah--I always wondered about that "motivator."  So, if I eat it, how does that feed the starving kids????

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16. 0

    MissPatposted 12 years ago

    My parents did not raise me - I was put in an institution at 4 yrs old.  We rec'd good healthy meals.  I am not a picky eater and I would eat what was served.  When I got older,  I would be allowed to be with my mother 1 week in summer and she loved mushrooms.  When she gave them to me I turned my nose up and said ew-w-w-w I don't like these.  She said "What is your last name" -- I replied "Griffin" -- she said "Not if you don't like mushrooms it's not"  -- I quickly ate some and liked them - of course I wanted to keep my last name lol.

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17. 0

    ExoticHippieQueenposted 12 years ago

    At the time I was growing up, the old standard all parents fell back on was "Finish your food, children are starving in China."  Well, decades later, we can just remove China and insert Somalia and other third world countries where starvation is rampant.  I don't believe in forcing kids to eat beyond a comfortable level of fullness in order to meet some kind of expectation of a set amount of food.  That idea process promotes obesity in adulthood.  Now I'm an emotional overeater when I get stressed out, though I refuse to blame my mom because I don't know if this stemmed from her food rules.  She thought she was doing good.  My dad didn't seem to care if I finished everything or not.

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18. 76

    always exploringposted 12 years ago

    We were so poor, we were happy to eat the last bite, usually asking for more...

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19. 69

    Dawn Conklinposted 12 years ago

    I liked most foods as a kid and now I eat just about anything when it comes to vegies.  There are not many foods I will not eat now.
    
    I wasn't really a lima bean fan as a kid and I always heard-"hold your nose and you won't taste it."  Problem for me is that I don't like the texture of limas, they don't have much taste!! That saying went for everything that I said I didn't like.  My parents never really put too much on my plate at a time, figuring I could go back for more.  But, I had better have been sick to not eat all that was on my plate.  They also didn't go out of the way to make things for me that I didn't like as I ate a great variety of food already.
    
    Edit-I too had heard about kids are starving and would love to eat what was on my plate.

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20. 73

    donnaisabellaposted 12 years ago

    I lived with my great grand parents for sometime when I was a kid and that was when anyone wanted me to finish the food on my plate. After eating we would stand up to show our grand ma how full we were by pulling up our blouses and we would receive praises, it always worked. I made sure I ate all my food and showed off my tummy!

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21. 60

    kingmaxlerposted 12 years ago

    It was a constant battle with me. My parents would make me sit at the table until I ate everything on my plate. I was a very good child, but I was a very picky eater. I now have four grown children and I did not force them to eat. I presented healthy, tasty food and they had no major food issues as children and eat just about anything as adults.
    
    My parents used to say the typical "you know there are kids starving in Africa," to which I would think, "then let's send it to them."

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22. 85

    DzyMsLizzyposted 12 years ago

    "If you don't clean your plate, no dessert."
    
    There were no issues about being forced to eat something I really did not like.  Mom was a huge fan of liver and onions  (ick, ick, ick, ICK!), but she did not like spicy foods.  So, if she wanted her nasty plateful, that would be an opportunity for my dad and I to have tamales. ;-)

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23. 70

    emimemoposted 12 years ago

    My mother kept giving me the food I said I didn't like. When I asked why she gave me the food, she said, " Oh, I forgot." I gave up and start eating. She was wise lady.

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24. 0

    Starmom41posted 11 years ago

    I can't recall exactly how it was worded, but the general idea was only put on your plate what you plan to eat-  food should not be wasted.

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