The start of my overeating problem is took me 2 decades to change. Any other mom’s do this to you as a kid? Gotta clean your plate!

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Scrotchety@reddit

I don't know about kids in Africa or China, but there's flies and maggots and cockroaches in our domiciles and I'd rather not attract them, so if cutting down on their numbers means shoveling all the food in my mouth, oh well I guess

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Verbull710@reddit

"Did you know that every 60 seconds in Africa another minute passes?"

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AlissonHarlan@reddit

"finish if you want dessert" then you force yourself twice, once to finish then to eat the dessert that you worked to earn

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meldiane81@reddit

OMG I am so hungry and that looks so damn good.

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Maximumi-Awkward@reddit

My parents were children under the occupation during WWII, and there wasn't always that much food. They ate a lot of porridge. That gave them a funny relationship with food, and they passed that relationship on to me.

Thank Goddess, I don't have children.

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FoppyRETURNS@reddit

Wasting food was considered a sin even by families that barely believed in God

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Bradtothebone79@reddit

Clean plate club represent!

Trying to not give my kids eating disorders now…

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cellrdoor2@reddit

Yes! The clean plate club was a thing at our house too. If you didn’t clean your plate you would get “fed” which consisted of having it forcefully put in your mouth. I can’t believe any adult thought that was a good idea but my parent’s parents did it too. Both of my kids have autism so we have done years of food therapy and never once have I felt the need to force food in their faces.

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Texas_Kimchi@reddit

Don't forget the starving children in China.

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Magpie_Coin@reddit

My parents were never that strict, luckily.

Dieticians now advise against this lol

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coolpartoftheproblem@reddit

they made me clean my plate one time and i vomited the entire meal all over the plate and table. they left me the fuck alone after that

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Indubitalist@reddit

I vividly recall doing this as well. Only happened once, was not forced to eat a pile of corn again. Not sure what the deal was, I am not strongly opposed to corn, but I sure knew my limit that night. For the record, having been relentlessly told to clean my plate otherwise, I did not grow up to be a fat person.

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wingthing666@reddit

Hey fellow protest vomiter!

I got the "You have to try the ground hamburger, then you can have your Mac and cheese."

I tried. I barfed. I did not get my Mac and cheese that night. But I was never forced to try foods I hated again!

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Icouldoutrunthejoker@reddit

Well played

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Caftancatfan@reddit

I tell my kids: “we eat to take care of our bodies. That’s what we bought and cooked the food for. Shoving it down until it makes us feel sick is not good for us and not what food is for. Let’s work to get a better sense of your preferred portion size.”

See also: “if I were a chicken I wouldn’t care about my corpse not going to waste. In fact, I would just as soon you choke on my foot. Don’t eat and enjoy me because fuck you.”

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SledgeH4mmer@reddit

Our boomer parents were raised by a generation that was food insecure. Our grandparent's generation didn't waste anything.

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Mysterious_Fennel459@reddit

Thankfully I never had parents like that but I would think the parents could just learn to serve smaller portions at some point. I'd rather have them have a small plate and go back for seconds than serve them too much food and not finish it.

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MetaPhalanges@reddit

I think part of the idea was the kid sets their own serving (within reason) and then they'd be made to eat what they took. It was supposed to be part of learning responsibility, but a lot of parents skipped some steps.

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Aggravating-Ad-4238@reddit

This is exactly it. Step mom told us if we put too much ketchup on our plate and didn’t use it we would have to eat it with a spoon. She also made us take seconds because some in the family didn’t like leftovers (including her). Finally in HS I told her we would happily take leftover chicken or roast beef sandwiches to school. She’s the reason I over eat … my mom’s side is the reason I can’t get enough good bread and pasta.

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clutzycook@reddit

Step mom told us if we put too much ketchup on our plate and didn’t use it we would have to eat it with a spoon.

I had a teacher at my parochial elementary school that had this rule. And she made them do it, too.

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Reasonable-Wave8093@reddit

sounds horrifying

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WorkingItOutSomeday@reddit

This. Right. Here.

To this day that is a pet peeve of mine and my friends do nothing about it. Kid takes a mountain of food that looks delicious but is instantly full and wastes it. I learned real quick to take small portions and that there was a good chance I'd flatter the cook by asking for 2nds.

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jacksonmills@reddit

Really? Because that did not happen with me lol. That sounds nice, though

I think my parents did it because they always bought the extra-sized family packs to save money, never went through all of it, and then cooked it all at once before it was going bad.

No dad, I don't want 8oz of chicken thanks

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livens@reddit

Same for me. I was a "string bean" growing up and just didn't eat that much. So they would give me a little at a time and let me go back for seconds if I wanted to.

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snoopmt1@reddit

I don't think it's a portion thing. I guarantee this didn't come up on pizza night. The real fights were on boiled chicken and microwaved brussel sprout night. It's the kids not wanting to eat what's for dinner. Not forcing them to overeat after they're actually full.

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selphiekupo@reddit

In my family it was certainly a portion thing. Mom specialized in (really good) Midwestern farm fare, usually casseroles. The issue was she served us enough to feed a grown man working a manual labor job and got PISSED if you didn't clean your plate. I wasn't allowed to serve myself till 8 or 9, and she'd scowl if you didn't take enough (too much). Portioning is still an issue in my 40s, same for my bro.

Though don't get me wrong, hockey puck burgers, grey asparagus, mushy pasta, etc made it 10x harder to choke down on those days. I mean, what kid doesn't want to eat 2 burgers that are so tough they could chip a tooth?!

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snoopmt1@reddit

I hear you I'm sorry that happened.

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Aeon_Return@reddit

For us it was more than we were super poor and two members of the family who will go unnamed were selfish and would eat all the leftovers overnight (usually leaving behind 1 tablespoon as "my portion") so if I didn't eat it all at once it was gone.

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Reasonable-Wave8093@reddit

foster kids go through this

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theluzah@reddit

Whatever we didn't eat at dinner was in front of us fresh from the fridge for breakfast the next morning. Stewed okra and tomatoes are bad, but cold stewed okra and tomatoes marinating in the fridge overnight is... something that stays with you.

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Reasonable-Wave8093@reddit

I took great care not to pass on any “eating issues” to my youngins. Tapping (eft) can be helpful!

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just_cows@reddit

We had the “clean plate club”

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OkInspector7470@reddit

We had to sit at the table til our plates were clean. Like til bedtime. Luckily, my sister and I were good at creating fun in this stalemate.

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Dutch_Canuck@reddit

I was very stubborn. The punishment continued until the next day when my leftover dinner was served for breakfast.

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OkInspector7470@reddit

Brutal!

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Distinct_Operation_5@reddit

A parent was the child of a holocaust survivor. "You never know if this will be the last full meal you'll have in years."

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SlapHappyDude@reddit

Undiagnosed ADHD meant I got bored of eating after about three bites. So my mom quickly gave up on the clean plate club and went for "just have two more bites".

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Introverted-headcase@reddit

We were poor so eat everything on your plate had a different meaning for the adults versus us kids back then. But yes it lead to me being overweight and not understanding how to stop and recognize being full before being stuffed!

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amodsr@reddit

"Then give it to them cause I dont want it."

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216news@reddit

I grew up in a verbally abusive household, and found solace playing anywhere but there. Things were most escalated at the dinner table yet for some reason my parents insisted on us all eating together. I was allowed to leave as soon as I finished eating, finished meant that the plate was clean. So i learned to eat in volume quickly, which still haunts me to this day and is probably contributing to my weight.

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MoulanRougeFae@reddit

Opposite. My mother had a raging eating disorder she pushed onto me. I was 9 when she put me on my first diet. I wasn't allowed to eat normally at all, 700 calories if I was good, 400 if I was perceived as "getting chubby". I still struggle with disordered eating but pretty well conquered the worst of anorexia.

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avid-shtf@reddit

Used to get spanked for not clearing my plate. Now I'm obese and have an eating problem.

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scizzix@reddit

Ugh, yes. I was talking about this with my wife not long ago. I had the "you have to finish everything on your plate" thing as a kid, and I wondered if it contributed to me ignoring hunger/full signals and just feeling like I had to eat everything.

I did some research, and sure enough, there have been studies showing that link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4719168/

(Unrelated: Interesting use of the Star Trek font for the picture?)

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arcxjo@reddit

Handel Gothic would have been better.

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_hi_plains_drifter_@reddit

I grew up the same.

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Rhediix@reddit

I was about to say "I don't remember this episode". 😂

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arcxjo@reddit

Who? Lt. Uhura?

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whowhatwhat8@reddit

I most likely had ARFID as a kid and I was forced to sit at the table until I finished food I couldn't stand, like things with onions, bell peppers, and mustard. This only happened at my aunt's house. I remember falling asleep at the table multiple times, and waking up back at home. Never ate what they were trying to force me to eat.

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threebeansalads@reddit

I was brought up this way and make sure my own kids have never had this issue. We always say “we can always buy more/make more or wrap up for later”. I’m still dealing with a lot of food issues in my 40’s due to horrible food issues being pushed on me my whole life. Even when we visit my parents now.

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Not_a_werecat@reddit

No, thank goodness. If I didn't want what was offered I could make myself a PB&J. I could get my own servings too, so I was able to take the amount I could finish and go back for seconds if I wanted more.

I'm so glad my family had a healthy relationship with food.

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neckbeardsghost@reddit

My grandma always said that to us growing up, and then weaponized it against me when I was a teenager and noticeably more chunky by saying “are you sure you wanna put that on your plate, honey?” 🙄🤬

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caramelpupcorn@reddit

My parents aren't from the US, but they grew up during war time in their home country and raised us with their food scarcity mentality after immigrating to the US. One of my dad's fondest memories is one time as a child, there was so much food to eat, he ate as much as possible and then threw up just so he could eat a little more.

Granted, food is abundant here and me and my sibling got pretty fat as kids because my dad wanted us to eat as much as possible which wasn't great, but I get where it came from.

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MlsterFlster@reddit

I'm an uncle, not a dad. But "Clean your plate" isn't a thing in my house. You DO have to take a "no thank you" bite, though. Kids often don't like things by default.

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BadassSasquatch@reddit

We didn't have that, but we did save everything we didn't eat for those "fend for yourself" nights.

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Separate-Relative-83@reddit

We chose how much we took, and could have seconds if we wanted. I mean that’s normal to ask someone to eat what they served themselves.

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GinnyMcJuicy@reddit

My mom was awful about this. She is a terrible cook and I was definitely a picky eater. And we were poor, so we had shitty food that was cooked badly so I would frequently refuse to eat. Not judging her for the crap food, but I am DEFINITELY judging her for her reaction to my refusal to eat gross shit. Her response was to flip her shit, slam an opened can of green beans in front of me (cold of course), and tell me I could not leave the table until I ate the whole thing. My dog liked green beans so it worked out OK. But one night I just went full fuck it and fell asleep at that table. She never did it again after that.

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Sharpshooter188@reddit

I remember question confusing me as a kid. I was like...so...why dont we..give this to them then? Lol Didnt understand that she wanted me to be grateful for what I had.

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Wolveriners@reddit

Cleaning your plate at meals is not what caused you to have an overeating disorder. If anything, it likely would have the opposite effect.

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leseb@reddit

Shit Americans say….

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Geek_King@reddit

Yeah OP, I apparently was under weight when I was real young, so the idea that I had to clean my plate started. My parents even went as far as to then pick me up after dinner and say something about how much heavier I was! I got fatter and fatter through elementary, middle, high school, and then college. It wasn't until the beginning of my 30's that I took control of my eating and lost 100 pounds.

But it still just about kills me to not finish my plate of food.

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No-Cardiologist472@reddit

My parents were the worst. Not only did you have to clean your plate but if you ate anything out of the fridge on your own next thing all the kids are getting bitched out cause we were running low or out of something.

So we'd end up just not eating stuff and then it would get thrown out and we'd get in trouble for wasting stuff/not eating it. You couldn't win

Wed still just not eat most things so the cupboards and fridge stayed looking full which would keep them off our backs

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NPC261939@reddit

My parents used to tell my brother and I that. Now they've become two of the most wasteful people I know.

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Ketzerfriend@reddit

Try having a German father who was born right into WW2 and the post-war hunger years...

"We ate cats and dogs back then!!" [proceeds to lick his plate clean]

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jazzbot247@reddit

Yeah I had to sit all night with my microwaved veggies till I ate them, but my real food addiction was the comfort sugar and carbs gave me.

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doomerunicorn@reddit

Yep! There are way too many boomer parents who conditioned their kids to overeat and then fat-shamed them when they (predictably) gained weight. I still struggle with binge-eating sometimes.

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eyelers@reddit

Well being a parent now and raising a daughter who barely touches her meals only to beg later for candy, junk food, and desserts is exhausting. We don’t make her clean her plate, but basic nutrition is pretty important for a growing kid…..so I kinda get it

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splatooey123@reddit

Yea I have one of those as well! I am not a fan of finish your plate. But I am tired of having her pick out her food, just to eat 3 bites of it, and then an hour later- “I’m hungry”.

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Melliorin@reddit

I love that this font is Star Trek font.

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Justice_of_Toren1esk@reddit

Nope. Stunned the hell out of my Gen x husband that you could just not eat what was on your plate. Like he'd never considered it. I mean, I try not to waste food so I usually don't take more than I know I want to eat, but if I do or it's leftovers that are gonna get thrown out anyway I'll toss them with no remorse.

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Trenzalore11th@reddit

That and "breakfast is the most important meal of the day". What a rubbish.

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Howboutit85@reddit

turns out in fact that waiting to eat until noon-ish is totally viable and healthy to do. that shit was from propaganda created years ago by the breakfast meat industry.

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Mudcreek47@reddit

My mom used to berate us until we finished our breakfast as kids.

"YOU'RE NOT HUNGRY, NOW! BUT YOU WILL BE BEFORE LUNCHTIME AT SCHOOL!"

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EnlightenedDragon@reddit

I'm the opposite. I enjoy a good hearty breakfast but rarely eat dinner.

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Day2205@reddit

Same, I sort of hate dinner, much rather have breakfast and lunch, and snacks for “dinner”

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WorstGasStationSushi@reddit

Coffee is the most important meal of the day. Can't live without my roasted bean soup.

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Betelgeuse3fold@reddit

Yeah, i get headaches if I don't have at least one coffee in the morning

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Howboutit85@reddit

crazy concept that my wife and I do; adjust the portions to the child's appetite. we give our 13 year old a full plate because she will eat it, we give our 5 year old 1/4 as much as that because thats all she WILL eat. if shes hungry again later, she can have more. why was this so hard of a concept for so long?

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SpinachnPotatoes@reddit

I was a kid in Africa. Still got told that line.

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charcarod0n@reddit

Is that the ST:TNG font?

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JavaOrlando@reddit

I'm having the opposite issue with my five year old—he always wants seconds. We had been obliging him, but now we make him wait. If he asks again after 20 minutes, we give him more food, but 90% of the time, he realizes hes full.

Hopefully hes learning not to eat until he's stuffed.

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Snow_Crash_Bandicoot@reddit

Just passing through for the Star Trek font.

gif

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Automatic-Arm-532@reddit

I never understood how me eating more food would help starving kids in othe countries

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AquaValentin@reddit

Teachers called it the clean plate club in school. I now wonder how many members of the clean plate club are now members of the obesity club

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cloudshaper@reddit

Never heard about starving kids in Africa, but my grandparents absolutely recounted the food insecurity they experienced during the Great Depression, and how what we had was gourmet compared to what my grandpa had to eat in the trenches in WW2.

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trer24@reddit

I always tell people, that's why food containers and refrigerators exist. Put the food you can't finish in the food container so that you can finish it tomorrow when you're hungry again. It makes no sense to force yourself to eat.

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Cinderhazed15@reddit

I had a friend who would, due to the crazy portion sizes, get a ‘to go’ box with the food coming to the table, and put half of it ‘away’ before eating, that way the ‘clear your plate’ drive/conditioning/temptation wasn’t there.

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spazilator@reddit

That’s a great idea, I’m gonna try that

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PikaGoesMeepMeep@reddit

Absolutely. "Stop when you're full" can sometimes inadvertently sound like an encouragement to waste food. But not necessarily. (And I personally think it's important to respect and honor the food we are lucky to have available!)

The way I was taught: dish your own plate (usually at the table), and take only as much as you know you'll eat. Then come back for more if you want. And if you don't finish it, cover the plate and put it in the fridge to finish later.

As much as we could afford to throw good food in the trash growing up, we didn't. Food is precious, someone grew it, someone harvested it, someone packaged and sold it, someone planned and cooked the meal. That doesn't belong in the trash unless it's burned or spoiled or something.

Imagine growing a beautiful backyard garden, making a loving meal for someone with those vegetables (or animals!) and then they eat half the plate and throw the other half away because they "don't want to get fat". I'd be so hurt. We should honor all of out food.

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spazilator@reddit

Yea I still clear my plate, even when I’m uncomfortable

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Ok-Cranberry-2466@reddit

"Don't want no Captain Crunch, don't want no Raisin Bran Well, don't you know that other kids are starving in Japan? So, eat it, just eat it"

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Gullible_Rich_7156@reddit

Clearing your plate isn’t a problem as long as the portions were reasonable to begin with, and the food itself wasn’t garbage. Some protein, some grains and a side of veggies/salad? All good. A mountain of mac & cheese from a box with a side of fries? Not so much.

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Esabettie@reddit

My parents weren’t like that but everyone was, my grandma would take it personally and accuse you of not liking it and then call you fat later.

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Boatshooz@reddit

I was definitely in the “always clean your plate”-camp. The thing that snapped me out of it was someone saying “So, you’re effectively using your body as a garbage disposal?”

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505whodat@reddit

My parents wouldn't let me leave the dinner table until I finished everything on my plate. I hated tomatoes and pretty any green vegetable (except for lettuce), which meant I would just stay there and fall asleep at the table because I would gag trying to eat those. I even tried the plug your nose so you don't taste them, but mind over matter won in the end.

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Day2205@reddit

We sort of had the opposite in my house. My dad would not let us say “I’m starving” when hungry. He made sure to remind us of what real starvation was. To this day, I’m hyper aware of saying “I’m hungry” and not using “starving” lightly

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MsBlondeViking@reddit

My parents were not like this. Siblings and I were served what mom thought we’d eat, if we left some that was fine, but could go back for more too.

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unlovelyladybartleby@reddit

Took my parents 40 years and multiple heart attacks to learn that potatoes don't "count" as a veggie and that the human body wasn't designed for gravy and hollandaise at every meal

And the only appropriate response to the starving children in Africa speech is an eye roll and "try South East Asia" followed by sexy dancing with a hotel employee

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SignificantApricot69@reddit

It was Snackwells for me

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the_kid1234@reddit

“Eat what you take”

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PickledPixie83@reddit

My parents said “North Korea” to which I replied “Then they can have it.” This is why I am fat now. I was disciplined for not eating my whole dinner.

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Sufficient-Quote-431@reddit

See that was your problem. I would tell my parents go ahead and mail it there, and while they were at the mail, their cigarettes and booze too.

Boomer parents were the worst. They went from mushrooms to Coke to pills to telling everybody how to fucking behave.

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shrimpcreole@reddit

Ate it or sat there until bed time, then got the plate the next day. Between that and workplace lunch mentality, I eat everything and fast. Bad habits instilled eaely.

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phazedoubt@reddit

My family is from Africa and we were poor so we always joked about how we could get that food before it got turned inti American dishes.

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shadowlarx@reddit

I especially hated Friday nights. My father always insisted on a beans and cornbread dinner once a week and wouldn’t let me leave the table until I ate every last one.

And I fucking hate pinto beans. I hate those wretched beans with a passion. I have tried every condiment and seasoning known to man to make those wretched beans taste even remotely edible. It is not possible. And they taste even worse when they get cold.

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PackageNorth8984@reddit (OP)

Do you like refried beans? If so, it’s probably the texture that bothers you because that’s usually what they use for refried beans.

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Automatic_Phone8959@reddit

Yup i had a strict german nanny who made me eat everything on my plate and unlearning that has been a lifelong struggle

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Ok_Price_4091@reddit

Meh. Not sure this one is really Mom’s fault. Throughout all of human history, parents have tried to make sure their kids eat enough while picky kids refuse. We’re responsible for our own decisions.

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seminarysmooth@reddit

My parents were never so crass as to say this. But they did make me finish the food that was on my plate. Also, our household never had snacks on hand; meals were prepared and we ate as a family, you ate what was served when it was served. I really think it stemmed from the Great Depression. I know my mom’s father hunted to keep his family fed. And while I don’t know much about my dad’s parents, my aunts and uncles all grew up with the same mentality: eat now because you dont know when the next meal is coming.

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Party-Cup-9386@reddit

It wasn't my mom, usually, but the daycare I went to that served us kids foods that everyone knows kids don't typically like. We weren't allowed to get up from the table unless we'd "cleaned our plate." They made us eat canned beets, man.

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RoutineZestyclose847@reddit

It's a gratitude thing, yes if you can't eat everything it should just be saved for later. Not going hungry certainly is a privilege and not a right. I never went hungry as a child but in my early adult years it was certainly a struggle at times. I remember going around the store and having samples as a meal to save money. Even the access to a grocery store with such things is a privilege in itself. People need to have more gratitude imo. Afterall in the scope of humanity's existence dying of starvation was incredibly common.

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WhatTheCluck802@reddit

…China

But yeah. Years of disordered eating thanks to my parents. My mother always was snotty about being too skinny and demanded to not waste food, my father and stepmother always said I was “husky” which I wasn’t really, encouraging me to eat less.

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brokenman82@reddit

My mom made me try everything. She never forced me to eat anything I didn’t like however. If she made it, I took a few bites, and decided I didn’t like it? No worries 👍

If I just refused for some reason (eww, I don’t like veggies 🤮) without even tasting it? That got me in trouble

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Basic-Pair8908@reddit

I always reply i am saving their lives as they dont need food poisoning on top of starvation

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Cinderhazed15@reddit

My friends dad, when he was a kid, responded to ‘there are starving children in Africa’ with ‘name three’….. he got quite a switch to the backside, but I don’t know if that expression was used again to guilt him…

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lordtyp0@reddit

Sally Struthers has some splaining to do.

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therobotscott@reddit

Nope. My problem was making sure I got my portion before my brothers did.

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Logical-Cherry9395@reddit

True story. Along with, "You can have seconds but you have to eat everything you put on your plate" and followed by making dinner plates larger than they used to be.

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RamenRoy@reddit

Parents say this so their kids finish their vegetables before they fill up on more noodles, potatoes, etc. You don't get more of the good stuff without finishing the stuff that's good for you.

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Cinderhazed15@reddit

It only ‘works’ if you allow the child to pick what goes on the plate, and help them portion it so they can eat everything, and get more if they eat it. If the parent picks the portion that you both know they won’t eat, then you degrade them for it, that’s not going to do anything but breed either resent ment, or an eating problem.

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MrsMethodMZA@reddit

Yep. If I refused to eat I was forced to sit at the table until my plate was cleaned even if that was long after everyone else was done. It usually ended up quietly scraped into the garbage disposal…

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Cinderhazed15@reddit

It’s one thing if you get to choose what goes on your plate, but if you are forced to take a larger portion than you expect to eat, it’s not your fault.

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Fianna9@reddit

I didn’t have to clear my plate. But i had to finish my vegetables. My mother and I have very different taste in veggies so it was an uphill battle sometimes.

And I got told how lucky I was “when I was a little girl my mom made me eat liver and onions!!”

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ModernClementine89@reddit

My father had no idea what an appropriate serving size was for a child. My mom believed everything is better slathered in butter.

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dixiebandit69@reddit

"Well then give it to them" was my reply, when my mom or grandma would use that line on me.

Maybe if they had made something that was actually good, instead of the bland, low fat, low sodium, microwaved bullshit they served, I'd have been more keen on eating.

On a related note, I ate a lot of cereal and frozen waffles when I was growing up.

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RoyalPuzzleheaded259@reddit

No I always had a huge appetite. Thst was my problem. I’d get a double portion or everything, eat it and get seconds. Took me a long time to learn proper portion size and self control. Decided about 5 years ago to lose weight. Took two years to drop 100lbs but I’ve kept it off for 3 years now. Intermittent fasting for the win

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SadAcanthocephala521@reddit

Nothing like using starving kids to promote gluttony lol.

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CherryCherry5@reddit

Yep, and I said that we should send them our food. She didn't like that very much.

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HobKnobblin@reddit

Ship it to them

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CaseyAnthonysMouth@reddit

Grew up with periods of food insecurity so the whole “eat what’s in front of you” has been deeply ingrained for a very long time. Take into account the absolutely absurd portion sizes that have become normalized and it’s a recipe for my big fat ass.

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cloudydays2021@reddit

My dad tried it as he was raised that way - and if he didn’t finish his dinner, tit would be his breakfast the following day. My mom refused to do that to us; we only had two rules: 1) you have to try everything at least once and 2) if you really don’t like what’s being served, then you are free to have whatever you want - cereal, PB&J, whatever, just pair it with a piece of fruit or a vegetable and it was on us to prep it and clean up everything that we used to make it.

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Rivas-al-Yehuda@reddit

my grandfather was starved during WWII. so when he had his six children in America, he made sure they had full plates of food. My mom was one of them, and the full plate tradition continued.

I remember my grandfather telling me that one of the most exciting gifts he ever received in his life was an orange during the war.

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unbreakablekango@reddit

I hated this, especially because my parents plated all my meals until I was like 10. I didn't have any choice of what was on my plate and I was forced to eat it. I never do the same to my kids even if they only eat one bite. I just say "You better not ask me for food later or expect a treat if you won't eat your dinner now"

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Holmes221bBSt@reddit

Thank goodness my mom didn’t do this. She always said “as a parent, you need to pick & choose your battles & food was not a battle I wanted to pick” yrs I was a picky eater, but I ate. There were always healthy snacks along with junk food available to me. As an adult I’m an extremely adventurous eater and I love a good healthy salad with lots of dark greens & other veggies

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PerfSynthetic@reddit

We push against wasting food. You don't have to eat it all but put the rest in the fridge. They always go back ten minutes later saying they are hungry...

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Bradddtheimpaler@reddit

Yes, but it was really a lesson about how much food I chose to take. Nobody forced me to eat, but if I put it on my plate, it was going down my throat, whether I ate it right away or had to sit at the table for an hour until I could finish it. I’m sure it didn’t happen more than twice before I learned to only take enough food that I’m certain none of it will be wasted.

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