In-Laws from Hell·
FOOD FIGHT DINNER
A homemaker tries to feed a brood of picky nephews while a stay-at-home sister-in-law critiques every bite, turning dinner into a high-stakes balancing act.
Keep changing dinner, or hold the line?
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The food fight started in a house packed with cousins, a moving truck's worth of boxes, and one tired cook trying to make dinner for everyone.
"My sister in law is staying with us for a few months while they move and it's been tough," the poster wrote. The sister-in-law is staying with the family while she and her kids get settled elsewhere. The poster works from home. The sister-in-law is a stay-at-home mom. That means the children are around all day, sharing the house, the noise, and the kitchen.
"Honestly, I don't mind them here much," the poster said. In fact, she likes that her daughter has cousins to play with and that there is another adult in the house during the day. The real problem is not the living arrangement. It is dinner.
"The tough part is cooking for them," the poster admitted.
At first, she tried to make it work. She was used to cooking one meal for her family, but now she was also trying to account for the nephews, who are "very picky." They don't like tomato sauce. They don't like vegetables. They don't like melted cheese. They don't want mayo on burgers. They don't even like soggy cereal, among other things.
"Every day, I try to make something they like," the poster wrote.
But every meal seemed to come with a new test. The sister-in-law often commented on the food and explained what one son would or wouldn't eat, right in front of him. In one scene, she "goes over the top to explain to this 6 year old that this is a different recipe and he'll have to try it." The child refused the pancakes until he was forced to take a bite. Then came the meltdown.
Another night, the poster made sliders, hoping that would be simple. Instead, the sister-in-law asked her to make half of them specially for the older child, with no cheese and no sauce. Even then, the child didn't eat it. "He still didn't eat it," the poster wrote, "Because he 'didn't know' about the taste."
The poster says she has already cut back on vegetables far more than usual, but she is at her wits' end. She does not want to spend every night making boxed macaroni and cheese or pizza stripped of sauce just to keep up with the nephews' list of dislikes.
The freezer and pantry have changed too. They are now full of processed snacks the family normally does not keep around. The kids have been eating chips and donuts and, according to the poster, have not touched fruit or vegetables for days.
"So, AITA for not catering to their pickiness?" she asked.