A mum is at the end of her tether with her stepdaughter as she was eating too much fruit, even labelling her as ‘greedy’ due to her snacking habits
A mum has sparked outrage online after revealing she plans to “ration” fruit from her “greedy” young stepdaughter.
Most parents dream of having kids who reach for healthy snacks, but the parent says she’s sick of her stepdaughter taking fruit from the fridge “without asking” as it’s too expensive.
She even labelled the child as “greedy” because of the amount of fruit she was eating, but many parents were left baffled as to what the woman wanted.
The mum took to Mumsnet to complain her decision, writing: “My stepdaughter, seven, moved in with us full-time back in January. Our situation is that I am a higher earner and breadwinner on mat leave with my five-month-old baby.
“My husband does some part-time work that doesn’t bring in much (he runs our family vehicle and contributes towards household costs such as shopping etc). My stepdaughter’s mother does not contribute towards her expenses while she is living here (indefinitely for now).
“At the moment, we are on a tight budget due to my mat leave – and one thing driving me crazy is my stepdaughter eating all our fruit. We will buy a weekly shop with two bunches of bananas, a few punnets of berries, peaches, melon, grapes, tangerines, etc, and she will eat her way through the lot in two days.”
The woman explained that her stepdaughter ate a “punnet and a half of raspberries, three peaches, four tangerines, some grapes, a slice of melon, and two bananas”, and she wasn’t happy with it.
She also said that as a result of her fruit consumption, the little girl is “reluctant to finish a proper evening meal or anything she dislikes” and also suffers from “loose stools” due to “bingeing” on fruit. “She takes it from the fridge without asking and leaves nothing for my husband and I”, the mum fumed.
She continued: “I’ve spoken to my husband about this and he says she is a growing child and at least fruit is good for her – fair enough I buy fruit partly for her to eat, but the amount seems greedy to me, and beyond what is necessary for a healthy child. I think reasonable is a small bowl of berries and grapes along with a tangerine and banana after school as a snack and then one piece for dessert.
“She can also have melon and banana for breakfast along with cereal and yoghurt. I want her to learn that food costs money, we don’t have a bottomless pit of it and you don’t just gorge on whatever you want because you are bored/tired/didn’t eat your dinner, you ration portions in a family so everyone gets a fair share, and sometimes eat less tasty things to maintain a healthy diet.”
The woman explained that when the young girl first moved in she was “gorging on sweets” – but that habit was easier to nip in the bud as her husband could understand that it wasn’t healthy for her. But now she’s snacking on fruit, he won’t intervene, despite his wife’s pleas.
She said: “We provide substantial breakfast, lunch, and dinner portions, and I try to accommodate her tastes (though she can’t just have fish fingers and strawberries as a diet, which would be her preference).” Seeking advice, she questioned: “Want to handle this in a compassionate way, would I be unreasonable to stop buying fruit until my husband agrees to a sensible ration for my stepdaughter?”
In the comments, people highlighted that the situation was “sad”, with one writing: “This makes me feel quite sad. It sounds like she’s having some issues, bless her. And it also makes me sad that you resent her for it.”
Someone else said: “Unpleasant to call a 7-year-old eating fruit ‘greedy’. But it’s reasonable to expect her to eat her evening meal before snacking her way through the fruit.”
“Not unreasonable at all”, another added, continuing: “That’s a ridiculous amount of fruit to be eating in one day, and as you say, never mind the cost, she is going to end up making herself ill.”
A version of this story was first published on 17 October 2023.
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