What to Know
My 12-year-old son used to live on dino nuggets and cucumber slices. He is a creature of habit, and for a while, he had a hard time trying new foods. Now, things are far different, but probably because I let him try the tons of new foods he now likes on his own terms. A mom on TikTok named Kerrie is in a similar boat, except she’s also dealing with flack from internet strangers who accuse her of feeding her husband lavish meals while her kids eat “rubbish.”
The truth, which she explains in her video, is that Kerrie’s kids like what they like, and in most cases, they are unlikely to want a pot roast or other dinner that takes more effort than using an air fryer or the oven for 10 minutes. That’s totally OK, and as a mom who went through that with one kid and is dealing with that stage with another, I understand the value in letting kids help determine what their dinner is. Well, at least what the main dish is. When Kerrie explained herself, other moms stuck up for her and her kids.
@kerrieessex Replying to @chesterfeild ♬ original sound – kerrieessex
Other moms came to her defense about feeding her kids what they like.
In Kerrie’s TikTok, she responds to a comment on a previous video that says, “Why do your kids always have rubbish for tea and you and Danny always eat well? Who serves pizza with pasta? Poor kids. You love Danny more than your kids?” She immediately explains that her kids are given a choice about their dinners. So, if she and her husband eat something pricey or extravagant, like steak or seafood, but her kids opt for pizza or chicken nuggets, that’s because they chose that.
Although one user accused her of feeding herself and her husband better than she feeds her kids, she continues to explain that if she does try to force her kids to eat something like roast, for example, most of the time, they won’t like it. She has learned to feed her kids what they want so they will actually eat most of their meals. And if that’s what works for her and her family, then fed is best, right?
Kerrie also says that for Christmas, she knows her kids won’t eat a proper Christmas meal either, and that’s just the way things go in her home, and it works for them.
As someone who stocks up on the biggest bag of dino nuggets I can find every few weeks, I get it.
“I know that my kids will end up having probably, like, fish fingers and chips or pizza and chips,” she says in her video.
Other moms who get where she is coming from commented to share their support despite the initial comment that accused her of feeding her husband better than her kids.
“If you make stuff they won’t eat it’s a total waste of food and money,” someone commented. “At least they will eat what they asked for just like adults make what they fancy having. What’s wrong with giving them a choice too?”
Another added, “My mum never forced me to eat anything I didn’t like and now I eat all the things I didn’t like when younger. I know people who were forced and are now really fussy eaters. I totally agree they should get what they like.”
Honestly, that sounds like my tween son now.
Sure, he likes dino nuggets in his school lunches. But, more and more, he is willingly opening up to trying new foods. Sometimes he even likes them.
“God people judge so much,” someone else wrote under the TikTok. “My son is autistic. He has plain pasta or smiley faces on the side of every dinner!”
Someone else, who knows the holiday dinner struggle with particular eaters, wrote, “Sorry but my 17-year-old will probably have nuggets or beans on toast for X-mas dinner.”
