“First come, first serve” household?

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I hide things in the house from my DH because I know he'll take the last and I'm saving it for the kids LOL.

If someone asked me to save them a plate I would - who wouldn't do that, if asked?!

The cake thing is a somewhat unique quirk - but it's cute. A lot of people would miss that unless you told them in advance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of this could be solved by making more food for meals so there's plenty for everybody to get their fill at mealtime + leftovers that can be first come/first serve.

In our house, family-style takeout (pizza, Chinese) is fair game. We order plenty of food for whoever is home at mealtime and then any leftovers are first come/first serve. It's not like, there are 4 of us and 16 slices of pizza so each person gets 4 slices to eat now or later. Nope, eat however much you want now, and the rest is fair game.

If there are leftovers of individually-ordered items (like we all go out to dinner and DD brings home half her pasta dish) it belongs to the person who ordered it.

Totally different in my house. If my husband eats 3 slices of pizza and I eat 2, then I have 2 slices coming to me and he has 1. He would never eat my leftover pizza. He knows it will not end well for him.

This mentality is so strange. People eat different amounts. You expect the same exact portion for each person.

I will say, though, that since my DH and I were not raised by wolves, we always ask each other if they wanted more of something before we finish it. when a household gets big it's not always feasible to check with everyone, and it should be considered fair game unless you yourself set aside a porch with your name on it.

People eat different amounts at one time, but given enough time, I can eat the same amount of pizza as my husband. Why should he get more of that cheesy, tomatoey goodness just because he has a bigger stomach? I can have my two leftover slices for lunch, he can have his one leftover slice and a side salad for lunch.

DP with a question: Say it's the day after your pizza dinner and those 3 leftover slices are in the fridge. It's lunchtime and you are out of the house grabbing lunch with a friend. He's home and hungry. Can he eat the leftovers or does he still have to save 2 of them for you?

What my husband would do would eat it all, regardless of who is home. What I would do is ask my kids who are around if they want it first before I eat it.

[Anonymous]

Op here. I am definitely fascinated by the perspectives here.

Holiday PP yes that’s a great example, this would be a time where I may ask for someone to set aside my plate. Whereas another PP noted it should be a free for all for those in attendance when the meal is served. I’ve never been to a formal dinner party actually but Thanksgiving, Christmas dinner, Mothers Day brunch etc…

[Anonymous]

Mom would go to the grocery store Saturday morning and bring back donuts. More than enough for everyone. Whoever was still sleeping was not woken up or saved a donut. Everyone else ate 2 or 3 each until all were gone.

This happens once
Anyone with half-a-brain, then knows - it might happen again
And they better wake up earlier

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would definitely save food from a meal if my kid would be joining later (provided there’s nothing else to serve them). It’s weird not to save food for family members if you know they’ll need to eat.

+1

[Anonymous]

Means the kids will eat like animals competing for prey when they get older. Not a good look.

[Anonymous]

My DH grew up in a similar household as yours and I feel like it's a competition as he tends to eat bigger portions and more times a day so I don't get to something I want until it is almost gone or I don't get any of it at all.

It really annoys me. I grew up with siblings but my siblings and I didn't have to fight over food portions.

I feel it's fair to ask to save a portion for a family member for later. Maybe not hours old takeout, but if it was a piece of cake or a homemade meal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of this could be solved by making more food for meals so there's plenty for everybody to get their fill at mealtime + leftovers that can be first come/first serve.

In our house, family-style takeout (pizza, Chinese) is fair game. We order plenty of food for whoever is home at mealtime and then any leftovers are first come/first serve. It's not like, there are 4 of us and 16 slices of pizza so each person gets 4 slices to eat now or later. Nope, eat however much you want now, and the rest is fair game.

If there are leftovers of individually-ordered items (like we all go out to dinner and DD brings home half her pasta dish) it belongs to the person who ordered it.

Same here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand a lot of the posts here. In our household, all food is communal unless someone didn't finish their plate and it got wrapped up and put in the fridge. Then no one else would touch it anyway b/c who wants someone's half-eaten food?

+100000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I am definitely fascinated by the perspectives here.

Holiday PP yes that’s a great example, this would be a time where I may ask for someone to set aside my plate. Whereas another PP noted it should be a free for all for those in attendance when the meal is served. I’ve never been to a formal dinner party actually but Thanksgiving, Christmas dinner, Mothers Day brunch etc…

Ok, it’s annoying that you’re always asking people to “set aside a plate” for you.

[Anonymous]

If we buy doughnuts for our family of 4, yes, everyone gets a doughnut from the fresh batch. If someone is not there, we will try to set aside their favorite. It seems only polite.

But after that, the rest of the box is open to whoever wants it. There is too much food waste with things going stale if we don't do this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I am definitely fascinated by the perspectives here.

Holiday PP yes that’s a great example, this would be a time where I may ask for someone to set aside my plate. Whereas another PP noted it should be a free for all for those in attendance when the meal is served. I’ve never been to a formal dinner party actually but Thanksgiving, Christmas dinner, Mothers Day brunch etc…

Why aren’t you there when the meal is served? On multiple occasions? I could see “setting aside a plate” if there was some extenuating circumstance making you late for one holiday meal, but it sounds like this happens to you all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I am definitely fascinated by the perspectives here.

Holiday PP yes that’s a great example, this would be a time where I may ask for someone to set aside my plate. Whereas another PP noted it should be a free for all for those in attendance when the meal is served. I’ve never been to a formal dinner party actually but Thanksgiving, Christmas dinner, Mothers Day brunch etc…

Ok, it’s annoying that you’re always asking people to “set aside a plate” for you.

So weird! And the cake thing is odd. And expecting people not to eat leftover pizza is weird. It is one thing if you order an expensive meal at a restaurant and half of it is leftover. That should be the person’s who ordered it. But this other stuff is weird and precious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Mom would go to the grocery store Saturday morning and bring back donuts. More than enough for everyone. Whoever was still sleeping was not woken up or saved a donut. Everyone else ate 2 or 3 each until all were gone.

This happens once
Anyone with half-a-brain, then knows - it might happen again
And they better wake up earlier

People without siblings are kind of soft.

[Anonymous]

This reminds me of that old thread by the lady who was feeding her family “like a group of dieting middle aged ladies” and wondering why her DH and teen athletes were always hungry. Just make more food! I don’t think anybody on this forum cannot afford another pack of chicken legs or an extra pizza.

The holiday thing is just weird. Nobody needs to “save a plate” for a good guest who arrives on time.

And I would be so annoyed if I was out having lunch with a friend and my DH was texting for permission to finish the leftover pizza. Just eat it!